Kin Shriner's Green Arrow would go on to serve as a voice of reason throughout the epic events of JLU, and this episode is a perfect introduction. The JLU creative team introduces us to this larger-than-life superhero show through the eyes of the most street-level vigilante around. With these two episodes, JLU carefully threads the needle between glorifying and interrogating super-heroism. All of this tension builds to the explosive twist in “Flashpoint”: Lex hacks the Watchtower’s big gun and fires on a government building, wreaking havoc in the surrounding area and further driving home just how dangerous the League could be (The sequence purposefully evokes 9/11, because this show was nothing if not topical when it aired). The Question, one of the heroes, is so frightened by the thought of an evil Superman that he does everything in his power to stop that from happening, like trying to kill Lex Luthor before Superman gets the chance. All of this creates a rather complex characterization of the Man of Steel, because we’re shown that he’s just as susceptible to darker human emotions like hubris. Not only that, but he turns around and launches an unsanctioned assault on a Cadmus facility.
Here, Superman’s arrogance is on full display in almost every interaction he was - with Lois Lane, Emil Hamilton, and the Question - because he can’t understand why people would afraid of him and his super-powered friends.
government become fearful of the League’s power and develop countermeasures in case it ever broke bad - the series raised complex moral questions like, should the League be allowed to work unchecked? What are the best uses of its power? Is there something inherently dangerous about the League? This thematic exploration climaxed in these two episodes, which are JLU’s smartest and most sobering half-hours because they take the government’s fears very seriously and admit that they may have a point. Through the Cadmus arc - which saw the U.S.
Justice League Unlimited was the most political DCAU show, especially in its first two seasons, which were concerned with how the Justice League wielded its enormous power.