Posted in: HBO, Preview, streaming, Trailer, TV | Tagged: hbo max, phantoms, preview, season 4, trailer, young justice

Young Justice: Phantoms – Nightwing & Aquaman Reflect on Those Lost

With Greg Weisman and Brandon Vietti's Young Justice "Phantoms: Arc 4" kicking off with three new episodes on March 31, viewers are getting a chance to preview what's to come that gets to the heart of one of the key themes this season. As you're about to see in the following clip, Dick Grayson (Jesse McCartney) and Kaldur'ahm (Khary Payton) pause the action to reflect on the friends they've along the way (with the death of Superboy being the most recent). "We are extremely reluctant to kill a character. Our audience may believe we're cruel bastards, and we are! But we don't kill any character lightly," Weisman shared with EW during an interview. "Death is a fact of life, and if we're going to do a show with sci-fi and magic but still try to make it feel real, then death has to be a part of that. The trick is that it's never 'okay, that character's gone, so we're never mentioning them again.' Personally, I'm fascinated with those who survive."

Here's a look at a sobering scene that reminds viewers of the sacrifices that have been made along the way:

"We never wanted to make a show where problems are solved in 30 minutes and never affect the characters. That's not how real life works," co-creator Brandon Vietti says regarding Beast Boy (Greg Cipes) dealing with the loss of his best friend. "Beast Boy was the perfect character for us to dive into such a complex story and show issues of mental health in a way we hadn't before. We wanted to not just show these stories from Gar's point-of-view but from the point-of-view of people he lives with, how they interpret what he's going through, and how they respond."

And just because his friends want to help doesn't mean Gar will welcome it with open arms. "There's a limit to what you can achieve when the person you're dealing with refuses to get help," Weisman explains. "Obviously the storyline isn't over, we've got half a season left, and all of this will continue to play out. If people are looking for a quick fix, they're not gonna find it in this show. We're not dropping it either." To that end, the duo worked directly with Dr. Janina Scarlet (Superhero Therapy) to make sure the animated series was properly depicting the various aspects of grief.

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