Even the best streaming services regularly remove popular movies and TV shows, and in recent months HBO Max’s content library has lost some real heavy hitters. And the situation is about to get worse as a pair of DC animated shows are confirmed to be leaving in less than 24 hours.
Justice League Unlimited is often considered among the best superhero shows of all time, but streaming this beloved animated series is about to get a little more difficult as it's set to be removed from HBO Max imminently.
The show will leave the streaming service as part of an end-of-the-month library refresh, and this exodus of content will also see both seasons of Batman: The Brave and the Bold wave goodbye. However, it’s the loss of Justice League Unlimited that will really sting for comic book fans.
Debuting in July 2004, Justice League Unlimited is considered the cap on the DC Animated Universe that began with Batman: The Animated Series back in 1992. It brought together characters from multiple DC shows including Batman Beyond, Superman: The Animated Series and its precursor Justice League series. Upon initial release, it received pretty much universal acclaim with its writing and voicing acting being most often singled out for praise.
Across three seasons and 39 total episodes, this incarnation of the Justice League protected the universe from an eclectic range of villains, and also dealt with internal league politics and interpersonal issues. To this day it’s considered a landmark superhero show, and arguably the best on-screen iteration of the Justice League ever.
Its removal from HBO Max is a real shame, and considerably weakens the service’s offering for superhero fans. The loss of Batman: The Brave and the Bold will also be felt by dedicated DC fans.
This animated Bat-show ran from 2008 to 2011 and was primarily centered around Batman teaming up with various other heroes to fight crime and foil supervillain schemes. Overall it’s a fun show, but its lighter tone didn’t quite resonate with older viewers. And if faced unflattering comparison to Batman: The Animated Series.
Both these shows are set to leave HBO Max tomorrow (Tuesday, Jan. 31) alongside a whole host of popular movies including the first two Fantastic Beasts films, the entire John Wick trilogy and Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park. You can view the full list of what’s leaving HBO Max this month over on Collider.
It’s unknown if these latest removals are related to the larger content purge that HBO Max has endured in recent months. The streaming service has lost multiple original series in the wake of the impending merger of HBO Max and Discovery Plus currently set for this spring.
However, the loss of Justice League Unlimited and Batman: The Brave and the Bold may just be a regular case of streaming service library churn which is far from uncommon. Rival services such as Netflix, Prime Video and Paramount Plus all regularly experience the same thing as well.
