History Recap / SupermanTheAnimatedSeriesS2E16To18WorldsFinest

* CompensatingForSomething: Invoked and mocked by Joker when he sees Batman's Jet-wing at the end of Part II. He sarcastically inquires if Bats, thanks to being around Suprman, is now suffering from "propulsion envy".

* CompensatingForSomething: Invoked and mocked by Joker when he sees Batman's Jet-wing at the end of Part II. He sarcastically inquires if Bats, thanks to being around Suprman, is now suffering from "propulsion envy".

* {{Megamanning}}: Joker accuses Batman of this flying like Superman, calling him a "Copy-bat!"

* CompensatingForSomething: Invoked and mocked by Joker when he sees Batman's Jet-wing at the end of Part II. He sarcastically inquires if Bats, thanks to being around Suprman, is suffering from "propulsion envy".

-->'''Angela Chen:''' Hello, this is Angela Chen. ''[Scene changes to aerial view of Lex-Wing wreckage]'' Though the search for Joker's body continues the Coast Guard reports it is extremely unlikely that Gotham 's most notorious criminal survived the crash. ''[Scene changes to Luthor walking stoically by a mob of reporters]'' In related news, billionaire Lex Luthor was again rigorously grilled by the DA 's office over his alleged connection to The Joker's rampage. His statements have been questioned both by local law officials, and industrialist Bruce Wayne who announced immediate termination of his partnership with Lexcorp. ''[Scene changes to Maggie Sawyer and Dan Turpin holding Quinn in a straight jacket]'' And on a lighter note Joker accomplice Harley Quinn was returned to Arkham Asylum for another round of rehabilitation.

* SpiderTank: Wayne Company and Lexcorp have been working together on a spider/insect like robot named the Wayne/Lex T-7, initially for space exploration purposes. However Lex Luthor found military uses for it, despite Bruce Wayne's objections, and had some of them equipped with gattling guns and laser weapons, including a giant dark-grey variant. The Joker uses them against Batman and Superman.

* NoodleIncident: Based on Batman's dialogue while interrogating Binko, the mobster used to operate out of Gotham and had at least one run-un with the Dark Knight before relocating to Metropolis.

** After the Joker muscles into Caesar's gang, one of the mooks (Binko) [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere leaves and refuses to go back]]. He's a criminal, but he doesn't want anything to do with Joker. It's also further justified, because Batman's dialogue while interrogating him all but states Binko used to operate out of Gotham City before relocating to Metropolis. So unlike Carlini and the other Metropolis mobsters, a former Gotham mobster like Binko knows ''exactly'' what having Joker in town (let alone working for him) means and how it ''won't'' end well.

** After the Joker muscles into Caesar's gang, one of the mooks [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere leaves and refuses to go back]]. He's a criminal, but he doesn't want anything to do with Joker.

* NotSoDifferentRemark: When first making his proposal to Lex, Joker says they're both "men of vision" looking to exploit opportunities and constantly seeing their efforts opposed by cape-wearing heroes. Lex clearly dislikes the comparison.

* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: After two failures, Lex has had enough of The Joker.

** The crossover's title is an homage to ''World's Finest Comics'', which was published between 1941 and 1946 . The book was best known for teaming up Batman and Superman for the first time in the DC Universe.

* MythologyGag: When Superman smashes through the roof the Joker snarks, [[Series/TheAdventuresOfSuperman "More powerful than a locomotive]]...and just about as subtle!"

* ShowSomeLeg: Parodied by Joker in Part I when he and Harley hijack Luthor's limousine to make their sales pitch.

* LoopholeAbuse: This is how Bruce blocks Lex from marketing the Wayne Enterprises-[=LexCorp=] robots to the American military in Part 1. The agreement between their two companies specifies that any technological applications of the project need Bruce's approval first.

* FramingTheGuiltyParty: Attempted by Luthor and Mercy in Part III after the Wayne/Lex T-7 fails to kill Batman. With the robot now in police custody, Luthor and Mercy both know it won't take long before the cops (or the heroes) trace it back to [=LexCorp=]. To get ahead of this inevitable exposure, Lex arranges a final meeting with Joker and Harley at the research facility to ostensibly to plan their endgame...only to quickly betray them. The story Luthor and Mercy intend to sell to the authorities is that Lex personally investigated the robot's "theft" and "discovered" Joker and Harley's presence at the scene of the crime. [[HeKnowsTooMuch To ensure Joker and Harley can't contradict this testimony]], Mercy will also execute them (and presumably sell their deaths as the Gotham criminals being regretfully "shot while resisting arrest"). Luthor will thus have a plausible cover story, witnesses silenced, ''and'' the remaining Kryptonite in his possession. Unfortunately for Luthor and Mercy, [[ProperlyParanoid Joker correctly anticipated this was the meeting's true purpose and took precautions.]]

* CriticalResearchFailure: Averted with Joker. He outright tells Luthor he's read up extensively on Big Blue and his weakness before coming to Metropolis. This pre-gig research pays off in Parts II and III, as Joker's plans very nearly manage to take out the Man of Steel.

** In contrast, Walker's Joker leitmotif only briefly reappears. [=Michael McCuistion=] was given leeway to compose a new Joker theme (which only appears in these episodes). Walker's Luthor leitmotif was likewise replaced with a new theme created just for these episodes. The Bruce/Lois romance also receives its own letimotif.

** Clark exchanging farewells with Bruce at the Metropolis Airport. Clark feels they actually worked pretty well together -- not that he'd want to make it a regular event. Not only will Clark and Bruce [[Recap/SupermanTheAnimatedSeriesS3E2KnightTime team up]] [[Recap/SupermanTheAnimatedSeriesS3E11TheDemonReborn twice more]] before the end of STAS, but both men will eventually go on to co-found the Justice League.

* WhamEpisode: One of the biggest in the entire DC Animated Universe. After the setup back in the Pilot (i.e. Martha Kent's line of "That nut in Gotham City"), this is the first episode to explicitly confirm that BTAS and STAS shared the same continuity. This episode in a sense is the true beginning of the DCAU and, while unplanned, really begins the march towards ''Justice League''.

** Clark exchanging farewells with Bruce at the Metropolis Airport at the end of the crossover. Clark feels they actually worked pretty well together -- not that he'd want to make it a regular event, obviously. Not only will Clark and Bruce [[Recap/SupermanTheAnimatedSeriesS3E2KnightTime team up]] [/Recap/SupermanTheAnimatedSeriesS3E11TheDemonReborn twice more]] before the end of STAS, but both men will go on to co-found the Justice League.

* WhamEpisode: A Meta one for the DC Animated Universe as a whole. After the setup in the Pilot (i.e. Martha Kent's line of "That nut in Gotham City"), this was the first episode to explicitly confirm BTAS and STAS shared the same continuity. This episode in a sense is the true beginning of the DCAU and, while unplanned, really began the march towards ''Justice League''.

** Back in the [[Recap/SupermanTheAnimatedSeriesS1E1To3TheLastSonOfKrypton STAS Pilot]], Martha Kent had called Batman "That nut in Gotham City". When Batman and Superman finally first meet in this episode, Clark states he'd heard Batman was crazy.

** In Part I, Joker gasses the Antique Shop owner to steal the Laughing Dragon. If he had just robbed the store anonymously, Gordon, Bullock, and even Batman would likely have written it off as your average run-of-the-mill robbery. By robbing the store so publicly, it gets everybody’s attention and Bruce personally investigates to determine ''why'' Joker would be so interested in an antique jade statue.

* TheScapegoat: After exposure of Lex's connection to Joker becomes inevitable in Part 3, Lex and Mercy try to throw Joker and Harley under the bus. Unfortunately for them, Joker saw the betrayal coming.

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: After Batman and Superman save Mercy from one of the reprogrammed robots, they are immediately attacked by an even bigger, tougher robot. While the two decide what to do next, Mercy can be seen slowly inching away - and she bolts for her life once they break into action.

** A probably unintentional one, but it's mentioned that previous owners of the Laughing Dragon all met early demises due to the fact it was made of kryptonite and the radiation coming from it. Years later in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' we find out Luthor held a small piece of kryptonite for years to keep Superman at bay and caught a terminal illness from it. (Then again, the latter was a plotline that had already played out in the comics...)

* FramingTheGuiltyParty: Attempted by Luthor and Mercy in Part III after the Wayne/Lex T-7 fails to kill Batman. With the robot now in police custody, Luthor knows it only a matter of time before they (or the heroes) trace it back to [=LexCorp=]. To get ahead of the inevitable exposure, Lex arranges a final meeting with Joker and Harley at the research facility to ostensibly to plan their endgame...only to quickly betray their allies. The story Luthor and Mercy intend to sell to the authorities is that Lex personally investigated the robot's "theft" and "discovered" Joker and Harley's presence at the scene of the crime. [[HeKnowsTooMuch To ensure Joker and Harley can't contradict Lex's testimony]], Mercy will execute them on his orders (and presumably sell their deaths as the Gotham criminals being regretfully "shot while resisting arrest"). Luthor and Mercy will thus have a plausible cover story, witnesses silenced, ''and'' the remaining Kryptonite in their possesion. Unfortunately for them, [[ProperlyParanoid Joker correctly anticipates this was the meeting's true purpose and came ready for a betrayal.]]

* ProperlyParanoid: Luthor's attempt at FramingTheGuiltyParty in Part III fails, because Joker correctly anticipated Lex was gonna try to screw him (and Harley) over and came prepared for the betrayal.