Why Hasn't There Been Another Solo Superman Cartoon Lately?

[Raider969]

The last Superman cartoon was Superman: The Animated Series and that ended 20 years ago in 2000. This Superman's story continued into the Justice League/Justice League Unlimited cartoon, but why hasn't there been another solo Superman cartoon since 2000 when Superman: The Animated Series ended? Is it because people think a new solo Superman cartoon won't live up to the reputation status of Superman: The Animated Series? I doubt that has to be the case because there have been more solo Batman cartoons since Batman: The Animated Series/The New Batman Adventures and Batman Beyond but they didn't live up to the reputation of those Batman cartoons. Could it be copyright issues with Superman or something else entirely?

[Adekis]

Hate to say it man, but they could make a cartoon any time they wanted; they just don't think it'd be successful enough.

[Raider969]

Hate to say it man, but they could make a cartoon any time they wanted; they just don't think it'd be successful enough.

Yeah I guess so. Superman: The Animated Series is the best Superman show in my opinion.

[manwhohaseverything]

Yeah I guess so. Superman: The Animated Series is the best Superman show in my opinion.

The fourth world stuff was great and to the end it got better.I still the gods and Monsters is bruce timm's best Superman.But, in general i want some outside animation studio to work on superman. Because competency of wb animation with handling superman is low for me.Superman deserves a good sakuga.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Legal shenanigans killed the last Superman-centric cartoon, the Legion of Super-Heroes, and the various Superman solo animated movies have sold increasingly poorly, so I can understand why the corporate bean counters don't see Superman as a viable property anymore.

[Frontier]

Legal shenanigans killed the last Superman-centric cartoon, the Legion of Super-Heroes, and the various Superman solo animated movies have sold increasingly poorly, so I can understand why the corporate bean counters don't see Superman as a viable property anymore.

I thought Death/Reign did fairly well, or at least Reign did great streaming numbers.

[daBronzeBomma]

I would totally take a SUPERMAN GO! Animated show on the Cartoon Network, as long as it was a sneaky-smart and meta as TEEN TITANS GO! Is.

[superduperman]

I think there are a number of reasons.

1) "Action" cartoons aren't popular with kids these days.

2) Nowhere to air it. Unless they stick it on the streaming service, there's no way to get it out to the public anymore. And most people don't subscribe to those for stuff they can get on regular TV.

3) No merchandise to back it up with. We saw this with YJ. Part of the show's funding came from the toy company that made the action figures and they just sat on the shelf. This isn't the eighties anymore. You can't just stick a cartoon on the air and put toys out and kids will buy it. Most cartoons were merchandise advertising. That's not the case anymore. Look at the way CN treated Beware the Batman. They aired a few episodes and then cancelled it and then aired all the unaired episodes at something like 3 in the morning to get them out of the way.

Even something like JLAction got cancelled despite following the more popular kids model today.

[PCN24454]

It's because it too standard or "generic". If they made a new cartoon, it must be "Superman with a twist".

They can't make a new cartoon with it being constantly judged next to "Superman: TAS". It's why "The Batman" doesn't have the same level of notoriety that "Batman: TAS" did.

[SiegePerilous02]

Action heavy cartoons are just not that popular these days. I don't think even a Batman one would be viewed as viable at this point

[TheCape]

Action heavy cartoons are just not that popular these days. I don't think even a Batman one would be viewed as viable at this point

Hell how many people remember than Beware of the Batman was a thing.

[Vakanai]

Didn't we just have this discussion?

I think there are a number of reasons.

1) "Action" cartoons aren't popular with kids these days.

2) Nowhere to air it. Unless they stick it on the streaming service, there's no way to get it out to the public anymore. And most people don't subscribe to those for stuff they can get on regular TV.

3) No merchandise to back it up with. We saw this with YJ. Part of the show's funding came from the toy company that made the action figures and they just sat on the shelf. This isn't the eighties anymore. You can't just stick a cartoon on the air and put toys out and kids will buy it. Most cartoons were merchandise advertising. That's not the case anymore. Look at the way CN treated Beware the Batman. They aired a few episodes and then cancelled it and then aired all the unaired episodes at something like 3 in the morning to get them out of the way.

Even something like JLAction got cancelled despite following the more popular kids model today.

Bingo. They don't do much action cartoons anymore, Cartoon Network kills DC shows not Teen Titans Go, and toy sales to fund cartoons aren't what they used to be. Batman's cartoons keep getting cancelled, GL got cancelled, Justice League Action got cancelled, Young Justice was cancelled for years. Why would any of us ask for a Superman cartoon in this climate? Wait until we see how HBO Max handles new cartoons for their streaming service, and if that goes well then sure this is a question worth asking. But until we know that's a possible safe place for action cartoons, there's just nowhere for a Superman cartoon to go.

[Frontier]

Hell how many people remember than Beware of the Batman was a thing.

It's one of the Batman cartoons on HBOMax, believe it or not.

[superduperman]

Hell how many people remember than Beware of the Batman was a thing.

I was actually mad when that got cancelled. I'm not the biggest Bat fan but that was a good show.

[Steel Inquisitor]

3) No merchandise to back it up with. We saw this with YJ. Part of the show's funding came from the toy company that made the action figures and they just sat on the shelf. This isn't the eighties anymore. You can't just stick a cartoon on the air and put toys out and kids will buy it. Most cartoons were merchandise advertising. That's not the case anymore. Look at the way CN treated Beware the Batman. They aired a few episodes and then cancelled it and then aired all the unaired episodes at something like 3 in the morning to get them out of the way.

Isn't that because the toy company responsible with the license did nothing with it and Cartoon Network sinking DC cartoons because they don't own them? WB is really bad with its companies assisting each other.