Warning! Spoilers ahead for Justice League Unlimited #5!That's right, the Legion of Doom has returned, and they're cooking up a scheme that could end in the destruction of the Justice League once and for all. It seemed like the Legion was a thing of the past, but they've actually been haunting the League longer than they thought.
The DC Universe's heroes learned a hard lesson after they came under been vexed by Inferno, a mysterious terrorist group who has big plans DC's iconic team.
The Legion of Doom Returns Disguised as the Justice League's New Villains, Inferno
The League's Oldest Enemies Have Been Stringing Them Along All This Time
In Justice League Unlimited #5 by Mark Waid, Dan Mora, Tamra Bonvillain, and Dave Sharpe, the Justice League is keeping an eye on the G20 summit, fearing that Inferno will strike to create global chaos. Their fears are proven correct as the global leaders and heroes are transported to an extradimensional plane full of monsters. At the same time, Inferno launches numerous attacks all over the world in places like Japan and China, targeting critical power structures. Mister Terrific theorizes the Legion of Doom is behind Inferno, but all its are ed for.
In the void, the Justice League scrambles to keep the politicians safe from the monsters surrounding them. During the chaos, the Flash benches Impulse and tells him to stay to the side. However, Bart gets the creeps from one G20 member and realizes that they’re actually a member of Inferno. Not only is the plant an Inferno member, but he's also got Martian Manhunter’s missing powers (which he uses to mind-wipe Impulse). Meanwhile, the Flash manages to find a way out of the void and brings both the heroes and the politicians to the Justice League’s Watchtower.
Inferno is revealed to be the Legion of Doom...
Upon the team’s arrival, though, Batman appears with the Atom, having tracked down Martian Manhunter’s powers to Inferno’s plant. The plant mentally reaches out to Air Wave so that the two of them can make an escape, but not before the Inferno member reveals that he was actually Flash’s nemesis, Gorilla Grodd. Air Wave brings Grodd to an undisclosed location and the villain tells his comrades that there’s no more sense in them disguising themselves. Inferno is revealed to be the Legion of Doom, who ready themselves for the next phase of their plan to destroy the Justice League.
The Legion of Doom Has Had the Justice League on the Ropes as Inferno
Despite the Expanded Roster, the League Has Been Floundering
In the wake of Amanda Waller’s attack, the heroes of the DC Universe banded together and agreed that they needed to work together to prevent things like Absolute Power from ever happening again. In just a few weeks, they rebuilt the Watchtower and created a brand-new organization, completely overhauling how the Justice League has operated in the past. With hip open to every hero, the League has dedicated sub-teams, optimized by Red Tornado’s AI with Mister Terrific directing every hero. But as effective as this new Justice League is, they quickly came under fire.
Not long after the Justice League re-formed, a village in South Africa was attacked by a terrorist organization calling themselves Inferno. What seemed like random chaos was actually a well-planned attack as the village was home to much of the world’s supply of iridium, a mineral crucial to technology development. The Justice League managed to stop Inferno’s attack on the village, but the team was warned by the shadowy group of villains that this was just the beginning of what Inferno had planned for the world.
...this was just the beginning of what Inferno had planned for the world.
Indeed, Inferno kept their word and attacked the Amazon Rainforest, setting the entire thing ablaze with magic pillars. Inferno was even able to kill Swamp Thing and prevent the Green’s avatar from undoing the devastation they brought to the rich forests. Thankfully, the Justice League sought help from Tefé Holland, who ventured into the Green and found Levi Kamei’s spirit, re-invigorating him and allowing him to re-populate the damaged parts of the Amazon. Unfortunately, the Justice League still had no clue who was launching these attacks or what they hoped to gain.
The Legion of Doom is More Coordinated Than Ever, And That Means Trouble for the Justice League
The Expanded Justice League Can't Stop This Legion of Doom
It might seem a little confusing how the Legion of Doom could be the ones behind Inferno. After all, Mister Terrific points out, in this very issue, that many of the Legion of Doom’s have been ed for. Not to mention, many of them, like Lex Luthor and Sinestro are actually working with several Justice League instead of against them. But take a look at the Legion of Doom again and notice how Sinestro is wearing his old costume and how Lex is clean-shaven instead of sporting a beard.
Why is it important to know that the Legion looks different? One only needs to take a look at the solicitations for the months ahead and discover that for the next several months, Justice League Unlimited is crossing over with Batman/Superman: World’s Finest for an event called “We Are Yesterday”. Given how the event will likely span multiple eras of DC history, it stands to reason that this isn’t the modern-day Legion of Doom, but rather, one that’s traveled through time to seek revenge on the Justice League.
"We Are Yesterday" begins in April with Batman/Superman: World's Finest #38!
Time-travel would explain a lot about how Inferno was able to stay one or two steps ahead of the Justice League and how they were able to cause so many coordinated attacks so quickly. If this Legion of Doom has come back from the past, there’s a solid chance that they’ve used information from the future to plan out some of their most devastating attacks yet. If they’ve mastered time-travel, there’s no telling what the Legion could do. They could keep up their attacks and stretch the Justice League’s resources so thin that the team eventually collapses.
What Can the Justice League Do Against a Time-Traveling Legion?
Is Time Running Out for DC's Heroes?
The Justice League knows about Gorilla Grodd, but they don't know about the Legion just yet, much less that time-travel is likely involved. While Booster Gold is still missing, the Justice League has a lot of heroes they could work with like Rip Hunter and the Time Masters. They could come in handy if the team realizes Inferno's identities and how they've pulled off their attacks. But the Justice League needs to hurry, because this incarnation of the Legion of Doom isn't going to stop until their enemies are destroyed.
Justice League Unlimited #5 is available now from DC Comics.
