What Could Have Been
Lt. Surge: You won’t live long in combat, that’s for sure. I tell you, kid, electric Pokemon saved me during the war!”
Pokemon Red & Blue
Imagine you’re watching your favorite show. Grand adventures, excellent characters, and the episode ends with a hanging thread. Villains just out of sight or an artifact glowing ominously. You tune in next week, but it goes unmentioned. Okay, perhaps they’re spacing it out. But then the show ends and the plot thread goes nowhere despite your anticipation.
Unresolved plotlines are miserable for fans. The creators hinted at an interesting story, but didn’t follow through. Maybe the show ended before they could get to it or they didn’t care, but it’s unsatisfying. So what are the Top 5 unresolved plotlines in superhero shows? Why didn’t they resolve? What could have been? Don’t worry, we won’t leave you hanging like they did. Let’s find out.
Scene Select
#5 The Apokolips War
Series: Young Justice
Prince Grayven: “Decades ago, she was sent to the Phantom Zone, alone. This is Kara Zor-El: the Supergirl. Together with Mary, they represent the next generation of Furies, ready to take the battle to the so-called heroes who betrayed them.”
Young Justice “Death and Rebirth” (Season 4, Episode 26)
Young Justice loved cliffhanger endings. Each season ended with a hint of what the next would focus on, but this tease was especially cruel. This unresolved plotline ended the series, got picked up briefly during a revival, then ended on a similar cliffhanger when the revival ended.
The Set-Up: Young Justice fought a shadow war against The Light, a coalition of Big Bads who were manipulating the villain community. As missions piled on, the heroes discovered that the hellish world Apokolips was sending advanced weapons to Earth. The series ended with a reveal that The Light and Apokolips were working together.
The Fallout: Apokolips took a larger role in the series revival. Granny Goodness served as the Big Bad of season 3 while heroes Cyborg and Violet were empowered by Apokoliption tech. Viewers learned that The Light’s leader has spent thousands of years trying to conquer Earth while preparing for a war against Apokolips.
The series ended once again on the promise of an all-out war between Apokolips and Earth. Worst of all, they teased a team of villains composed of corrupted heroes Big Barda, Mary Marvel, and Supergirl, the last of whom made her first appearance in the show’s final speech.
#4 Unresolved Plotline: The Night Mary Jane Was Lost
Series: Spider-Man: The Animated Series
Madame Web: “Face front, true believer. We are going to find the real Mary Jane Watson. […] It has been a long, hard journey, and I think you are finally entitled to some happiness.”
Spider-Man: The Animated Series “Farewell, Spider-Man” (Season 5, Episode 13)
Spider-Man: “Amen to that, dear lady. Amen to that.”
Some shows run out of time. They end a season hinting at the next major arc, then don’t get picked up for another season. It’s happened a few times to Spider-Man, but this was the first of his shows ending in an unresolved plotline.
The Set-Up: The Green Goblin learned that Spider-Man was dating Mary Jane Watson and kidnapped her as bait. While Spidey and The Goblin fought, Mary Jane was caught in the crossfire and sent to another dimension.
Spider-Man coped with the heartbreaking loss of Mary Jane until he met a dying clone of her that he thought was the original. Spider-Man eventually accepted that she was gone, but there was light at the end of the tunnel. Madame Web rewarded Spider-Man for saving the multiverse by agreeing to help him find Mary Jane.
The Fallout: Spider-Man: the Animated Series never got a sequel, but the showrunners have mentioned their plans in interviews. Mary Jane was living in 1800s Whitechapel and Spider-Man would bring MJ back to the future after saving her from Jack the Ripper. Or as fans would know him, Carnage.
X-Men ‘97 gave a small nod to the plan 27 years later. Peter Parker and Mary Jane cameoed while watching news coverage of a global disaster. We missed the journey, but know that she found her way home.
#3 Who is Red X?
Series: Teen Titans
Robin: “Who are you?!”
Teen Titans “X” (Season 3, Episode 2)
Red X: “If I wanted you to know that, would I be wearing a mask?”
Villains are often part of unresolved plotlines. A fiend is shown alive in the closing moments and plotting a scheme against the hero who defied them. Others hint at connections to major characters or other potential mysteries. This one has kept his identity a secret for decades.
The Set-Up: Robin had become obsessed with stopping Deathstroke. He created a villainous alter ego called Red X and launched false flag attacks against the Titans to attract Deathstroke’s attention. The villain wasn’t fooled and Robin was left holding the bag when his friends discovered the truth.
Flash forward a few seasons and a new Red X appeared, having stolen the suit and anti-Titan weapons from Robin. The Titans couldn’t stop him and had to be saved by him when facing another villain.
The Fallout: Red X would later reappear as a wild card. He’d often help Robin in between attempts to screw him over. The Titans never tried to capture him or seemed worried about a villain with Batman-level tech and many weapons specifically designed to counter them.
The showrunners never revealed his identity, but fans have a solid guess. Red X was skilled enough to break into the Teen Titans’ base, use sci-fi gear, and outfight Robin. He boasts about being a thief and later snarks that he knows how to be a hero. Put it all together and it leads to thief turned second Robin: Jason Todd.
Damningly, Todd received a very similar identity called Red Hood shortly after Red X’s debut. Coincidence or a dry run of the new anti-hero? You make the call.
#2 Unresolved Plotline: The Search For Aya
Series: Green Lantern: the Animated Series, Justice League: Action, Young Justice
Razer: “I will find you, Aya. I will!”
Young Justice “Encounter Upon the Razor’s Edge!” (Season 4, Episode 19)
Green Lantern brought a new dimension with an unresolved plotline that has been building for three shows. However long fans have to wait, whatever happens in the meantime, they’re hopeful to finally see the conclusion.
The Set-Up: Razer was a Red Lantern who defected after learning that his wife had been murdered by his boss. Razer joined Green Lanterns Hal Jordan, Kilowog and A.I named Aya to battle the Red Lantern Corps. He fell in love with Aya, but his grief and her nascent emotions torpedoed the relationship.
Aya later became a villain seeking to purge the universe of emotion. Razer’s love convinced her to stop and she destroyed herself. Aya’s dying words convinced Razer that she had faked her death and he left the team to search for her, followed by a Blue Lantern Ring.
The Fallout: Razer guest starred in an episode of Young Justice, having lost faith in his search. His friends helped him conquer his rage and regain hope, transforming him into the first Red and Blue Lantern hybrid. Razer resumed his search for Aya.
Hop over to Justice League Action and we’ll find Space Cabbie, an obscure hero escorting VIPs through space. His ship’s A.I. was heavily implied to be remnants of Aya, who partially remembered Razer and left in search of him. The lovers still strive to reunite all these years later.
#1 The Dark Ocean
Series: Digimon
Shadowed Figures: “Beware, child. Our master can sense your power too. And he will come for you.”
Digimon Adventure 02 “His Master’s Voice” (Season 1, Episode 13)
Everyone has at least one unresolved plotline that bugs them forever, a fertile field for stories that were never used to their full potential. It’s been 25 years, but this Digimon episode still screams “wasted potential” whenever I remember it.
The Set-Up: Digidestined Kari fears that she isn’t strong enough to help her friends. She has recurring nightmares of a dismal beach by a dark ocean, and glitches several times before disappearing. Her friends discover that she’s been brought to another dimension, separate from the human and digital worlds, and they follow her there.
Kari discovers a cave of Scubamon enslaved by a corrupted Digimon. Once freed, the Scubamon transform into distorted, humanoid figures. They lured Kari to the Dark Ocean to rape her and have their children inherit her power. Kari’s partner Angewoman scares them off, but they warn her that their master wants her too. After Kari and her friends leave, a gargantuan Cthulhu-esque monster rises from the depths of The Dark Ocean.
The Fallout: His Master’s Voice was a one-off episode paying homage to H.P. Lovecraft’s The Call of Cthulhu. There was never any follow-up on the shadow figures or their master, Dragomon. That was a bad call. The eldritch, terrifying Dark Ocean could have become a major story arc, and Dragomon has potential Big Bad written all over him.
The Dark Ocean has only appeared a handful of times since. It’s where Digimon Adventure 02’s Big Bad first discovered his powers. A few more despondent villains are seen entering it. implicitly trapped forever or killed by the inhabitants. Such a waste of good ol’ fashioned nightmare fuel.
What unresolved plotline from a superhero show do you want to see completed? Did we miss one that still bugs you? Tell us in the comments.
Jared Bounacos has written for Movie Rewind since 2016.
Leave a Reply