Justice League Watchtower
The Justice League Watchtower is a space station that features in DC.
Contents |
History
Origin
The Watchtower was the name given to the headquarters of the Justice League.
During the Hyperclans attack, the Justice League Satellite was destroyed by the White Martian attackers causing the League to design a new base of operations. This was the Watchtower that was built on the surface of the Moon whose walls were made of Promethium. (JLA v1 #4)
The Lunar Watchtower later came under a surprise attack from the newest incarnation of the Injustice Gang. (JLA v1 #36)
After the Justice League disappeared in the past, Batman's special program activated in the Watchtower which recruited a new team to replace them. These were to be led by Nightwing and consisted of the Atom, Green Arrow, Hawkgirl, Faith, Jason Blood, Firestorm and Major Disaster. (JLA v1 #69)
John Stewart as the Green Lantern used his powers to aid in another series of upgrades and enhancements to the Watchtower on the Moon. (JLA v1 #90)
Ultimately, the Watchtower was destroyed due to the actions of Superboy-Prime. (JLA v1 #119) Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman came upon the ruined station where they were attacked by the warlord Mongul who sensed an opportunity at killing the heroes. He was nearly killed by Wonder Woman but managed to escape via the still working teleportation system on the station. (Infinite Crisis v1 #1) In aftermath, the Justice League attempted to regroup despite Batman's anger at the group for the manipulation of his mind. (JLA v1 #120) Aquaman was responsible for recreating their database from the countless backup systems they had prepared thus restoring a Metahuman database for them to decide on new recruits for the League. (JLA v1 #121) A new version of the Watchtower as a satellite was built in orbit of Earth with it being connected via teleporter to the ground-based Hall of Justice. (Justice League of America v2 #7)
Post-Flashpoint
Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events. After Darkseid's invasion was thwarted, the seven heroes that gathered together formed the Justice League to unite their efforts in protecting the planet from future threats. At some point, they had secretly built a satellite in orbit to serve as their headquarters with no none member being invited to it. (Justice League v2 #7)
The Justice League came to increase their membership with its new recruits gathering at the Watchtower. At that time, Despero came to attack the satellite where he managed to overpower them with them nearly being killed in the process. However, the Martian Manhunter arrived at the scene where he helped defeat Despero but their battle caused the entire satellite to crash onto the Earth's surface. It made a controlled descent at Happy Harbor on Rhode Island with the Justice League looking to relocate their equipment to a nearby cave. (Justice League v2 #20) Their salvage efforts were later interrupted when the League responded to Superman being affected by the Pandora's Box. (Justice League v2 #22)
After the death of his brother, Doctor Polaris went into a grief-stricken rage and used his magnetism in an attempt to crash the Watchtower into a city but he was thwarted by Green Lanterns Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz. (Green Lanterns v1 #21)
The Fan was later responsible with sabotaging the Watchtower causing it to be moved from its orbit and threatening to crush the station in the process. The members of the Justice League and Batman's Justice League of America worked under Cyborg's leadership to prevent the station from impacting the surface and killing them all in the process. (Justice League v3 #40)
Overview
Within the tower:
- Monitor Room : Pale Martian technology was adapted to create a virtual imaging global surveillance network and was considered the most sophisticated facility in the solar system. (JLA v1 #10)
- the Kitchen : a room designed for training that could simulate a range of environments and scenarios with it being designed by Niles Caulder. (Justice League of America v2 #7)
The Watchtower was noted to contain many advanced proprietary technology some of which was alien and thus the Justice League resisted any attempts at salvaging it by governments on Earth. (Justice League v3 #41) It was home to the most advanced laboratory on and in orbit around Earth. (JLA v1 #76) Communication systems relied on randomised frequency chain and redundant encryption systems that resolved through the series of deep-space satellites. (JLA v1 #79) A Black Box system was secretly installed that ghosted the security cameras and recorded everything on the monitor screens for the last two years. (Infinite Crisis v1 #1)
For medical emergencies, the Watchtower made use of an Omnidoc to help treat wounded with these being automated systems. (JLA v1 #66)
The physical defences of the Wathctower were said to be peerless with it making use of smartwalls, high-frequency apparative blocks and its location made it quite secure. (JLA v1 #79) Miracleware Security products created by Mister Miracle were installed on the station that scanned arrivals for their protection and that of others. (Green Lanterns v1 #40)
At one point, Hawkman had helped install a Thanagarian relativity-beam system that allowed instantaneous transportation between locations. It operated with a scanner measuring the retinal pattern and brain electricity patterns against a model programmed into it. (Justice League of America v1 #78) A new version of the teleportation system were referred to as Slideways. (Justice League of America v2 #7)
By accessing a specific channel in the Slideways, the users were able to be transported to a special interdimensional bubble located in the hyperspace tunnel between the Watchtower and the Hall of Justice. This room consisted of stairs that led to a centre table with the stars and space in the background. Only a few people were aware of the existence of this area with it being referred to as the lounge and as the star chamber which was to serve as a private meeting place for the Trinity. The chamber could not be detected on internal sensors but was able to receive emergency calls. (Justice League of America v2 #21) Another location accessed through the JLA teleporter on the Watchtower was an uninhabited oxygenated moon on Jupiter. This area was used as a place where the League could safely unleash their powers and was referred to as the Playground. (JLA v1 #76)
In the event of the Justice League's demise, Batman had created a program with pre-recorded data mounted in T-Sphere variant probes designed to find superheroes that the Dark Knight had selected to be their replacements. This included a detailed database of heroes including others if the target had rejected the offer along with recordings from Batman himself to be played at the Watchtower. (JLA v1 #69)
Notes
- The Justice League Watchtower was created by Grant Morrison and Howard Porter where it made its first appearance in JLA v1 #3 (March, 1997).
- According to editor Ruben Diaz in Wizard JLA Special 1997, "Originally it was going to be a base in Antarctica, but apparently the Superman creators were bringing back the Fortress of Solitude, which is also in Antarctica".
In other media
Television
- In the DC Animated Universe, the Justice League Watchtower made multiple appearances in the shared continuity setting.
- In Justice League, the Watchtower made a number of appearances in the shared continuity of the DC Animated Universe. Following the Imperium's invasion, the Justice League formed to protect the world with Batman using his company's aerospace research and development budget to build the Watchtower orbital station. In "Starcrossed", to stop the Thanagarian hyperspace bypass Batman piloted the Watchtower into the structure to destroy it where he guided it manually with Superman saving him before it crashed.
- In Justice League Unlimited, the Watchtower returned with a redesigned look in the animated series. In the episode "Dark Heart", it was shown to had been outfitted with a powerful beam weapon that could fire on the planetary surface. In "Task Force X", the Suicide Squad was dispatched on a covert mission to infiltrate the station to steal the Annihilator armor for Cadmus.
- In Smallville, a variation of the Watchtower appeared in the live-action television series starting from the episode "Doomsday". Originally, it was an apartment in Metropolis bought by Henry James Olsen for Chloe Sullivan which she later turned as the headquarters for a team of superheroes after Olsen's death with herself also adopting the codename Watchtower.
- In The Batman, the Watchtower was revealed in the animated series in the episode "The Joining". Batman had been aware of the stations existence in orbit for months and had been hacking its systems slowly allowing him to gain access to it. Martian Manhunter invited Batman into the Justice League where he joined the team of superheroes from their new headquarters.
- In Young Justice, the Watchtower made an appearance in the animated series setting. It was introduced as being the secret orbital headquarters of the Justice League with the Hall of Justice serving as their public and open Earth-bound base.
- In Justice League Action, the Watchtower was shown in the animated television series in the episode "Shazam Slam: Abate and Switch". It was shown as the new headquarters of the Justice League that was built after the Hall of Justice was destroyed where it was based on the planet over a volcano where Black Adam along with the Demons Djinn were finally defeated. The Watchtower was constructed by the various members of the Justice League with it having a member staffed to monitor events and dangers.
Films
- In Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, the Watchtower featured as the headquarters of the Justice League in the animated film. After encountering the Earth-3 Lex Luthor, the League brought him to their orbital station where he explained the danger on his world posed by the Crime Syndicate. This saw members of the League travel to the other side to defeat their alternate universe villainous counterparts. Superwoman of the Crime Syndicate travelled to the main universe Watchtower where she battled numerous Justice Leaguers whilst she sought out the Quantum Trigger that the Earth-3 Lex Luthor had hidden on the station.
- In Justice League: Throne of Atlantis, it was referenced in the animated film where Cyborg mentioned setting up a Watchtower headquarters for the Justice League.
- In Reign of the Supermen, the Watchtower appeared in the setting of the 2019 film. It was put under construction following the destruction of the Hall of Justice at the hands of Doomsday. The station was to be launched from Metropolis into orbit with the ceremony being officiated by the President of the United States. However, during the event, the site came under attack from Parademons with the Justice League seemingly being lost to the world. The Cyborg Superman claiming to be the real Superman responded as Earth's lone protector and asked for volunteers to join his Cyber Corps where humans were given superhuman powers to defend the world. Subjects were transformed at the Watchtower that remained at the launch site and served as the Cyborg Superman's base. It was launched into orbit by the Cyborg Superman when his true identity of Hank Henshaw was revealed and that he intended to get revenge against the real Superman by destroying everything the Man of Steel loved. They fought in the Watchtower as the station went into orbit where the sun-shield was lowered allowing for Superman to gain enough strength to finally defeat the Cyborg Superman. In the aftermath, the Justice League returned and resumed to use the station as their base when Lex Luthor arrived in his powersuit asking to join the superhero team as they intended to respond to the attacks from Apokolips.
- In Justice League Dark: Apokolips War, the Watchtower appeared in the setting of the 2020 animated film. The Justice League gathered at the station in order to discuss the rising threat from Apokolips. This led to the decision for the launch of a sneak attack in an effort to eliminate Darkseid himself. Despite their plans, their attack ultimately fell into an ambush planned by Darkseid with the majority of the heroes being killed. This allowed Apokolips to launch an invasion of Earth where their forces managed to knock the Watchtower from orbit and send it tumbling to Earth's surface in London.
- In Justice League vs. the Fatal Five, the Watchtower appeared in the setting of the 2019 animated film. It served as the headquarters of the Justice League who left Jessica Cruz and Starboy there when the pair were targets of the Fatal Five.
Video games
- In Justice League Heroes, the Watchtower made an appearance in the video-game setting. After stopping the White Martians, J'onn J'onzz was ambushed by Doomsday at the Watchtower after which the villain rook the Mother Box from the stations vault for Brainiac.
- In DC Universe Online, the Watchtower was one of the three main locations in the MMORPG video game. It was divided into four main areas including one wing for Metahumans, another for Technology users and the third for Magic based heroes whilst the fourth served as the central hub.
- In Injustice: Gods Among Us, the Watchtower was the name given to the Justice League's orbiting space station. Lex Luthor led a group of supervillains to attack it whilst the Joker was given a nuclear bomb with the intention of detonating it in Metropolis. On a parallel Earth, the Joker used a drug to make Superman kill his wife Lois Lane and their unborn child leading to him going mad with grief as he became a dictator that established the One Earth Regime on Earth. In this reality, the Watchtower existed and served as a base of operations for the Regime forces until Deathstroke sabotaged its reactor thus blowing it up.
- In DC Comics Legends, the Watchtower featured in the iOS video game and served as a base for the players characters.
- In DC: Unchained, the Watchtower was referenced in the setting of the mobile video game.
Appearances
- JLA v1: (1997)
- Infinite Crisis v1:
- Justice League of America v2: (2006)
- Justice League v2:
- Forever Evil v1:
- Justice League v3:
- Green Lanterns v1:
External Links
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