TheJustice Leagueis considered the A-List when it comes toDC Comics’ greatest superhero teams. As the first line of defense for the DC Universe, the League has been home to many of the world’s most elite champions - but some of those champions also refused to join the iconic team.
While joining theJustice Leagueis an honor, it’s not always an automatic “yes” from the heroes invited to join. And there’s a surprising number of heroeswho flat-out denied the Justice Leagueright to their faces. Though the League debuted in 1960 inThe Brave and the Bold#28 by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky, Joe Giella, Murphy Anderson, Bernard Sachs, and Gaspar Saladino, many heroes have come and gone from the team in the decades since - including those who never joined at all.
10Sandman
Justice League of America Annual#1 by Paul Levitz, Len Wein, Rick Hoberg, Dick Giordano, Gene D’Angelo, and John Costanza
One ofJack Kirby’s lesser-known creations,the second DC Comics hero to use the Sandman monikerwas Garret Sanford, a scientist and psychology professor trapped within the Dreaming who used his newfound abilities to fight crime in the material plane for an hour a day. An occasional ally of a handful of Justice League heroes, the Sandman was offered an induction into their ranks after a scrape with the classic dream-manipulating League villain, Dr. Destiny.
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Due to his hour-long limitations, Sandman ultimately turned down their offer, instead opting to aid them as a reservist should they ever need his services. Unfortunately, Sanford never got the chance to truly shine alongside the World’s Greatest Heroes. And the chances he’ll be brought back for another shot anytime soon are just a dream.
9Yara Flor
Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths#1 by Joshua Williamson, Daniel Sampere, Alejandro Sánchez, and Tom Napolitano
TheWonder Womanof the Future State timeline made some big moves during her initial push by DC Comics, but one move that Wonder Girl Yara Flor refrained from taking was a membership alongside a brand-new Justice League. Following the League’s perceived demise at the hands of Pariah and his Dark Army, Superman Jon Kent refused to let the legacy of his father and his allies fall to ruin and sought to unite the world’s remaining champions as a new League.
Seeking out the newly debuted Wonder Girl, Jon invites Yara to join him before anyone else, hoping to begin by rebuilding a new Trinity. Wonder Girl ultimately turns Superman down since she’s still grappling with her place inthe legacy of Wonder Woman and the Amazons, but that doesn’t stop her from fighting the good fight alongside Jon when the Dark Army storms the Hall of Justice.
8The Atom
All-New Atom#18 by Gail Simone, Mike Norton, Andy Smith, Trevor Scott, Keith Champagne, Alex Bleyaert, and John J. Hill
Ryan Choi made quite the name for himself in his first stint as the All-New Atom, following in the footsteps of the previous Mighty Mite, Ray Palmer. An old friend of Palmer’s, this new Atom did his best to protect Ivy Town and attracted the attention of his predecessor’s Justice League allies in the process.
Despite once rejecting the League’s offer, Ryan Choi - with the help of Ray Palmer - is now a key player in 2025’s Justice League saga. Check outJustice League: The Atom Project#1 by Ryan Parrott, John Ridley, Mike Perkins, Adriano Lucas, and Wes Abbott, available now from DC Comics.
Impressed with Ryan’s work following an impromptu team-up,Wonder Woman herself reveals to a self-conscious Atom that she’s not there to admonish him, but rather, to offer him a permanent place on the Justice League’s roster. While Ryan would go on to join the League in later iterations, he chose to turn down this initial invite, instead sticking to the streets of Ivy Townas opposed to the Justice League Watchtower.
7Hawk & Dove
Justice League America#42 by Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, Mike McKone, José Marzan Jr., Gene D’Angelo, and Bob Lappan
The Avatars of Chaos and Order have been mainstays of the DC Universe for quite some time, but while these avian allies are no strangers to teamworkas longtime Teen Titans, they don’t share that same history with the Justice League. During a recruitment drive to expand the League’s roster, Hawk and Dove, also known as Hank Hall and Dawn Granger, are approached by Justice League International staple, Ice, and future Bat-Family outsider, Huntress.
Wrapping up a skirmish with a couple of punks, Hawk and Dove are taken aback by Ice’s proposal, only to turn down their shot at the literal big League. Considering Hawk’s eventual turn as the villainous Extant, his refusal to join was probably for the best, but the team could’ve definitely benefited from Dove’s calming touch.
6Booster Gold
Booster Gold#1 by Geoff Johns, Jeff Katz, Dan Jurgens, Norm Rapmund, Hi-Fi, and Rob Leigh
Booster Gold may beone of the Justice League International’s most iconic inductees, but Michael Jon Carter doesn’t automatically leap at every publicity opportunity, no matter what his fellow heroes think. Initially seeking to earn his way into what his history describes as “the greatest Justice League of all time,” Booster spends a week foiling every disaster he canfollowing a challenge from Batman.
But when approached by fellow time traveler (and his secret son), Rip Hunter, Booster Gold is given a new mission: to maintain his idiotic, self-serving persona while secretly protecting the timestream. When his long-sought opportunity arrives, Carter reluctantly rebuffs the League. But while most of the other heroes still see Booster as a self-absorbed fool, only Batman ultimately discovers Gold’s real motivations and the true hero that lies within him.
5El Diablo
During the same recruitment drive that saw Hawk and Dove turn them down,the Justice League reached out to several more heroesacross the globe. One such hero was the enigmatic El Diablo, secretly a small-town city councilman named Rafael Sandoval who donned a costumed identity to pursue an arson case outside more official legal channels.
El Diablo made his first appearance in his own self-titled series: 1989’sEl Diablo#1 by Gerard Jones, Mike Parobeck, John Nyberg, Lovern Kindzierski, and Willie Schubert.
Approached by JLI alumni Blue Beetle and Fire, El Diablo considersthe Justice League’s worktoo high above his paygrade, and too far away from those he fights to protect as a more street-level, down-to-Earth vigilante as opposed to a full-on superhero. This would be far from El Diablo’s only interaction with the Justice League, but it’s about as close as he ever came to actually joining the team in an official capacity.
4Metamorpho
Justice League of America#42 by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky, Bernard Sachs, and Gaspar Saladino
The Element Man, known as Metamorpho, is a fan-favorite DC Comics hero and longtime ally of the Justice League, but his first encounter with the World’s Greatest Heroes featured a strong rejection on the part of Rex Mason towards joining the team’s hallowed ranks. Approached by the League in-person after ignoring their skywriting summons, a disinterested Metamorpho explains that he doesn’t want to be a hero, he only wants to be human again.
After an impromptu adventure, Metamorpho makes it clear that he’s willing to join as a reserve member and help out during a crisis so long as he hasn’t found a way to become human again. Rex would indeed evengo on to join the Justice League in an official capacityyears later, but not until after accepting his destiny as the one and only Element Man.
3Black Lightning
Justice League of America#173 by Gerry Conway, Dick Dillin, Frank McLaughlin, Dick Giordano, Jerry Serpe, Tatjana Wood, and Ben Oda
These days, Black Lightning is an integral part of the League’s “Unlimited” status quo, but he didn’t start out that way. When Green Arrow nominates an unknowing Black Lightning for League membership, Arrow, Superman, Green Lantern, Flash, and Zatanna put Suicide Slums’ electric protector to the test in a series of initiation tests disguised as random rogues for Jefferson Pierce to confront.
To no great shock, Black Lightning passes with flying colors, with the League revealing their ruse to a disgruntled Jefferson Pierce, only to be immediately, emphatically turned down. Thinking of the good he does and the people he protects as a street-level hero,Lightning has no interest in joining the Justice League– an outlook he’ll maintain for years to come until he eventually steps up following the events ofInfinite Crisis.
2Nightwing
As Robin, as Nightwing, and even as Batman, Dick Grayson has long since proven himself as one of the World’s Greatest Heroes, but his history of membership with the Justice League has rarely been as consistent. When Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman meet to organize a new Justice League roster during the “One Year Later” era, Superman and Wonder Woman immediately agree to induct Nightwing, only for Batman himself to say that Dick has already turned them down.
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Frustrated by Bruce going behind their backs, Superman reminds his friend that they’d agreed to vote, with Batman clearly making an exception for his one-time ward. By this point, Dick hadalready led a replacement Justice League rosterhandpicked by Batman following the team’s seeming demise, so he was no stranger to the League. But Nightwing clearly had no interest in once again playing second fiddle to his old mentor as a full-time Leaguer.
1Superman
Legends#6 by John Ostrander, Len Wein, John Byrne, Karl Kesel, Dennis Janke, Carl Gafford, and Steve Haynie
Superman isone of the Justice League’s most iconic heroesand leaders, but there have been long stretches of time in which the Man of Steel had nothing to do with the World’s Greatest Heroes. Following the continuity reshuffle afterCrisis on Infinite Earthsby Marv Wolfman and George Pérez, a new League was formed after a band of heroes, Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman among them, foil a scheme by the wicked Darkseid to dominate the Earth.
Realizing the need for a new Justice League, Doctor Fate proposes these heroes join forces on a full-time basis, with Superman rejecting the offer while promising to be there should an emergency ever arise. Clearly, this status quo wouldn’t last as Clark’s been a staple of the League for the better part of three decades at this point, but once upon a time, theJustice Leaguehad to get over being rejected by Superman himself.
