Wonder Twins
The Wonder Twins are a pair of teenage alien
superheroes (somewhat reminiscent of
Vulcans from
Star Trek) who were
sidekicks to the
Super Friends in the
Hanna-Barbera animated television series of the same name. In the
1990s, these characters were heavily revamped by
DC Comics for modern audiences.
The pair, Zan and Jayna, are siblings from the planet Exxor who were being informally trained by the superheroes. Unlike their predecessors,
Wendy Harris and
Marvin White, this pair was able to participate in combat with abilities of their own. Their powers were activated when the twins made physical contact together with the spoken command, "Wonder Twin powers, Activate!". (In the comics, it was revealed that this phrase was unnecessary, just a habit of theirs.)
Their powers were:
*Zan: Could transform into any form of water, including liquid, mist, steam, or, perhaps most usefully, any kind of functioning ice structure. By combining with already-existing water, Zan could also increase his mass or volume in the water form chosen. (Zan: "Form of a
glacier!")
*Jayna: Could transform into any animal, like
Beast Boy. (Jayna: "Shape of a
condor!")
In addition, they had a pet Space Monkey called
Gleek who had a useful prehensile tail and whose body could act as a conduit for the twins to activate their powers should they be out of reach. Gleek also served as a courier when the twins needed to travel: Jayna would typically transform into a large eagle, and Zan would transform into (plain) water, "jumping" into a bucket which Gleek conveniently would be holding. (This led to the joke by some fans that Gleek's superpower was to make a bucket appear and disappear at will.
See hammerspace.)
These characters were derided by serious
comic book fans as condescending intrusions in the show. Others noted that at least the characters were occasionally an asset to the main characters in combat compared to their predecessors. Regardless, the Wonder Twins were usually liked by the younger viewers, who found the twin characters less intimidating and easier to relate to, as the twins were novices who made mistakes, etc., yet the twins had powers which invited the viewers' imaginations.
The characters were introduced in the
Super Friends comic (where they were far more competent, it might be noted, often being the key to solving major situations) and were ignored once the series was cancelled. Jayna's Super Friends comic powers were shown to be more extensive, allowing her to transform into even mythical creatures.
According to the
Super Friends comic, Zan and Jayna are
mutants, evolutionary throwbacks to an ancient race of Exxorian shapeshifters. Their parents died when they were still babies (during a plague) and, because of their origin, no Exxorians wanted to adopt them. They ended up adopted by the owner of a Space Circus, who only wanted to use them as sideshow freaks. Fortunately, the circus's clown was a kind man and raised them. He also gave them Gleek as a pet. Eventually, as teens, the pair escaped the circus, and hid on a planet where a space villain called Grax (an enemy of
Superman) had set his headquarters. Spying on him, they learned that Grax was planning to destroy the Earth using hidden superbombs. The twins decided to travel to Earth and warn the Justice League; that was how they came to replace Wendy and Marvin (who were planning on retiring as heroes) as their sidekicks. The heroes also arranged for the kids to live with an old scientist called
Professor Carter Nichols, and they even took secret identities as John and Joanna Fleming. "Johan and Johanna" supposed transfer students from Esko, Sweden, disguised with blonde hair (Zan wore a wig, while Jayna used her powers to transform into a human to change her hair color and ear shape), to allow them to attend
Gotham City High School.
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In the
1990s they were introduced into the main
DC Universe in the series,
Extreme Justice. The
Extreme Justice series
retconned their origin so that they are slaves of an alien villain, later rescued by the
Justice League. Unable to speak English, they accidentally attacked some civilians and the Justice league. They had far greater powers than their cartoon counterparts. During their fight with the JLA, Zan became an ice
golem, a water monster, and a demonic-looking whirlpool; while Jayna became a
griffin, a
werewolf, and a sea serpent. Although rarely seen today, this version of the Wonder Twins is still part of the current
DC Universe. Later they appeared in
Young Justice, wearing uniforms which resembled t-shirts and jeans, to help avenge the murder of
Empress's parents. Apparently, the Wonder Twins enjoy the taste of CDs, as they ate several of
Wonder Girl's favorite discs.
E! Online reported in 2002 that Warner Bros. was considering a live action Wonder Twins movie.
[Ryan, Joal (Jun 8, 2002) "Wonder Twins Movie Activates!", Eonline.com, retrieved July 16, 2006]The Wonder Twins have been ruthlessly parodied on animated comedy shows such as
Family Guy,
Scrubs,
That '70s Show,
The Fairly Oddparents, and
Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law. In
2002, a series of Wonder Twins shorts appeared on
Cartoon Network's
Adult Swim, produced by
J.J. Sedelmaier Productions, who also produced the
Harvey Birdman series. The shorts portrayed the Wonder Twins and Gleek as naïve and ineffectual, usually resulting in a dark-humored outcome. For example, in one short, the Wonder Twins attempt to save a camper from a
bear. Jayna transforms into a
gopher and digs a trench, while Zan transforms into water, forming a moat. Their plan fails when the bear simply steps over the moat and mauls the camper. At the camper's funeral, the grieving mother chastises the trio that even she knows "a one-inch gopher moat won't stop a bear." These shorts are parodies of segments during the
Super Friends animated series in which the teens acted completely on their own in dealing with minor problems, usually involving some danger encountered in the life of an average teen, such as speeding.
Cartoon Network has also made several commercials parodying the Super Friends. One such commercial made fun of the ineffectualness of Zan's powers wherein he says "I could get beaten by a sponge... it wouldn't even have to be an evil sponge!"
On the
Justice League animated series, statues of them are seen briefly (then smashed) in the background of the episode "Injustice For All".
On the TV series
Justice League Unlimited, two characters called
Downpour and
Shifter have appeared. They are members of the
Ultimen, a group of superheroes created by the
government. The group is a pastiche of the heroes that were created for Superfriends, with Downpour and Shifter specifically a pastiche of the Wonder Twins.
An episode of
Family Guy involved Jayna and
Peter, which was one of Peter's old jobs. In order to get to a fire, Janya forms into a
hawk. However, Peter forms into Jayna's
tampon and "plays the waiting game" in her purse.
In the
Fairly Odd Parents, the superheroes, Mighty Mom and Dyno Dad have Wonder Twin-like powers. The joke is that while the mom became a strong animal, the Dad turned into a bucket of water, and merely fell on the ground.
One segment featured in an episode of Adult Swim's
Robot Chicken entitled "A Day in the Life of the Olsen Twins" shows twin celebrities Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen as having Wonder Twin-like superpowers.
