At the end of Dark Nights: Metal, the Justice League held a little recruitment drive. Having just fended off an invasion of the Dark Multiverse and after destroying part of the Source Wall, the heroes of the DC Universe saw how many threats are out there. In order to prepare for whatever comes next, they did some recruiting, but now we're seeing evidence that far more heroes make up the team than we thought.

Traditionally, the Justice League has consisted of a core cast of characters. That can usually include some combination of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, and a Green Lantern, but that equation can differ. Grant Morrison's run on JLA included what fans refer to as "The Big Seven." Post-Infinite Crisis continuity brought new blood onto the team. The first Rebirth team had two Green Lanterns. Scott Snyder's run, though, has expanded the core team to nine, added two additional teams, and still has several reserve members popping in.

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The current Justice League title, and every other book falling under the New Justice banner, seems to be invoking the essence of the Justice League Unlimited animated series. The heroes of the DC Universe make up a society of characters working together to keep the world -- and all reality -- safe. This is by design, with Snyder on record as saying as much, but the cast of characters associated with the Justice League has reached new heights over the last few months. Here is a rundown of every confirmed Justice League members, and those who seem to be associated in some unknown way.

The Justice League is Bigger Than Ever

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When Scott Snyder, Jorge Jimenez, and Jim Cheung came together on a new Justice League title, they kept most of the team from the previous volume. That meant Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg were on the team. Instead of the one two punch that was Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz, John Stewart took the role of Green Lantern. In the wake of Metal, Martina Manhunter and Hawkgirl were also added.

However, that's only the core Justice League team. In this era of New Justice, there are now three different Justice League teams performing different duties. Justice League Dark is the team's magic division, with Wonder Woman leading Detective Chimp, Man-Bat, Swamp Thing and Zatanna. This iteration of the group is actually referred to as a Justice League team, and they work out of the Hall of Justice, cementing their standing.

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A third squad is out in space at the moment, with Cyborg leading Azrael, Jessica Cruz and Starfire. Their mission is to explore and protect the new Ghost Sector of space that was created in the wake of Justice League: No Justice. If this group will actually call themselves the Justice League is unknown, but being led by a member of the team certainly helps things.

Right there, we have 16 superheroes spread across three different Justice League squads, but that's not all. There are actually dozens of other characters who are seemingly on the team, though DC has made little mention of their inclusion, despite their presence in related books.

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Every major iteration of the Justice League has had its reserve members, the characters who don't work with the team on a day-to-day basis, but can be called in when things get as bad as they can possibly get. It appears that Snyder and company has added several heroes to the current team's reserves -- however, it's curious that no mention of their status has been made at this point. They just show up on the page, and we're supposed to roll with it.

Which is easy enough, but it makes keeping track of everyone very difficult. In Justice League #7, for example, the team takes possession of the Totality. It makes sense that all the members of the Earth-based teams would be there for this momentous occasion, but there are a few heroes there who haven't exactly introduced as current members.

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Green Arrow was gifted the means to destroy the Justice League by Martian Manhunter, but that didn't explicitly make him an active member of the team, yet there he is on the page with everyone else. Among the assembled heroes are also Animal Man, Adam Strange and Vixen, but it's never mentioned where, exactly, they are supposed to be serving.

In Justice League #9, we are given a look at the inner workings of the Hall of Justice. Every member of the core team has their own personal section, custom designed to their specifications. There is also a a mess hall where heroes from every Justice League team can come together to eat any food available in existence. We see a large group of heroes enjoying some downtime, and again, there are a few random members in this scene.

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Animal Man, Miss Martian, Steel, Vixen, Black Canary, members of the Terrifics and even Blue Beetle (Jaime Reyes, edition) are all spotted within the scene. What are all these characters doing here? Could they all be on the Justice League, too? Where the heck was this established?

Most recently, Vixen, Flash, Guy Gardner and Green Arrow show up in Damage #10 identifying themselves as the Justice League. Justice League #10 also features Adam Strange and Firestorm working with the team. Under more questionable conditions, Oliver Queen lumps Hal Jordan in with the rest of the Justice League when he blames them for Roy Harper's death in Green Arrow #45. Does Hal have any kind of involvement with this version of the team? Not that we've seen.

Then, in Wonder Woman and Justice League Dark: The Witching Hour #1, the Justice League is put under a spell to ignore Hecate's attack on the world of magic. Sitting in their meeting space, the team discusses Ted Kord's complaints about having monitor duty. Sure, this could all be a magic-induced hallucination, but does the pre-Reyes Blue Beetle actually have a role with this version of the Justice League?

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Add up everyone who has identified themselves as part of the Justice League, and you end up with a team that could stretch to about two dozen heroes, depending on who you want to count. Then there's the matter of several closely associated teams. Again, the Terrifics were spotted in the team's mess hall, and Mr. Terrific was seen tending to the injured Batman in Justice League #9.

The Titans operate out of the Hall of Justice as the team's first responders, but they aren't proper Justice Leaguers. Still, Miss Martian is the group's Justice League liaison, so she must have some kind of standing on the team. Nightwing, Beast Boy, Raven, Steel and Donna Troy may not be official members, but they are certainly as close as you can be.

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When Vixen, Black Canary and the rest of Justice League of America announced the creation of the Justice Foundation, it was hard to believe the group would stick around. Could this be their connection to the greater team? They may not all be card-carrying members of the Justice League, but it's clear that they hold some kind of relationship with the team.

If you include these characters to the grand total, it means that the Justice League is pushing 30 members, between official team members and associated allies. These teams could also be looking to add new members, Deadman and John Constantine in Justice League Dark and Starman in Justice League.

There's nothing wrong with having a team this big -- Justice League Unlimited was a big hit after all -- but it's hard to account for all these people popping up and disappearing without notice. What about the rest of these heroes? Some kind of Who's Who of the Justice League might be in order soon.