What's the Deal with Superman's Cheekbones?

Cheekbones. We've all got 'em, right? Well, Superman and Wonder Woman only had 'em for a handful of episodes. But...why? Why were they there, and why did they disappear? Let's find out, because it's somehow much more interesting than it sounds.
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0:00 - Intro
3:02 - Super-Wimp
4:20 - Swan Song
5:29 - Mature and Rugged
9:06 - Emasculating Superman
11:42 - A Greasy Smear
12:49 - Comic Book Chaos
14:04 - Perfect Blend
14:53 - Miss Cheekbones
17:31 - Extraneous Detail
18:35 - Dig a Little Deeper
21:35 - What Did You Expect?
23:54 - Learned From Their Mistakes
26:11 - Announcements
28:02 - Outro
"Legacies of the DCAU" - our webcomic!
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Spanish subtitles by Marcelo Millicay:
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Stay tuned for more exciting DCAU video content, here at the Watchtower Database.
DISCLAIMER
The Watchtower Database and its creators are unaffiliated 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. All rights reserved.
Hashtags:
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Extra tags:
dcau, dc animated universe, superman, superman cheekbones, cheekbones, justice league, justice league unlimited, batman beyond, bruce timm, james tucker, bruce timm superman, superman dcau, superman jlu, jlu, world of cardboard, darkseid, superman the animated series, wonder woman, batman, animation errors, dcau timeline, dcau justice league, dc, dc comics, dc animated movies, george newbern, superman vs darkseid, lex luthor, superman legacy, superman cheeks, superman cartoon

[@GodzillaMendoza]

I love how she doesn't call her "Miss Cheekbones" in the edited version. That jarring cut made me laugh. James, you're truly the only KZbinr that I could listen to about a line on Superman's face for 30 minutes.

[@dcauwatchtower]

I love you too ❤️

[@mecahhannah]

Agreed

[@johnnydeep7540]

Do I smell a collab between two of my favs 😅

[@srstriker6420]

@@dcauwatchtower did you hear about Batman the Adventures continues season 3 comic?

[@dcauwatchtower]

@@srstriker6420 Yep! Gonna be talking about it on the podcast this year.

[@scrudge5352]

It's impressive that Luthor is able to stay in shape and maintain those cheekbones, considering those 40 cakes he stole

[@skarloey1214]

He doesn't eat the cakes he just takes them to be mean

[@rayvenkman2087]

@@skarloey1214 Girdle Luther

[@finchatforharambe905]

@@skarloey1214 THATS MEAN

[@KRBrickBot]

And that's terrible.

[@GayBastich]

That’s as much as four tens

[@azuresaiyan9005]

Between the cheekbones, baggy eyes, and getting his ass kicked every other episode, I almost believed I skipped an episode and thought Superman was going through some serious Kryptonite cancer that he finally remission from by season 2.

[@CassCat69]

in the last two episodes of superman the animated series, he got brainwashed by darkseid, almost conquered earth, got blasted by a kryptonite missile before getting imprisoned in a military facility under a red sun, then went to apokolips to fight darkseid by himself. in my head season 1 justice league has superman still haggard and recovering from all the trauma from those two episodes 😂

[@Etrodecim]

Bro, I was literally about to type that. I thought I kept missing a recently aired episode that had a plot affecting both Superman and Wonder Woman.

[@kermitgotthesickkicks4265]

@@CassCat69 That's also my headcanon for it.

[@jamesoblivion]

The problem with having a grey highlight on Superman's hair is that most of the team have black hair, but no grey highlight. Which really does make it look like he's just going grey, when he's standing there with Diana, John, and Bruce, all with their jet black hair.

[@leaffinite2001]

Youd think theyd have noticed that since they have eyes but i guess not

[@catalinamelo9932]

I guess earthling shampoo cannot battle those nifty Kryptonian imperfections

[@munya1811]

he's just mewing

[@AitkrapooYT]

Fucking pin this

[@steelydyl]

I'm team no cheekbones but I'm also team who cares? I love that people tried to make an in-show reason for why he develops and then loses the cheekbones. It stands to reason when the people stopped trusting he got Super tired, and when the justice league was formed he felt Super better.

[@steelydyl]

LOL love that you got rid of "miss cheekbones" at the end there

[@Raigius]

Personally I'm team: "Huh? How did I never notice this before? But now that it's been pointed out I can't unsee this... Sans cheekbones looks better to me but I suppose that's cause it's always been my mental image / my brain has apparently been filtering them out mentally all these years..." My team could be a Japanese light novel title....

[@BeeBwakka]

I think it's kind of silly to try and come up with an explanation for a specific physical depiction when characters in the DCAU have had all sorts of varying physical depictions with no further explanation

[@Kpengie]

Also he may have been consciously holding back around the time of JL S1 out of an abundance of caution trying to avoid scaring people with his power following the events of Legacy.

[@Kpengie]

@@BeeBwakka There's no real way to explain away things like Mad Hatter's height and Penguin's vanishing deformities, for example.

[@jellyfishjones4741]

The cheekeboney look definitely worked in the comic art... even the concept art. Just in the cartoon it seems to go in the wrong direction.

[@eghoseisiramen1892]

Yup. He loooks mega tired

[@DileepNow]

Probably cause in the animation, the lines are all the same darkness and thickness.

[@dnmstarsi]

​@@eghoseisiramen1892Given what happened in Legacy, I just imagine how much work he had to put in to make sure the world was in peace and people would trust him again.

[@RacingSnails64]

The long cheek lines just make him look gaunt. I understand all their reasons and even agree he could use a little more detail, but he just looks gaunt. The Swan cheekbones are much smaller and higher up. Those work much better. It gives him the "strong face" detail without making him look sick or old. Also I prefer Wonder Woman with the smoother face as well. It makes her face easier to look at. Her cheek lines feel "visually abrasive" if that makes any sense, not to mention the animation troubles.

[@dcauwatchtower]

Visually abrasive is the perfect term

[@CURTSNIPER]

he always looked old to me

[@Nocturnalday]

The way they were drawn made them less defined as the actual cheek/bone/ and more defined as just a long line going over the fleshy part of the cheek. The Swan cheekbones worked because the actual bone was given volume, whereas the Justice League ones really didn't do anything. Wonder Woman was drawn with proper cheekbones; Superman was gaunt

[@BainesMkII]

I'd say the cheekbone lines were redundant due to the shading already defining the shape of the face, except they didn't even match the two elements. Sometimes the line would be fully surrounded by shadow, which looked weird. Other times the line would be in a fully lit area, but the shadow would be nearby asking the question of why the shaded area didn't just continue to the line. Still other times, one end of the line would be in shadow while the other would be fully lit. (That's without even getting into inconsistent animation, where the cheekbone line might jitter noticeably during head movement.)

[@dcauwatchtower]

I noticed that a lot while editing them out, and honestly, I assume it had something to do with the way the animators drew lines vs shading indicators. The lines that represent where the shading goes were drawn in blue, while the normal lines were in black. If the two sat too close to each other on the paper, they could be accidentally confused with one another by the colorists.

[@mnac1574]

I can't believe I just watched a thirty minute video about Superman's cheekbones... And loved it

[@elhabto]

I feel like if they ever made a kingdom come DCAU film, the cheekbones would feel more at home there. Like, imagine old man Superman farming in his weird biom wearing Harry Potter glasses and his 90s Nightwing hair. That would be perfection

[@ProjektTaku]

absolutely bonkers design.

[@davincent98]

Sadly, they can't

[@ProjektTaku]

@@davincent98 why?

[@bigchez2855]

Definitely prefer season 2's design, but I love how they re-used the season 1 design for For the Man Who Has Everything. It's like they have a sense of humor about the whole ordeal.

[@withyline]

I subscribe to the “Superman was just sad” theory, but with the added detail that he probably isn’t eating enough, which makes his face lose some of its girth, while also making him physically weaker during JL Season 1.

[@KairuHakubi]

he did once say he doesn't need to eat, but I don't see how. If you have to breathe in space, you have to eat. your brain and muscles use sugar, and no matter how much you absorb solar radiation, you can't change it directly into sugar without chlorophyll or somesuch.

[@jordancooperlalala]

During JL season 1, Newburn's performance and the tired-looking design of Superman created a running joke with my friend Dave as we were watching. Often when Superman had lines my friend would go "I'm so sleepy..." in Superman's voice. I always think of that when I watch JL season 1 stuff.

[@CommanderShepard-wq3wo]

I didn’t even know this was a “huge issue” among the DCAU fans…when I noticed the lines as a kid, I thought the cheekbone lines looked weird, then quickly moved on and forgot about them

[@Teddywasneverhere]

that's what normal people do lmao

[@afellowpotato]

Justice League was my first introduction to Superman, so I just thought that's what he looked like.

[@genshaw6794]

That "I'm old now and I'm tired" line as superman falls was funny af

[@noahshafir7282]

Always here for more Superman videos! Personally, I'm team no cheekbones, STAS is still the best look for Supes in the DCAU to me, I still love JL/JLU Superman, but something about Tim Daly's voice and the design of Superman is so pitch perfect for me, makes STAS my favourite DCAU show! I also appreciate the look into Curt Swan as the house style of Superman with DC, like how he was redrawn over JACK KIRBY'S pencils too, it's nutty.

[@ProjektTaku]

dc really wanted curt swan on everything superman.

[@beyondtrash1627]

I've always thought the cheekbones looked pretty bad, but it's cool to hear the reason behind them! And honestly, I think they looked pretty good in the concept art.

[@night6724]

16:23 looks like some inspiration for Wonder woman with the cheek bones

[@Hansel_Cintron]

I've always found it weird that Bruce started off with cheek bones and then lost them as the universe progressed and then the same happened to Clark, but vice versa. Interesting video, nonetheless!

[@CoolPaDuke]

You mentioned how Supes was getting beat up and tossed around like a rag doll in Justice League to show how tough the baddie of the week was. It reminded me of Star Trek: TNG how in the earlier seasons they had the villain beat the spackle out of Worf to show how strong they were. but they didn't establish Worf as being particularly strong, so he just looked like a wimp dressed up as a Klingon.

[@dcauwatchtower]

Exactly!

[@jhonadruid]

I always assumed in Season 1 where they had more lines on there faces was because they were trying to Solo all the crime, thus wearing them down and making them look ragged. And by Season 2 they had all learn to work as a team and rely on each other to lighten the load, thus making them look less stressed. Especially Superman whom trys to help the entire world 24/7

[@tst8613]

I also ascribe to the idea that the stress of winning back the public trust brought on the cheekbones, but I would go a step further and say that the Legacy fight with Darkseid literally depowered Superman for a period of time. Not that he's older but that that his body is reacting to one of the one of the hardest battles he'd had in the DCAU up until that point. So by season two Twilight he's regenerated back to STAS levels. IMO

[@eghoseisiramen1892]

I like this ideaa

[@Casshio]

That's actually a pretty good head canon.

[@annana6098]

Ok, I've taken one art class. Every line you add to a face adds age. On a Superman getting his butt kicked a lot: Oh, the Warf Effect. The gimmick of "oooo the villain is really scary!" only reliably works once; the second time, the audience has doubts.

[@KairuHakubi]

particularly in such a simplified art style as Timm's. What would work for some, absolutely wouldn't for him. and vice versa.

[@andrepaul3483]

The no-cheekbones edit you did for Clark & Diana reminded me of what WB did for Henry Cavill's Superman in Josstice League. Now I want to see a version of JL S1 that doesn't have the cheekbones on Clark & Diana. Make it happen WB!

[@skarloey1214]

Also superman's suit should be black

[@PosthumanHeresy]

A Justice League remastered boxset where it's just brought to 4k and the cheekbones are removed and nothing else changes.

[@Deverosfear]

It’s funny you mentioned Lex Luther’s cancer as when i was a kid I kind of thought that the big reveal at the end of season 1 was going to be superman was dying that’s why he was weaker, that’s why he looked older, that’s why he was talking like an old man and that’s why he formed the league because he wanted to pass on what made him a hero. Then when season 2 came on I thought oh they must have cancelled it because it’s bad taste.

[@jadenbryant9283]

Ironically all star superman did just that

[@blackholetl]

You could argue that the stress of starting to hold back his strength and stick to such a strick morality would weaken a person to a point where they would start loosing battles they would normally tank. Then getting to let loose more and release some of the stress would do a body good.

[@ebensennett3095]

I just wanna say thank you, I was never into DC really until I started watching your videos and discovered the absolute gold that was the DCAU. I just finished Batman beyond and Justice league+JLU and have had an absolute blast with all these shows so far

[@hope-cat4894]

10:27 Nice to hear that they took the fan criticism seriously and didn't brush it off. It shows how much care and heart went into the show, which is really cool.

[@ryanhatesgirls]

The day the Justice League premiered, I was at a friend's birthday party (we were 16) and a few of us were leaving to go watch Justice League, and the birthday girl ditched her own party to come watch it.

[@dcauwatchtower]

Worth it 😎

[@LeviChurch]

Hooray, this is a real new classic Watchtower Database video! Great job everyone!

[@shooshoo4590]

Honestly I think not making them so long wouldve helped the problem. Also the combo of the cheek bones and eyebags overwhelms the face with visual signifiers of age. It doesnt help that no other characters around his age have those features.

[@sewing3049]

No joke, me and my little brother watched the first couple episodes of JL last night and I couldn’t place why he looked so weird to me. Crazy how I just happen to get a video recommended to me the next day

[@misledchip]

1. The cheekbones make him look malnourished, im very glad they were removed 2. I think if they had given him subtle wrinkles similar to john stewart or batman in btas it would've looked better 3. I'm confused as to why superman was aged up but batman looks younger than ever, considering bruce is like 10+ years into being batman at this point Anyways great video!

[@dcauwatchtower]

He’s actually 10+ years into being Batman around the start of BTAS! This is, like, year 20 almost! We’re thinking of doing a video on everything that happened during Batman’s first 10 years…

[@HExtraordinaire]

Just found this channel and i've been hit with a wave of childhood nostalgia that's completely reinvigorated my love for some old hobbies

[@dcauwatchtower]

Awesome! 😁

[@EnergyBurst2]

As far as that art style goes, I'm team no cheekbones, but I'm glad they kept the slightly lighter colored hair highlight as I always saw it as Super Man just having shiny hair due to some hair product or something that he uses to help it maintain that same shape all the time.

[@tiptapricot]

This stuff is so interesting from a production POV with now tiny lines on cartoon characters can change sOOO much of a design’s vibe so quickly. I’m team no cheekbones but the harder jaw he gets in season two, though seeing the edited scenes it’s interesting that his face shape was sharper on its own in season one as well (awesome editing btw!!). I always appreciate you guys doing videos on stuff like this even if it seems dumb bc it brings new looks into the work made on a show and the processes present in cartoons in general. Plus, I got to laugh at “Easy for you to say… how about the autumn sunset?”

[@freeradiomars]

I waited all episode to see if you'd mention the horrific monstrosity that is Superman Doomsday! Team No Cheekbones, but my heart-canon is the "weary" thing. Not enough vitamin d or meta-chlorines or iron or whatever.

[@skarloey1214]

The doomsday cheek bones aren't real they can't hurt us. *GULP* I hope

[@GodShadowdeath]

Exactly darkseid brain washing followed by dying to doomsday and being resurrected with not enough energy followed by running the gauntlet to get his rep back then the league, it seems like he just needed some r and r

[@djpegao]

My belief is that somehow being on Apokalips reduced some of his powers (maybe a wavelength similar to a red sun) and after the end of Superman TAS he worked himself non stop doing Superman things all over the city, state, country and the world exhausted his power levels immensely, which would explain both the tired look and how weak he was. Since he was the one that let the world down, he took it upon himself to "save/protect" the world and everyone around him (including the league) but after seeing that the league was capable he stopped gradually and that's why he was able to look like his old self again.

[@vukopacic1396]

I'm glad someone finally gave this topic the attention it deserves

[@freyathedragon899]

This taught me a lot, as a character designer. People care about little details like this, even if its just two lines. When you design a character, you have to commit. When you go off the traditional script a bit with the design, you have to have meaning behind it.

[@katobrucelee08]

Never thought I'd see a video about Superman's plastic surgery journey

[@bees8390]

I don't understand how you can make a half hour video essay over a line

[@ItsOver9000Productions]

Team No cheekbones! And JLU Supes post cheekbones is also ny definitive Superman. I love George Newborns perfomance as the Big Blue. This video was a ton of fun. I'm also someone who goes insane over visual continuity and consistency.

[@DEGdeatonegabbard]

I didn’t care until I saw the edited versions, but now I’m team no cheekbones. Definitely a better design. That being said, I’ve always loved the way Superman was portrayed in JL and JLU. He needed to be the older wiser mentor, he needed his shit together to lead all of the older members (minus the Flash) and have their respect and be the legend he was. Fantastic video as always! I’m not sure I ever fully noticed that until it was pointed out but I think when I drew him all the time I did do the cheekbones because the coloring book I used for reference had them.

[@FEARisCOLD]

I remember when Superman Doomsday came out and I was like wtf is up with his face. Thats even worse then what they did here in JL.

[@rayvenkman2087]

All cheekbones and no flats.

[@FrancoPalacios]

I love this type of over-analyzing nitpicking videos on this channel. Watchtower Database Never change

[@designerwookiee]

Yo, the editing lining up all these clips of talking characters from DC cartoons to the script/talking points are great. 18:14 - this whole bit starting with Wonder Woman talking and ending with Lex Luther cracked me up.

[@NoNetPlays]

I've never read many comics, so it's always awesome getting to learn how the pages inspired the amazing DCAU!

[@calamaribowl8683]

My head canon is that he gets the cheekbones because of heavy dieting, hence why his mom asks "Have you been eating, Clark? You look thin." After that, Clark realizes he's been dieting too hard, and gradually stops.

[@dcauwatchtower]

I love that, but that’s at the tail end of season 2, where he’s not had the cheekbones the whole time!

[@lm4rt1ns]

I have no words to express how much fun I had watching this video. Amazing script, perfect edition and James' timing for jokes is impressive. TBH, I never liked the cheekbones when I was a kid. But I also tried to find an in universe explanation: in my head, when Superman was back from the Savage Times in season one's ending, somehow the time traveling affected his age and make him a little bit younger / stronger because of... reasons (I was 11 years old so don't judge me). Nowaday I accept better the different visuals between the TV shows / comics but you have no idea (actually I know you have) of how many different theories I created to justify these art styles (especially between BTAS/TNBA). Anyway, thank you again guys, you made my day!

[@Gsmooth84]

I Remember seeing a flashback of Superman in a Batman Beyond Episode "The Call Part 2" I though it was awesome seeing him in the digital style with the brighter colors. I jumped for joy when I saw which episode that was from and how it tied into the Starro story.

[@dcauwatchtower]

Yeah! Pretty dang cool. We did a whole video on Starro a couple years ago if you haven't seen!

[@1MarmadukeFan]

I like strong cheekbones on Supes but the black lines look like wrinkles. There’s a cartoon adage that every line you draw on a face adds 10 years. You can depict a character with strong cheekbones using shading without a harsh black line.

[@GabiBrooks]

Def noticed the change in WW' s cheekbones but not in Superman's case. Huh. Must be the Clark Kent glasses 😂

[@LuizFelipe.1689]

I love when you make this kind of video! Hope you guys reach 100K subscribers soon! You truly deserve it!

[@driveasandwich6734]

I was literally looking at the cheekbones on an illustration of Tyler Hoechlin's Supe when I got this notification

[@ozone7792]

21:30 I cannot believe that you actually animated old Bruce saying "except for the cheekbone development, please leave that out of the equation, that s*** is bananas." A+++++ work

[@cameoshadowness7757]

I say the cheek bones could have worked as long as they kept him strong.

[@Farmeryeti]

I didnt realise the cheekbones were such a contentious topic, I don't think I ever really thought about it until seeing this video. Superman never looked particularly old or anything to me with the cheek lines, he just looked a little different.

[@carlitogilchrist1939]

Thank you! I just rewatched Superman and Justice League recently after years and thought I was on crack!

[@SylentEcho]

You're absolutely right about Curt Swan's Superman being the one everyone knew. I'm a '90s kid, but that version was the only Superman I knew until I was about 6 or 7. P.S: Will there be any videos reviewing the Adventures line from the comics? Puckett/Parobeck/Burchett was one of the best teams ever!

[@dcauwatchtower]

Absolutely! We do a show called "Will It Canon?" where we analyze those kinds of things.

[@grifomitadas]

Finally! A channel about serious matters.

[@zadoc2339]

Watching these videos points out stuff I subconsciously noticed but never figured out like how they replaced his voice actor and yeah those damn cheekbones

[@dcauwatchtower]

🫡

[@jthompson52087]

I love that you made 30+ min video on Superman’s cheek bones. Simply amazing.

[@mvalentino5650]

To me it’s not even the cheek bones that made him look so old, it’s the under eye bags

[@nicolasmontes7207]

Great video as always guys Looking foward to whatever the future holds for this channel, specially that Will It Canon BTW I believe that its confirmed that The Batman its in the same continuity with that Legion of Superheroes cartoon from 06

[@LowellLucasJr.]

In my defense as a fan of your channel, I was patiently waiting for the Ivy video longer than the cheek bones vid...and like that ivy video, you've finally delivered!

[@lilithcal]

I seem to recall a golden age comic where Superman infiltrated an alien invasion by reshaping his face. He even pointed pointed out the cheekbones.

[@The_Phantasm]

Another character to whom they also added cheekbones in Justice League was Lex Luthor however in my opinion he actually benefited from having them.

[@dcauwatchtower]

Yep, keep watchin’!

[@The_Phantasm]

@@dcauwatchtower Sorry I was halfway through the video when I wrote that.

[@Ozito787]

hahahahaha man now I can't unsee that, I never noticed till I found this masterpiece of a video! Great channel & content 👌🏼💯

[@aguspuig6615]

Those cheekbone lines are the cartoon trait that makes a character ''handsome'', just like giving a character a little white hair and a single wrinkle makes them ''old''. When i see the original superman i think ''he looks good, i enjoy looking at it'', with the added cheekbone line i think something along the lines of ''okay i get that hes suposed to be handsome, because he has that line'' i dont really feel it, even if i get that the message is the same

[@wiggard]

Imo it would be handsome if he didn't have the eye bags.

[@dannybuckle3763]

You know I never gave a shit one way or the other about the cheekbones until I saw the edit of them on the World of Cardboard scene; that is disgustingly cursed

[@PotatoMateYT]

This is the first video of this dude’s that I’ve watched……and the intro sequence immediately sold me- you just earned yourself another subscriber😂

[@dcauwatchtower]

Beautiful!

[@DiddyKongVsLuigi]

I always thought you guys had at least 100k subs. Even back when I first discovered you guys a couple years ago via Yellow Batman Beyond Chest. God damn, you guys are under subbed! You’ll get there, but man I really gotta pay more attention to more than just the video and the comment section. 😅

[@henrybelman7424]

excellent work as always

[@foldabotZ]

Honestly, I've never had a problem with the cheekbones. Even when I was watching Justice League simultaneously with re-runs of STAS, it didn't stick out to me, as I though he simply got older between shows(I didn't know about the timeline yet). Nor did I have a problem with the change in voice actor, I'm personally more partial to George Newbern as Superman. I never even knew the difference between the actors, they sounded similar enough to me a kid back then. ADDENDUM: It’s like Uncle Iroh in Avatar. Mako voiced him until the middle of Book 2, when he had died of cancer. Greg Baldwin, his understudy, took over but I didn’t know ANY of that at the time. No one else seemed to, it’s like that. Now, if I had a peference: I’d rank the design from season 2 onwards as first, the original STAS second, and the season 1 design with cheekbones third.

[@andrepaul3483]

Tim is FANTASTIC. But George did it better IMO. Mostly because he just sounds like how Superman should sound. To me anyways.

[@girlonatightrope9395]

I ALWAYS wondered about this! Thank you! Sidebar, the classic TV show aside, the character designs Superman/Batman: apocalypse are my personal favorite ❤

[@d3duction1st23]

Love some Superman videos!! Also team no cheekbones but Season 1 JL Superman has a special place in my heart. Also also really appreciate the Nickelback joke again 🤣😂🤣

[@NIDELLANEUM]

Hey, it's been a long time since I last saw a video made by you this soon after it was released. I hope you are doing fine and that your 2023 started well.

[@Power-9Hunnid]

If the DCAU Superman Beyond ever return in animated or tie-in comic form, then I think it's reasonable to give him the cheekbones or maybe save them for another parallel version of him.

[@stormy2049]

Love that you also took off the cheek bone mention for the scene with Diana at 29:00

[@ChrisParrishOutdoors]

Now that Superman has a reliable team he was able to relax, get some sleep, and start eating good, hence the season 2 change and power up.

[@patbingsuyaa]

The timing of your video is impeccable! i just binged stas and JL during the holidays and had nobody to talk to about the face changes. I'm sort of on the 'no cheekbones' team. seeing supes immediately after stas was very jarring to me. the original face had this "regal kindness" to it. I appreciate the intent for the resculpt, but it just didn't translate well with the simple style and exaggerated proportions, making him look a bit monstrous and spiteful. I imagine wonder woman animators were scratching their heads as well. that said, the s1 JL face was my childhood. my dad brought us home the dvd back in '02 and that was my first dcau experience

[@aland64]

Agradezco los subtítulos al español. Ojala sus videos lleguen a mas personas porque son de excelente calidad.

[@justinwright4628]

I know how you feel about watching stuff after bedtime. I tried to watch Dragon Ball GT and later 1000 Ways to Die when I was younger and at times I would get caught by my parents for it. Tim Daly was going to reprise his role in Justice League, but he couldn't due to his work on a remake of The Fugitive. Hence him being replaced by George Newbern. Also, you're right. Wonder Woman had cheekbones too, but they weren't as noticeable as Superman's.

[@raculpeper]

Yo! The editing of the cheekbones at the end of this video was brilliant, especially when you censored the lady mentioning WW cheekbones. I lost it 🤣

[@nightblockprimecraft9284]

Clicked instantly. Gotta use the last 7% of battery I have to watch this video

[@thegoosefather8584]

Literally was just watching Justice League and wondered this to myself.

[@Denden971]

Finding this video was a good surprise. It's the first time I see someone else mention this detail which was objectively a mistake. Thanks for giving me a voice, if I dare say 🙂

[@JacobyJ56]

You can't say babyface! That is our word! You're exposing the business!

[@bozellii]

Another instant classic! Team no cheekbones all the way. So cool seeing the Season 1 scenes w/o cheekbones. Never realized how much I DIDN'T like them on Wonder Woman. I knew I always preferred her look season 2 onward, but seeing them edited out made me realize just how glad I am they took them away. I never liked Superman's cheekbones either. That edited world of cardboard speech was a jump scare 😂

[@raulzavala9061]

Superman's design on the animated movie Superman: Doomsday with sunken cheekbones made him look like Edward James Olmos.

[@hydeousProphecy]

21:30 The fact that you actually bothered to sync his mouth movements is incredible.

[@gusta8872]

It's incredible how good a video about 2 simple lines can be

[@jacobwilliams1223]

The cheekbones wouldn't have been nearly as notable an issue if Superman by pure coincidence wasn't also being written as the Worf of Justice League. Those issues just compounded each other and the change both in visual and more importantly in portrayal was for the best.

[@rayvenkman2087]

It's like an unintentional visual indicator to the viewer on which is the good JL season or the weak one by seeing if it's got the cheekbones like Star Trek TNG's S3-7 two-piece vs S1-2 one piece.

[@c-handle2676]

I had forgotten how Season 1 JL Superman was a victim of the Worf Effect.

[@greanbeen2816]

The issue with the highlights in the hair is that while the comic books’ blue highlights are less realistic, they make it much more clear that it’s just shine and also match better with his overall design

[@anthonysmith3415]

I know it's not relevant to the topic but I loved the clips you used for gags especially the Luthor ones, they were hilarious

[@SpencerN.C.]

Not gonna lie: big fan of the DCAU but I never notice the cheekbones. I remember Supes looking different, but I never really paid attention to the details, lol

[@charleschamp9826]

Cheekbones are the Sonic Green Eyes of the DCAU.

[@reversepickle5923]

Bruh, i actually screamed out "finally" when James said the will it canon for The Batman and Teen Titans is gonna happen. I remember asking for the video in the comments since like 2017

[@dcauwatchtower]

It’ll only happen if we reach 200 patrons!

[@afellowpotato]

Justice League was my first introduction to Superman, so I just thought that's what he looked like.