The Justice League is DC’s premier superhero team. They are the heroes who stand up to every major threat that the universe faces on the regular. From normal burglars to wannabe cosmic dictators, the Justice League has battled them all. Of course, it takes a whole lot of heroes to battle people like Darkseid. While the core seven Leaguers are iconic and almost always present in some capacity, the Justice League changes roster a lot. They are constantly expanding to include new faces fit for their situation, and as of the DC All-In Special, they’ve become the Justice League Unlimited, which offered membership to practically every hero in the universe.
Even with the largest League of all time, however, not every DC hero has been a part of the team. Today, we’re taking a look at seven awesome DC heroes who have never been on the Justice League. That task got a whole lot harder with the vast majority of characters joining the JLU, but we’re not going to take the easy way out and pick multiversal variants or the like. We’re picking characters who have appeared in the main DC timeline, and all of them could be incredible entries into the League’s hall of fame. With all that said, let’s jump into the Justice League’s potential recruits.
Aquaman and his various sidekicks had long since been Leaguers, but the second Aquagirl always gets overlooked. She was infused with Aquaman’s DNA when a portion of San Diego sank beneath the waves, creating Sub Diego. Aquagirl has long served as Sub Diego’s protector and even joined the Teen Titans a few times. Still, she’s never quite taken hold as Aquaman’s other sidekicks have, and has been almost entirely forgotten about. As such, she has yet to prove she can kick it like the other heroes, but if there was ever a time to prove she deserved to be a Leaguer, it would be now.
Wesley Dodds is one of the greats from the Justice Society of America’s day and age. He developed a powerful sleeping gas and, alongside his prophetic dreams, fought crime and solved mysteries as the Golden Age hero, the Sandman. Where most of his JSA compatriots would end up becoming Leaguers during the JLU expansion, Wesley never got that chance, as he had long since passed away. Still, death is never permanent in DC, so he could easily make a return and finally join the team that succeeded his own.
Icon is one of the biggest stars of the Dakotaverse, but he’s also made his fair share of appearances in the regular DC continuity. He is an alien who crashlanded on Earth in 1839, becoming a lawyer who would take on the identity of his own son every few decades. He was inspired to become a hero by Rocket and rose to insane prominence as a defender of Dakota. Icon is a hero that just begs for more focus, especially with his incredibly storied origin and connections to Black history. He’s an incredibly nuanced character who has one of the best growth arcs of any comic book, so he more than deserves a spot on the Justice League.
Booster Gold may be better remembered, but Rip Hunter is DC’s other resident time travel expert. In fact, Booster is actually Rip’s future son, which means that defending the timeline runs in the family. He’s been involved in some of the League’s biggest time travel shenanigans and has always stood as the forefront expert on the matter. He has a gruff personality that often makes him clash with impulsive people, or heroes who throw logic out the window when lives are at stake. He could be the voice that tries to pull everyone back and focus on the big picture, providing perfect contrast to the heroes focused mostly on today.
Static is another Dakotaverse superstar, but his jump to DC’s main timeline has been much smoother. He’s been a Teen Titan and shown up repeatedly as an independent hero, resurfacing after a long hiatus in DC K.O.: The Kids Are All Fight. Virgil Hawkins gained electrokinetic powers during the Big Bang, which was an explosion of mutagenic chemicals in Dakota that transformed countless people into Bang Babies. Statis became Dakota’s number one superhero and retains a massive cult following to this day. Given he just recently returned to action, now it is a better time than any to indoctrinate him into the League.
While Kara is the most famous Supergirl, for a while, that title belonged to Linda Danvers. She was a normal human who was tricked into joining a cult, and when she was sacrificed, the protoplasmic hero Matrix bonded to her, granting her powers like Supergirl. Unlike most superheroes, her career ended by choice, when she chose to retire after needing to send Kara back in time to die in Crisis on Infinite Earths. She hung up her cape, but she’s put it back on now and again in the years since, and now is the perfect time to bring her back one more time. With Superman missing and the “Reign of the Superboys” in full swing, the world could always use another Supergirl.
Speaking of “Reign of the Superboys,” one of its big stars is our final entry. Superboy-Prime spent much of his career as a villain, but as of the last several years, he has fully turned around to be a true hero. He’s flying high as Superman’s replacement until the Man of Steel can be found, even taking over the main Superman title. It’s Prime Time, baby, and since it looks like he’s here to stay on Prime-Earth for the foreseeable future, there’s no better chance to make him a Leaguer. He’s proven he’s just as much a hero as anyone else, and he was always destined to grow up to be the greatest hero of all. Superboy-Prime deserves his recognition, and the JLU might just be the place for him.
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