Lex Luthor for PRESIDENT?! "Justice League Unlimited" Timeline!

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We all know Lex Luthor never actually became president in the DCAU. But what if he did? What real-world U.S. president would he be replacing?
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The Watchtower Database is an upcoming fansite collecting all known information on the DC Animated Universe, or DCAU, the 14-year-spanning animated saga produced by Warner Bros. and DC Comics under the creative team of Bruce Timm, Paul Dini, Dwayne McDuffie, and others. WDb's expansive catalog of characters, episodes, imagery, and more will be highlighted by the quarter-turn, full-body images for every single character to have appeared on the shows, as well as many other treats for DCAU fans.
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The Watchtower Database is in no way affiliated with Warner Bros., DC Entertainment, or any other official DC Animated Universe producer or source. WDb is a fan-run, non-profit website and does not claim to own any of its presented properties. "Batman: the Animated Series," "The Adventures of Batman & Robin," "The New Batman Adventures," "Superman: the Animated Series," "The New Batman/Superman Adventures," "Batman Beyond," "The Zeta Project," "Static Shock," "Justice League," "Justice League Unlimited," and all related names, logos, and indicia are trademark and ©1992-2006 DC Comics and Warner Bros. Television Animation. The Watchtower Database channel and related content is copyright of JTS Entertainment. All rights reserved.

[@JsReviews]

Seriously...these are some of favorite KZbin videos.

[@garganrose]

I have a better question. What political party would take lex luthor?

[@RadinV1]

@@garganrose since lex is pretty much Donald Trump I'd say Republicans

[@tomhill3248]

@@RadinV1 He strikes me as more of an Obama type to me. Smooth criminal, more War crimes. Not as braggadocios or arrogant.

[@RadinV1]

@@tomhill3248 Fair point. Has it been established what the public thinks of Lex?

[@tomhill3248]

@@RadinV1 I think Luthor is well liked. After all, they like Superman and Luthor tried ton kill supes for years. Lex must have been popular. Also, he had a chance of winning so, there's that.

[@stevemanart]

The reason Question tried to kill Lex wasn't to end a time loop, it was because he believe it was unavoidable that Superman would eventually kill Lex and he couldn't let Superman do it. The League could disavow the crazy conspiracy theorist part-timer, but not Superman.

[@michaelf9664]

Actually, at the time the episode was released, the main media narrative was that Gore and W. Bush were BOTH boring. I remember SNL even had a skit where news anchors were bemoaning how boring everything was going to be when the nominations coalesced. That narrative eventually changed closer to November as W. Bush got more spotlight and both his more affable personality and his gaffes were more obvious, not to mention the policy differences. And then the Florida debacle, of course. So the Batman Beyond episode was hedging its bets-- it just got it wrong anyway.

[@Compucles]

Even so, how do you forget that the second Bush was just two Presidents after the first President Bush who you did remember?

[@booploops22]

Great video. Honestly you don't need a topic, just spout a bunch of DCAU microanalyses and we're good.

[@TimThomason]

If George W. Bush only served one term, and things like 9/11 and the Iraq War are prevented due to the presence of an unsanctioned group of vigilantes in a satellite fighting off alien invasions every couple years, then maybe he does go down in history as "the boring one" (I'll assume even crazier stuff continued to happen post-2005, like the near apocalypse of '09). Even today, kids barely remember GW Bush in light of our current President and the prior one. But seriously though, that episode was made in 2000, I believe. "Boring" was a typical designation given to Al Gore at the time. It's a secret presidential election prediction that didn't span out.

[@dcauwatchtower]

Well...sure. Haha. But we gotta use what we can! The “boring one” debate is just part of the whole scheme of President-narrowing, but doesn’t really affect the conclusion.

[@MildMisanthropeMaybeMassive]

Futurama’s Al Gore dollar bills also didn’t age so well. Gore’s daughter wrote for that show.

[@michaelf9664]

"Boring" was the common "wisdom" about BOTH main candidates actually, at least around the time the episode was made. That changed a lot closer to the general election date. See my comment...

[@KingMonkeyMon]

Bush was an @ss who got us into a war we didnt belong but come 2021 Zho Ziden is the president and even the progressives and Democrats hate everything that he has done in 2021

[@cavespider1074]

But isn't it plausible that Joe McPresident looks like a smudgy George Bush? Or that teacher could just have a thing for Bush. Who knows.

[@slashandbones13]

Maybe the school was in Texas, where he was governor

[@47shadesofblue697]

This has to be the most underrated channel I've ever subscribed to.

[@thomashaberl2858]

"The Boring One" was obviously them assuming AL GORE was going to win next.

[@jesussaldana4558]

At 6:59, never have we ever wanted lex to be more president than when you hit us with that reality marble lol.

[@hoopsonwheels]

President Luthor Interesting he might be a villain but he’s also intelligent which means he might have had a very decent if not successful administration

[@camm5981]

More! I want more of this show! (1st)

[@GiubileiFernando]

"A supervillain like Lex becoming president is so unrealistic." - Me as a teen. Oh, how wrong we were.

[@tomhill3248]

What do you mean? Hillary lost. Now, if joker had run for president, THEN you'd have been wrong. ...g-get it? Cause he's a reality TV star? An entertainer? ....ya know, a clown.

[@GiubileiFernando]

@@tomhill3248 Luthor was an industrialist businessman, way closer to Trump than Hillary. It's no coincidence that Zack Snyder turned him into a liberal caricature which was compared to the Joker a lot.

[@tomhill3248]

@@GiubileiFernando I always thought of Luthor as more of an Obama. He even has the same head shape. Plus, Trumps more of a bully. More like, say....hmm, having trouble coming up with a leader who's also just a warlord. Can you help me out here? ZOD! Nevermind! It's Zod.

[@KhanhNguyen-mh5ec]

@@tomhill3248 I mean…he has two things connected to trump. An industrial billionaire who don’t like illegal alien,

[@warmfuzzy1]

Who'd have thought the DCAU would merge with Earth Prime and we'd have Lex as "president" now? That wig he's wearing ain't fooling me.

[@dcauwatchtower]

Nah. Lex is WAY smarter.

[@bul13ts]

Going to self checkout stand so the cashier doesn't know I still watch cartoons... Christ, that's relatable.

[@leonardslye8658]

I love the timeline vids these are so fun and helpful to watch cause I'm a supernerd

[@DCcomiconlinechannel]

Flash was obciously messing with the tv shows timelines duh

[@jimmyhasnofingers4242]

Great video! would love more

[@Shadowfanification]

The trailing of words before president has earned you a Sub and a like.

[@Anti-HyperLink]

I think that the Joker would've recognized Batman's voice when he met Bruce, but being the Joker, kept it a secret because he's crazy and nothing he does makes sense.

[@omarh.8044]

Love the show! But one thing that always gets me is... On what year did Tim drake get corrupted by the joker? Was this post JLU or pre JLU? If post, then that means tim is pretty older than I thought in that movie's (return of the joker) flashback

[@Gokitalo]

Looking forward to that video! Because on the web site for the New Batman-Superman Adventures, Tim Drake's said to be 13 when he meets Batman. If Supergirl's 16 around that time and is 21 when she meets the LoSH, then Tim would be... 18 at that point? Bit older than he looks in RoTJ...

[@GiubileiFernando]

@@Gokitalo The flashback scenes in RoTJ are just that, flashbacks a character has while remembering events, the designs can be explained as the characters remembering things wrong.

[@theleonpasta7336]

I just kinda accept the idea that Tim was much older than he appeared in the flashback. Tim appears in Static Shock in the Robin costume looking a bit older than in TNBA so I can accept that BB jumped the gun and Tim is actually in his mid to late teens in the flashback.

[@Kiwivurse]

Damn! I wonder how long all that research took. Great video.

[@dcauwatchtower]

It’s how we spend most of our free time.

[@crazyguyinmak77]

More of this please. This was great.

[@angrygarbanzo5436]

8:20: Half of me thought that was just a throw-away line, the other heavily considered it being a reference to a prior episode. Glad to have it sorted out.

[@redjirachi1]

If Luthor is running for president, does that mean he's at least 35? Because you have to be to run for president

[@dcauwatchtower]

Sure! No reason he couldn’t be.

[@WhistleMeThis]

That 2005 post by Bruce Timm is refreshing. Makes the DCAU much more timeless and fresh.

[@maxalaintwo3578]

It'd be timeless regardless

[@aidanklobuchar1798]

I appreciate the DC one million reference made at 2:20 :)

[@Abominatrix650]

At 2:20 - "853rd" - I see your DC One Million year setting reference, Mattie. Y'all ain't slick! (Until you slip in a reference I actually miss, then you are slick!)

[@dcauwatchtower]

I feel like that wasn’t even on purpose…but, uh, we can pretend it i-YES IT WAS ON PURPOSE!

[@theyoungladd7700]

Keep doing them

[@CameronKiesser]

Love these videos.

[@john_doe406]

I really want to see more of these

[@TobeWilsonNetwork]

Maybe the funniest thing in the entire series is the idea that Lex, as the elected President, personally executes The Flash with a shotgun on the lawn of the Oval Office. Just putting him down like a dog on live TV

[@barryscott9590]

Bloody loved this

[@awesomekid333]

Let Mattie keep doing these videos! I love them

[@AlphaGodzillaBuddies]

Nice video.

[@elijahadkins8857]

loved the vid

[@jyoder1]

The date issue is normally solved by the flash going back in time and rebooting.

[@dcauwatchtower]

Which he never did in the DCAU...that we know of.

[@oatmat]

this was great!!!!

[@brock985]

Rewatching the story from the beginning. Legendary shit

[@trumpetnerd8431]

Rewatching the storyline since the timeline revisited video is out

[@theworldofchris6736]

Make more of these I like it

[@AlphaGodzillaBuddies]

Could you guys do a review on the Batman Beyond episode with the Terrific Trio?

[@TheGr8T8Channel]

Wayne dropping $1M on my birthday in '97? Wait! Where's ma check, Bruce?

[@yodaflyz]

Bush: Rarely is the question asked, is our children learning. Bush: I know how hard it is to put food on your family He had a lot of silly quotes. 😂

[@zerowing3213]

I'm excited about the deau timeline

[@AlphaGodzillaBuddies]

I've seen A Better World, Luthor became President of the United States, kills Flash, threatens to start a nuclear war as the Justice League go to the Whitehouse, defeated the guards as Superman kills Luthor, and the Justice League became the Justice Lords. Superman lobotomized most of the villains and took over the Earth.

[@dcauwatchtower]

Yep! In an alternate timeline.

[@crystalpokedude4329]

Batman Beyond didn't name a president after Clinton because like 80% of the series was written before the 2000 election (the show ran 1999-2001.)

[@dcauwatchtower]

Yes, we know 😅

[@barq6994]

Love timeline videos. Can You do one figuring out when Batman&Harley occured? My breif research said the point in Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker where it shows when Harley and Joker "die" is 2009 so does B&H happen before then?

[@dcauwatchtower]

We have two upcoming videos you'll want to look out for. First is a "Batman Beyond" timeline video (which may or may not be split into 2 parts) in the next few weeks, then soon after a timeline video on "Batman and Harley Quinn," since the movie's tie-in comics have finally finished being released. Glad you enjoyed the video!

[@falleneldor]

President Ralph Nader may have been the "boring one" but as far as timelines go, that's what a citizen wants out of their elected god emper uh I mean presidents. In every universe where Nader was president it would make sense that a business man like lex would try and run against them. Almost like the 2016 election would have been Trump vs Sanders before Hillary Flashpointed us in our currant timeline...

[@MegaCatman45]

Do the batman and harley quinn timeline video!!!

[@dcauwatchtower]

GreenRanger We will! We’re waiting for the prequel and sequel comics to finish coming out. Last one is supposed to release this week...unless it gets pushed back again like it has maybe 10 times already...

[@ttiger86]

So it wasn't George W bc you don't think he was boring and his name isn't mentioned in the DCAU? Is that it? By what if Maxine found him to be boring in comparison to Clinton who had affairs with women and that scandal during his presidency? I mean Bush can seem pretty boring after all that right? Joe McPresident is never given a name but that era was Bush's presidency in the real world. So why not? I don't see a real argument for a break from the real world's timeline of presidents here.

[@lance3059]

A video about Lex Luthor's presidency and a BERN sound not included? I FEEL BETRAYED

[@205mohamad]

at 12:12 you missed the chance to do the x-files theme

[@soup7913]

Lol presidential add right before this 😂

[@scottsteele1108]

That was pretty good

[@dcauwatchtower]

Wow. Are you serious?

[@michaelbrent854]

What would happen if the JL recruited Saitama , Rick Sanchez or Earthworm jim in the Dcau.The insanity would be too for the Villains.

[@src6339]

Do you know how much power lex luthor would have to give up to become president?

[@andreiaromanesei9270]

Hank Anderson for president?Hell yeah

[@earlgrey8143]

4:55 you missed the chance to make a Hamilton reference. So I will make it for you. "Never gon' be president now, never gon' be president now. That's one less thing to worry about, one less thing to worry about!"

[@ttiger86]

When you mention the president doesn't sound like Bill Clinton...I always thought he sounded like George W.

[@ybrix101]

Luthor becomes president in the same parallel universe where Hal Jordan is Green Lantern.

[@dcauwatchtower]

Don’t forget the Justice Lords universe!

[@ybrix101]

@@dcauwatchtower Yea. You guys do a great job but it's a bit over-whelming. You guys bring up things I miss or haven't given a though to.

[@pattersong6637]

You never considered the possibility that Bill Clinton could've been a one termer in this world and lost reelection in 1996. You could have a non-Clinton President as early as 1997. The "boring one" could be a two termer who can't run for reelection in 2004, leaving an open seat race, in that scenario.

[@dadeleemurphy85]

lol also superman likes to "toss men's Salads" - way to go DCAU.

[@Gamer1288]

9:50 That makes sense though as She is from Argo, not Krypton.

[@dcauwatchtower]

It does, but she’s weak to Kryptonite in several episodes, so it doesn’t work

[@JacobyJ56]

I have a question when does Mask of the phantasom take place? If the police are hunting Batman wouldn't Barbara do something about it? And where the hell is Robin the whole time?

[@rbraunbeck96]

Mask of the Phantasm is in Batman's early years

[@michaelandreipalon359]

I still think "the Boring One" is probably President Van Buren, while "the Underused One" is President Harrison. Eh, Hilary would have still been the saner, better choice in the elections. What we would do to do a Flashpoint to benefit the sick world nowadays? Anyways, astounding how, in spite of a few hiccups here and there, the writers and animators sure succeeded in doing a good example of contemporary fiction-to-real life timeline for the DCAU as a whole. In the meantime, I hope some new ensemble of animators, storytellers, pennists (that a synonym for "writers"?), and voice actors give us another piece of fine continuity amalgamation akin to JLU; I'll personally give or take a Disney animation Crossover Nexus serialization involving the likes of the thematically similar Gravity Falls, Amphibia, and The Owl House, focusing on the aftermath of their respective storylines and their endgames... and yes, that would mean the protags will also confront their own CADMUS.

[@tHeWasTeDYouTh]

I LOVE THIS!!!!!

[@Bob78550]

HI ,just finished your last book thats out number 5.So i have to ask,is that it when is the next issue? i ask because i still have so many questions, im leaving on this vedio because in the main story the luther presentcytook place in 52, the same series waverider died in.And i thought that lex luther made the liner men outlaws.

[@dcauwatchtower]

Bob78550 Hi! #5 is definitely not the final issue. We’re working on the next two right now, and there will be many more to come after that!

[@Bob78550]

Okay, good that means that I get to see Wave Rider and Brother Power maybe?

[@dcauwatchtower]

Waverider certainly plays a big part in one of our upcoming stories!

[@Bob78550]

AWSOME

[@AAllen-br8it]

LUTHOR 2020

[@ReachingHigher001]

6:35 - 😂

[@slashandbones13]

Maybe the school was in Texas, where he was governor

[@silvercomet6782]

I like these kinds of videos #continuityisbae

[@Anti-HyperLink]

What even are Peanuts time and Dick Tracey time? Frigging Bruce Timm and his words.

[@dcauwatchtower]

Peanuts Time = they never age Dick Tracy Time = they age when it’s appropriate for the story

[@El_gato-interestelar123]

In Little Girl Lost, is referenced Apokalips Now in that finale Season episode a Character dies, that character appears in world finest

[@dcauwatchtower]

In production order, yes. In airdate order or DVD order, he doesn't appear again after he's gone.

[@El_gato-interestelar123]

@@dcauwatchtower that The point, un this Video and The DCAU Timeline, You put Before World Finest but that don't make sense with that death

[@dcauwatchtower]

It's been years since we made this video, so I don't have perfect recollection. But just know we'll do a Superman TAS timeline video someday!

[@El_gato-interestelar123]

@@dcauwatchtower Ok, Thanks for thiz amazing Videos

[@El_gato-interestelar123]

@@dcauwatchtower You gave me a heart at 3:00 AM? Most Important Why am I awake at 3:00 AM?

[@Anti-HyperLink]

Rules and regulation for a timeline?

[@dcauwatchtower]

You’d be surprised

[@toddbenoit7763]

More Matty

[@burkesullivan9086]

Luthor vs Trump Bald vs Orange Kryptonite vs Hate Tweets Who. Is. Worse?

[@prinzessinugk1279]

Luthor is better-looking.

[@shelbybayer200]

I was born in 1997 Which means Dick graduated right around my birth

[@Anti-HyperLink]

Did James and Ted give you your own Suicune?

[@Darth-vade123]

How dare he call Reagan boring

[@KairuHakubi]

Huh. I remember Kara being naked in her cryo-tube. I'm gonna just continue to remember it that way. as for the rest of it, er, actually.. back in the early 2000s a lot of us were pretty fucking ambivalent about politics. the major bushbashing didn't really come til his 2nd term, so it's safe to say had someone else beaten him, he could easily have been considered "the boring one" by teenagers 40 years later (That's why the Beyond line was written that way, it's how it felt before the election) that said, it's not nearly as believable that someone memorizing lists of presidents would so easily forget a repeated name. You don't forget the two addamses after all. so... maybe that teacher with the portrait just really, really liked a certain texas senator.

[@ybrix101]

He was never a senator. But maybe in DCAU timeline he was. 🤔

[@Ahmed-DB]

Lex *did* become president tho, Superman Beyond comics...

[@dcauwatchtower]

Those may or may not be canon to the DCAU.

[@andreiaromanesei9270]

Happy birthday Clancy Brown!

[@epicbruhmoment6985]

This would still put Bush as the president before Lex and I imagine that hypothetically without a certain key event of Bushes first term he would have been remembered as more boring than how we now see him. And well I'm obviously glad they wouldn't show this I do imagine the likes of Superman and the Justice League could easily prevent that *ahem* Certain key event.

[@delycan4912]

Timeline: Origins

[@MrQdiddy85]

And when they mentioned Beyonce in the static shock Batman Beyond crossover

[@Anti-HyperLink]

I wish was watching this channel when it started. *sigh*

[@brent1222]

Who else watching this back in 2020 election time?

[@dcauwatchtower]

Me

[@nasirwright2184]

BATMAN MORE RICHER AND MORE SKILLED BUT LEX IS SMARTER

[@ethans934]

The near apocalypse of ‘09 all I’m saying is continuity wasn’t at the forefront

[@dcauwatchtower]

In JLU it certainly was. 2009 is a year in the DCAU we’ve not ever seen, so nothing contradicts those off-screen events.

[@LeviChurch]

Lex Flipping Luthor

[@paulmacdonald5135]

DCAU was always confusing with the time line

[@AlexTCGProYT]

Can we really coexist peacefully with fish?

[@Actuallyfactually]

How about 1999

[@dcauwatchtower]

Hm?

[@jeremymcalister5720]

Yes please

[@dcauwatchtower]

If that’s in reference to wanting more timeline videos, we have several! Check out our “History of the DCAU” and “The Vanishing Point” playlists!

[@meamishere1166]

M's dress? 2:03 Who's "M?"

[@dcauwatchtower]

Monica Lewinski

[@meamishere1166]

@@dcauwatchtower Ugh... Sorry I asked.

[@Claudanne2]

He could've been running against W, right?

[@SwornHeresy]

No. Dubya would have been Lex's running mate.

[@Claudanne2]

I somehow imagined Lex running as a third party candidate.

[@monkey9208]

.

[@Anti-HyperLink]

So a season of a show about a bunch of superheroes was all about American politics. Of course it was. And things haven't changed for the better. They've only gotten worse.

[@TheKimmychi]

The 50 years after current DCAU Time makes no sense. Warhawk is suppose to be in his late 20s. But if that’s true, that means John and Shayera has Rex in their 50s or 60s, assuming their in their 30s in JLU. Dwayne McDuffy said John and Shayera did get back together but we don’t know when. I don’t think either of them would wait 20ish years to finally hook up again. So let’s say they got back together a few years after Darkseid & Luther disappear; after a few month live making, you’d think Shayera would’ve gotten pregnant. UNLESS human and thanagarian dna aren’t completely compatible. So after years of failing to conceive a child the old fashion way, they find a way to conceive with help of technology. And who do we know that has some of the most advance Technology on the planet? Bruce Wayne. So, they go to their good friend Bruce, ask him for help have a baby. Old Man Bruce helps them out. Maybe he has some sort of dna altering device in the form of an injection or pill, but Shayera takes it and it works. John and Shayera do the do and 9 months later, Rex Stewart is born. And 20ish years later, Warhawk joins the JLU. Anyway, sorry this was long. I know this isn’t related to the video. The 50 years rule on Batman Beyond always bothered me and I wanted to try to make sense of it. 😕

[@dcauwatchtower]

TheKimmychi Not a bad fanfiction! I would say Warhawk is at least in his 30s, but there’s no real way to tell. Similarly, “Batman Beyond” begins in about 2039/2040, and JLU ends in 2004, so it’s not even 40 years later that we would see Warhawk in that era. We’ll be discussing the “Batman Beyond” timeline in an upcoming video.

[@TheKimmychi]

Watchtower Database too bad I’m not very good at writing fanfiction. Either way, i don’t actually believe its 50 years in the future. The shows and creators have never been consistent. I look forward to seeing the video.

[@CZPC]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO