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Batman Beyond
Batman Beyond title card
Title card
Genre
Created byBruce Timm
Paul Dini
Alan Burnett
Based onBatman 
by
Developed byBruce Timm
Paul Dini
Alan Burnett
Written byAlan Burnett
Paul Dini
Stan Berkowitz
Rich Fogel
Voices ofWill Friedle
Kevin Conroy
Cree Summer
Lauren Tom
Frank Welker
Stockard Channing
Angie Harmon
ComposersShirley Walker
Lolita Ritmanis
Michael McCuistion
Kristopher Carter
Country of originUnited States
No. of seasons3
No. of episodes52 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersJean MacCurdy
Shaun McLaughlin
Tom Ruegger
ProducersAlan Burnett
Paul Dini
Glen Murakami
Bruce Timm
Running time22 minutes
44 minutes (2-part episode)
Production companiesWarner Bros. Television Animation
DC Comics
Original release
NetworkKids' WB
ReleaseJanuary 10, 1999 (1999-01-10) –
December 18, 2001 (2001-12-18)
Related

Batman Beyond (known as Batman of the Future outside the United States) is an American superhero animated television series developed by Bruce Timm, Paul Dini, and Alan Burnett. It was produced by Warner Bros. Animation in collaboration with DC Comics and is the fourth series in the DC Animated Universe.[1] The series began airing on January 10, 1999, and ended its run on December 18, 2001. In the United Kingdom, it began airing on September 4, 2000.[2] After 52 episodes spanning three seasons and one direct-to-video feature film, the series was brought to an end in favor of the Justice League animated series, and plans for a fourth season were cancelled.[3]

Depicting a teenaged Batman in a futuristic Gotham City under the tutelage of an elderly Bruce Wayne, Batman Beyond is chronologically the final series of the DC Animated Universe (despite being released before Static Shock, Justice League and Justice League Unlimited), and serves as a continuation of both Batman: The Animated Series and The New Batman Adventures. Due to series taking place in same universe as Batman: The Animated Series, Bruce Timm thought it was ideal to have Kevin Conroy to voice the older Batman. [4]

Though the initial announcement of the series drew mixed reactions, Batman Beyond went on to receive critical acclaim and a cult following. The show is said to explore the darker side of many Batman projects, playing on key elements such as emotions, personal relations, fear of the unknown, as well as cyberpunk and sci-fi themes such as the issues and dilemmas of innovation and technological and scientific progress affecting society, and the psychology of the character of Bruce Wayne. In addition, due to the titular character being a high school student, it includes issues that plague teenagers (substance abuse, subcultures, child abuse and neglect, school violence, peer pressure, etc.). As such, it was considerably darker than most other children's programs at the time, although producer Bruce Timm recalls it was conceived as a kid-friendly Batman cartoon.[5] It is also the first Batman series to portray the hero as a teenager. IGN named the show 40th on their list of "Top 100 Animated TV Series."[6] The premise of Batman Beyond has been used in various comic book stories published by DC Comics, including an ongoing series beginning in 2011.

Plot[]

The prologue initially begins in June 2019 (set about 20 years after The New Batman Adventures, 15 years after Justice League, and 13 years after Justice League Unlimited). An aging Bruce Wayne, despite suffering from health complications such as a weak heart condition, continues to fight crime as Batman in a new high-tech Batsuit, although he has increased difficulty in handling criminals he once subdued with finesse. In the rescue of a kidnapped heiress and the daughter of an old friend of his, Batman suffers a mild heart attack and, at the risk of losing his life to one of the kidnappers, is forced to betray a lifelong principle by threatening the criminal at gunpoint, which scares him into running towards the police. Ashamed of how far he was willing to go for his survival and the fact that he used the same kind of weapon that ended his parents' lives and drove him to become the Dark Knight in the first place, Bruce ultimately but reluctantly decides that he has grown too old for his crusade and retires from crime-fighting and shuts down the Batcave. By this time, his butler and father-figure Alfred Pennyworth and longtime allies (Commissioner James W. Gordon, Lucius Fox, Hamilton Hill, Leslie Thompkins, Renee Montoya, Harvey Bullock, Summer Gleeson and Amanda Waller) have either died or retired; his partners (Dick Grayson, Barbara Gordon, Tim Drake and Selina Kyle) are still alive and have severed their ties with him after a falling out before their retirements from their alter egos; all of his foes (The Joker, Harley Quinn, The Penguin, The Riddler, Two-Face, The Scarecrow, Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy, Bane, Killer Croc, Clayface, Man-Bat, Deadshot, The Mad Hatter, Catman, Clock King, Count Vertigo, Kyodai Ken, Red Claw, Nostromos, Lloyd Ventrix, Calendar Girl, Ra's al Ghul and his daughter Talia, Condiment King, Sewer King, Josiah Wormwood, Maxie Zeus, Lock Up, Baby-Doll, Phantasm, Rupert Thorne, Roland Daggett, Professor Milo, the Ventriloquist and Scarface, the Firefly, and Hugo Strange) are either retired, reformed, incarcerated (with or without parole), in exile, have disappeared, or are dead, and he has severed his ties with Superman, Wonder Woman and the Justice League after resigning from the group.

The story then jumps 20 years later to 2039 in Neo-Gotham, a futuristic version of the old Gotham City and a megalopolis featuring staggering high rises and flying vehicles. Bruce is now an elderly man in his 70s and a recluse living in bitter isolation in Wayne Manor, with no other companion but his guard dog Ace. Despite having retired primarily due to declining health and old age, it is strongly hinted (he retained the costumes of his former partners and continued to fight ignoring his aging and declining health) that he had suffered a traumatic event years before his health began failing which also contributed to his ultimate decision (the exact reasons were eventually revealed in Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker) in addition to being still haunted by the fact that he used a cowardly weapon in his final mission to save himself. Terry McGinnis is an athletic 16-year-old high school student and reformed troublemaker with a deeply ingrained sense of justice. Living on difficult terms with his father Warren McGinnis, Terry disobeys his curfew one night to meet up with his girlfriend Dana Tan, only to incur the wrath of a gang called the Jokerz harassing them. A high-speed motorcycle chase between Terry and the Jokerz leads them to the grounds of Wayne Manor, where they run into the elderly Bruce Wayne. Bruce and Terry fend off the Jokerz side-by-side, but the exertion aggravates Bruce's heart condition. Terry helps Bruce back to the manor and, while exploring the mansion after realizing that he is unable to leave the mansion as Ace is guarding it, stumbles upon the entrance to the Batcave and thus discovers Bruce's secrets, only to be chased out by an angered Bruce.

Terry returns home to discover that his father has been murdered, apparently by the vengeful Jokerz, thus forcing him to move in to his mother Mary's house. Soon after, he discovers that his father had stumbled onto information about the production of illegal chemical weapons by Derek Powers through Wayne-Powers (Wayne Enterprises had merged with Powers' company long ago following a hostile takeover, sometime around Bruce's retirement from crimefighting and Bruce did not make any efforts to reclaim his company during the interim 20 years because of his status as a recluse and his declining health) and that the man actually responsible for his father's murder is Powers' personal assistant/bodyguard, Mr. Fixx. Terry goes to Bruce for help but he refuses, feeling that he is too old and too weak to be of any use, and instead tells Terry to take the evidence to Barbara Gordon (the former Batgirl who has since succeeded her father and become the new Police Commissioner). After the evidence of the illegal weapon's production is forcibly taken from Terry by Derek Powers, Terry subsequently steals the Batsuit, intending to bring Powers to justice. Bruce initially opposes all of Terry's efforts and vehemently demands that he return the suit, but Terry asks Bruce to let him take on the Batman mantle, partially by drawing on the fact Bruce lost both of his parents to a criminal that he never caught and that he (Terry) has the chance to catch his father's murderer. Bruce allows Terry to be Batman, and the latter subsequently defeats Mr. Fixx. During the battle, Powers is exposed to the chemical and forced to flee into hiding to receive treatment, which subsequently mutates him into a radiation-emitting entity, though he uses artificial skin to hide the accident. Impressed with Terry and realizing that crime and corruption are running rampant in Gotham without Batman's presence, Bruce offers Terry the chance to assume the role of the Dark Knight to continue the mission and succeed him, with Bruce himself mentoring Terry, in addition to working as Bruce's chauffeur and assistant so that Terry can support his family, which is essentially a cover for his actual work.

The new Batman soon develops his own rogues gallery, with both new villains (Derek Powers a.k.a. the radiation-emitting metahuman Blight; seductive shapeshifter Inque; the hypnotist Spellbinder; sound weaponizer Shriek; deadly assassin Curaré; insane eco-terrorist Mad Stan; cybernetically-enhanced African big game hunter the Stalker; nerdy psychokinetic and former classmate of his Willie Watt and a new version of the Royal Flush Gang) as well as some of his mentor's old foes (although none of them are quite the same after their last encounter with the original Batman), such as Mr. Freeze rejuvenated; Bane's strength-enhancing drug Venom reborn as slap-on patches; the longevous Ra's al Ghul; and the Joker himself, somewhat inevitably.

Terry also deals with an issue Bruce never seemed to have during the latter's heyday. Balancing crime-fighting with the demands of his normal teenage life, such as high school and his relationship with his girlfriend who remains unaware of his double life and this causes minor strains and misunderstandings between them, though they make up and Dana eventually comes to understand that Bruce Wayne has essentially become a father-figure for Terry and which is why Terry is doing errands for him (actually crime fighting) and thus away for longer periods of time.

Terry also makes allies in Neo-Gotham, including computer genius and fellow student Maxine "Max" Gibson. After discovering Batman's secret identity, Maxine helps Terry with everything from computer hacking to babysitting akin to the duties Bruce's former butler Alfred Pennyworth performed for him. Police Commissioner Barbara Gordon also works with Terry. Though initially unhappy about another person following in Bruce's dangerous footsteps, as she is haunted by the same tragic event that broke the Bat-Family and eventually contributed to Bruce's retirement, she admits that the city needs Batman and that Terry could not be deterred from being Batman any more than she could have been from being Batgirl. He also has a relationship with Melanie Walker, who was forced to do the bidding of her family's new Royal Flush Gang under the code name Ten. Terry and Melanie's relationship is similar to that of Bruce and Selina Kyle. Terry also eventually meets Bruce's old ally Superman and the rest of the Justice League, even being offered membership, after he saves them from the threat of an alien named Starro though he eventually declines. He does, later on, join the team sometime in his adulthood on a part-time basis like his mentor before him.

Later on as depicted in the episode "Epilogue" part of the later released Justice League Unlimited, and intended to be the true finale of the series and the DCAU as a whole, Terry eventually learns that he is Bruce's biological son. Amanda Waller, Bruce's enemy-turned-ally from his Justice League days, had come to highly respect and admire the Dark Knight over time. She realized his value to the world but realized that as he was human and was aging, he was eventually going to retire or be killed. Therefore, she developed Project Batman Beyond via her old colleagues in Cadmus to create a successor for him via his DNA. She altered Terry's father's DNA with that of Bruce's and some years after he was born hired the latter's ex-fiancée Andrea Beaumont aka Phantasm to kill his parents under similar circumstances as that of Bruce. However, she scrapped the plan when she realized, after being pointed out by Andrea who refused to go through with the task and kill them, that she crossed a line and nearly dishonored everything Batman stood for. She succeeded by fate's hands later when Terry's father's murder made him assume the mantle of Batman. Despite the brief strain the revelation caused in Terry and Bruce's relationship, the former on the advice of Waller eventually reconciles with the latter and accepts him as a father while also planning to propose to Dana, who had eventually learned of his double life, intending to live his life on his terms and not like how his mentor lived his.

Voice cast[]

  • Will Friedle as Terry McGinnis / Batman:
    The second Batman, he is a high school student and former delinquent. Under the pretense of doing errands for Bruce, Terry fights crime as the new Batman. Terry was chosen to be the new Dark Knight as he shared a similar loss as Bruce had; that being the death of a parent.
  • Kevin Conroy as Bruce Wayne:
    The original Batman, although initially reluctant he later becomes Terry's employer, mentor, and predecessor who guides Terry through the Batcomputer but also occasionally ventures into the field to help his successor if the situation demands it, despite the risks associated with his age. During his final mission as the Dark Knight twenty years prior to the events of the main story, Bruce suffered a heart attack that nearly cost him his life, forcing him to break his primary moral principle by almost using a gun in self-defense. Abhorred that he nearly used the type of weapon that took his father's and mother's lives and the very thing that drove him to become the Dark Knight, Wayne reluctantly hung up his cape and cowl.
  • Cree Summer as Maxine "Max" Gibson:
    A genius high schooler and friend of Terry's. She discovers his secret identity, and from then on occasionally helps Batman in an "Alfred"-type role, though she is considered a nuisance to his predecessor (but less so as time went on). Her parents are divorced and she has an unnamed sister.
  • Lauren Tom as Dana Tan:
    Terry's on and off girlfriend in high school who is unaware of his secret identity as the new Dark Knight, and thus surprised or upset by his frequent absences which she only knows due to him working as a personal assistant for Bruce Wayne, to support his family financially following his father's death. She also has a father who is disapproving of Terry because of the latter's past as an irresponsible delinquent, which serves as a reminder and another motivation for Terry being Batman.
  • Frank Welker as Ace:
    Bruce Wayne's pet dog and his sole companion in Wayne Manor, the billionaire rescued and took in the stray Great Dane after the canine defended him from a Jokerz thug during one of Wayne's annual visits in memory of his parents to Crime Alley. Fiercely loyal to Bruce, he eventually develops a bond with Terry as well.
  • Stockard Channing (1999–2000) and Angie Harmon (2000) as Barbara Gordon:
    The new Commissioner of the Gotham City Police Department, having succeeded her father Jim and one of Bruce's former crime-fighting partners, Batgirl and was at one point in her younger years romantically involved with him which ended badly. Unlike her father, Barbara initially has a rocky relationship with the new Batman, showing resentment towards Bruce for dragging him into this life and is at first against him intervening in police duty. Though this is revealed to have been due to a long standing grudge towards Bruce for how he treated his former partners and also because of what happened years ago, the night the Bat-family splintered as she later gains respect for Terry after he helps her in several sticky situations and begins acknowledging his help whenever needed, though does not use a Bat-Signal unlike her father, presumably because she has direct access to the Batcave from the office and because of her past as Batgirl. She is married to Sam Young, the District Attorney of Neo-Gotham.

Episodes[]

SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
113January 10, 1999 (1999-01-10)May 22, 1999 (1999-05-22)
226September 17, 1999 (1999-09-17)May 27, 2000 (2000-05-27)
313August 19, 2000 (2000-08-19)December 18, 2001 (2001-12-18)

Crossovers[]

The third season of Batman Beyond featured the two-part episode "The Call" with (for the first time) a futuristic Justice League, a springboard for the Justice League animated series. The setting and characters of Batman Beyond were also briefly revived in Static Shock during the episode "Future Shock" in which Static is accidentally transported 40 years into the future.

Justice League Unlimited revisited the Batman Beyond world twice in 2005. The first was in "The Once and Future Thing" (Part 2), which featured Batman, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern transported 50 years into the future to stop a time-travelling villain with the help of the future Justice League (Batman II, Static and Warhawk).

The second time was meant to be the de facto series finale for Batman Beyond: the episode "Epilogue" reveals that Bruce Wayne is actually Terry McGinnis' biological father. The story, set 15 years after Batman Beyond, centers on Terry (now in his early 30's) tracking down an elderly Amanda Waller. She explains through flashbacks that, even though she grew to trust and respect Batman, she was aware of him aging, thus accepting the idea of either Bruce retiring or being killed at some point. Finding the idea of a world without Batman unacceptable, Waller used her Project Cadmus connections to gather the technology for "Project Batman Beyond", whose goal was to physically create a new Batman, starting with a secretly collected sample of Bruce Wayne's DNA. Some years after Bruce retired, Waller found a young Neo-Gotham couple—the McGinnises—with psychological profiles nearly identical to those of Bruce's parents, a nanotech solution was injected into Warren McGinnis to rewrite his reproductive material with that of Bruce. The eventual result was his wife Mary McGinnis giving birth to Terry, a child sharing the genetic traits of his mother and Bruce Wayne. When Terry was eight years old, Waller employed an elderly Andrea Beaumont in her Phantasm alias as an assassin to kill Terry's family, hoping the trauma would put him on the path to becoming Batman. However, Beaumont could not commit the act, arguing that she would be doing something against what Bruce stood for. Waller eventually conceded that Beaumont had been right and abolished the project altogether. Eight years afterward, Warren would be murdered, and Terry would meet Bruce by happenstance—resulting in Terry becoming Batman's successor. Waller concludes by reminding Terry that he is Bruce's son, not his clone, and that, despite the circumstances of his existence, he still has free will to live out his own life; Terry comes to terms with his revelations, and continues in being Batman. With a new sense of purpose, Terry plans to propose to Dana, while continuing his life of crimefighting.

Animation[]

In order to complete the series, Warner Bros. Animation outsourced Batman Beyond to Dong Yang Animation, Koko Enterprises and Seoul Movie (a subsidiary of TMS) in Seoul, South Korea. While the South Korean studios animated the series' episodes, the feature film Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker was animated by TMS Entertainment in Tokyo, Japan.

Spinoff[]

A spinoff from Batman Beyond, an animated series called The Zeta Project, featured a revamped version of the synthoid Zeta from the Batman Beyond episode "Zeta". Batman would guest star in the episode "Shadows". The super villain Stalker was to have appeared in The Zeta Project episode "Taffy Time", but ultimately did not do so.[7] The second-season episode "Ro's Gift" has an appearance by the Brain Trust from the Batman Beyond episode "Mind Games". Terry McGinnis/Batman was originally slated to appear in this episode as well, but was cut since Bruce Timm and company were working on Justice League.[7]

Reception[]

While the idea of Batman Beyond seemed as if it were "not a proper continuation of the legacy of the Dark Knight",[6] it gathered acclaim after its release. It has been praised for its dark, mature, and often unsettling storytelling. The show was nominated for four Daytime Emmy Awards, two of which it won in 2001 for Outstanding Special Class Animated Program and Outstanding Music Direction and Composition. In addition, the show was nominated for five Annie Awards and won two of those nominations in 1999 and 2001.[8] In 2009, IGN.com named Batman Beyond the 40th best animated television series of all time.[6]

Home video[]

VHS[]

Some episodes of the series were released on VHS from 1999 to 2000, including the series' premiere (as Batman Beyond: The Movie), and select episodes as five VHS volumes containing three episodes per tape (the same contents as the individual DVD volume releases, see below), and the direct-to-video film Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (edited version).

Season DVD[]

DVD name Release date Episodes Additional information
The Complete First Season March 21, 2006 13 Special features: creators' commentary on two key episodes; Inside Batman Beyond: Meet the Series' Creators; Music of the Knight: Enjoy Score-Only Versions of Key Scenes.
The Complete Second Season October 24, 2006 26 Special features: creators' commentary on two key episodes; Inside Batman Beyond: The Panel – In-Depth Dialogue with the Show's Creators. DVD art designed by Jesse Stagg at RDI.
The Complete Third Season March 20, 2007 13 Special features: Inside Batman Beyond; featurettes on four episodes by producers, directors and Will Friedle. DVD art designed by Jesse Stagg at RDI.
The Complete Series November 23, 2010 52 Special features: creator commentaries, season retrospectives, bonus 9th disc with 95 minutes of new special features, Secret Origin: The Story of DC Comics documentary and three all-new, all-revealing featurettes.

Individual DVD[]

DVD name Release date Episodes Additional information
Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker
(edited version, 73 mins.)
December 12, 2000 1 Commentary by the filmmakers*; behind-the-scenes documentary; deleted scenes; animation tests; music video Crash by Mephisto Odyssey featuring Static X; animated character bios; interactive menus; production notes; trailers; scene access; subtitles: English and French.
Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker
(uncut version, 76 mins.)
April 23, 2002 1 Commentary by the filmmakers*; behind-the-scenes documentary; deleted scenes; animation tests; music video Crash by Mephisto Odyssey featuring Static X; animated character bios; interactive menus; production notes; trailers; scene access; subtitles: English and French.
Batman Beyond: The Movie May 18, 1999 6 Compilation of the first six episodes (by production order, not by air date) of the series: "Rebirth " (Parts 1 and 2), "Golem", "Dead Man's Hand", "Meltdown', "The Winning Edge"
Batman Beyond: School Dayz and Spellbound March 2, 2004 6 Contains episodes: S01E04, S01E08, S01E09, S01E10, S01E12 and S02E08, plus all episodes as one long movie.
Batman Beyond: Tech Wars and Disappearing Inque March 2, 2004 6
  • *Note: The audio commentaries for both the edited and uncut versions of Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker were provided by the same contributors; however, both versions are slightly different from each other.

Blu-ray[]

Batman Beyond was released on Blu-ray on October 29, 2019. The four-disc set includes all 52 episodes and the uncut version of Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker. 41 of the episodes and Return of the Joker were remastered. The remaining 11 episodes were an upconversion.[9]

In other media[]

Comics[]

Books[]

"Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker" novelization of the feature film, written by Michael Teitelbaum, was released on November 1, 2000. Two Batman Beyond books for young readers were released on November 14, 2000 - "Batman Beyond: New Hero in Town" and "Batman Beyond: No Place Like Home", followed by two more, released on May 28, 2002 - "Batman Beyond: Hear No Evil" and "Batman Beyond: Grounded".

Music[]

Batman Beyond
Soundtrack album by
ReleasedAugust 31, 1999 (1999-08-31)
Length39:58
LabelRhino Entertainment
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic4/5 starsStar fullStar fullStar fullStar empty[10]

Released on August 31, 1999, the soundtrack to Batman Beyond features many of the same composers who worked on the previous animated Batman shows. The music style is more industrial, with some metal influence, to tie in with the show's futuristic cyberpunk genre.

Batman Beyond
No.TitleComposerLength
1."Batman Beyond (Main Title)"Kristopher Carter1:00
2."Cold vs. Hot"Lolita Ritmanis3:12
3."Terrific Trio vs. Rocketeers"Michael McCuistion1:50
4."Bat-Slapped in Store"Kristopher Carter1:16
5."Farewells"Lolita Ritmanis2:44
6."Batman Defeats Chappell"Kristopher Carter2:14
7."Batman Chases Inque"Kristopher Carter2:43
8."Yachting with the Card Gang"Shirley Walker2:09
9."Batman's First Fight"Michael McCuistion2:57
10."The Legacy Continues"Michael McCuistion1:24
11."Hotel Scuffle"Shirley Walker1:57
12."Trouble in the Museum"Shirley Walker1:46
13."Inque Escapes!"Kristopher Carter1:22
14."Nuclear Lab Destruction"Michael McCuistion1:54
15."Golem Chases Shoppers"Shirley Walker2:00
16."Willie Defeated"Shirley Walker2:37
17."Genetic Theft"Michael McCuistion1:29
18."Joker Chase"Lolita Ritmanis3:08
19."Move to the Groove"Lolita Ritmanis1:16
20."Batman Beyond (End Credits)"Shirley Walker1:00

Toys[]

In 2000, Burger King included Batman Beyond toys in their kids' meals.

Films[]

A direct-to-video feature film, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, was released on December 12, 2000. The original release was censored for elements of violence and death, though a second, uncensored version was later released. Nevertheless, it received critical acclaim for its story, voice acting, animation and score.[11] A second Batman Beyond film, focusing on the origins of Terry McGinnis, multiple clones of Bruce Wayne and the appearance of an elderly Selina Kyle, was planned by Bruce Timm and Glen Murakami, though it was never scripted, as it never went beyond a 45-minute impromptu plotting session between the two. The project was scrapped due to the dark tones and controversies surrounding Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker.[12] Despite of it, the plot elements were eventually reworked into the second-season finale of Justice League Unlimited titled "Epilogue" (which was intended to be the series finale until the show was renewed for a third and final season) where Terry discovers his genetic origins from Amanda Waller and Selina Kyle is briefly mentioned in passing.

Among the live-action films proposed between the critical failure of Batman & Robin and the reboot of the Batman franchise was Batman Beyond. In August 2000, Warner Bros. announced that it was developing a live action film adaptation with Boaz Yakin attached to co-write and direct. The TV series' creators, Dini and Alan Burnett, were hired to write a screenplay for the feature film, with Neal Stephenson as consultant. Yakin hoped to cast Clint Eastwood as the retired Batman.[13][14] By July 2001, a first draft was turned in to the studio, and the writers were waiting to see if a rewrite would be needed. The studio, also exploring other takes of Batman in development[15] eventually placed Batman Beyond on hold in August 2001, but ultimately canceled the proposal.[16] Yakin reportedly wanted to the film to be dark, nihilistic, and with swearing and violence, and not the PG-13 film the studio wanted.[14]

In January 2019, rumors began to circulate that Warner Animation Group was developing an animated Batman Beyond film following the critical and commercial success of Sony Pictures Animation's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,[17] but was later reported that no such film was in the works.[18] In the later August interview with DC Universe, Paul Dini revealed that Warner Bros. continues to express interest in a film adaptation but have put emphasis on other projects.[19] In June 2020, Michael Keaton entered talks to play an elderly Bruce Wayne, reprising his role from Tim Burton's Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992), in the DCEU film The Flash, which is set for release in 2022. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. hopes for Keaton to return for multiple DCEU films in a way "akin to the role played by Samuel Jackson as Nick Fury in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, something of a mentor or guide or even string-puller".[20] Keaton was officially confirmed to return in August of the same year.[21]

Video games[]

The first appearance of the Terry McGinnis version of Batman in a video game is in the Nintendo 64, PlayStation, and Game Boy Color video game Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker.

The Batman Beyond Batsuit appears as an alternate costume in Justice League Heroes and as downloadable content in Batman: Arkham City and Injustice: Gods Among Us.

A Batman Beyond DLC was included in the third Lego Batman video game.

A "Batman of the Future" character pack featuring the Terry McGinnis Batman with all its trademark gadgets (such as the flying suit and the ability to turn invisible) and other Batman Beyond era characters were revealed to be PS3/PS4 exclusive DLC for Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham.[22]

Rocksteady Studios created their own unique take on the Batman Beyond Batsuit for Batman: Arkham Knight as a pre-order bonus along with The Dark Knight Returns Batsuit titled "Gotham's Future Pack".

Animation[]

In April 2014, a Batman Beyond short by Darwyn Cooke premiered at WonderCon. The short, which saw Will Friedle and Kevin Conroy reprise their roles, sees Batman (Terry McGinnis) battle a Batman android (resembling the design from The New Batman Adventures) in the Batcave with help from the elderly Bruce Wayne and the Batmobile (resembling the design from Batman: The Animated Series). Once defeated, Batman and Bruce look out to see and prepare to fight seven additional invading androids resembling the designs from Beware the Batman, The Batman, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, The Dark Knight Returns, Batman (1989 film), Batman (TV series), and the original design by Bill Finger.[23] Though the androids' source is unstated, they're reminiscent of the story arc from Batman: The Animated Series involving the computer program HARDAC.

Batman Beyond is alluded in Teen Titans Go!. In the episode "Sandwich Thief", Robin travels to the future to his future self Nightwing's apartment where a poster of the Batman Beyond Batman can be seen, indicating that Nightwing admires this incarnation of Batman.

References[]

  1. "A History of Batman on TV". IGN. http://uk.tv.ign.com/articles/891/891807p8.html. 
  2. Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 114–122. ISBN 978-1476665993. 
  3. "News". Comics Continuum. February 9, 2001. Retrieved January 2, 2011.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  4. Pereira, Sergio (February 9, 2022). "The Untold Truth Of Batman Beyond". Looper.com.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  5. Nolen-Weathington, Eric (June 1, 2004). Modern Masters Volume 3: Bruce Timm. TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 67. ISBN 978-1-893905-30-6. https://books.google.com/books?id=EMwn_4llWK0C&q=Bruce+Timm+kid-friendly+Batman+Beyond+cartoon&pg=PA67. Retrieved July 18, 2010. 
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 "40. Batman Beyond". IGN. Archived from the original on January 22, 2009.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  7. 7.0 7.1 "The World's Finest - The Zeta Project". Worldsfinestonline.com. Retrieved January 2, 2011.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  8. Awards for Batman Beyond at the Internet Movie Database
  9. "'Batman Beyond' is Finally Getting a Remastered Blu-ray Release This October [Comic-Con 2019]". /Film. 2019-07-18. Retrieved 2019-07-19.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  10. Phares, Heather. "Batman Beyond". AllMusic. Retrieved July 18, 2010.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  11. "Batman Beyond - Return of the Joker". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on 22 October 2009. Retrieved 2009-10-23.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
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  13. Harris, Dana (August 22, 2000). "There's new 'Batman' in WB's belfry". Variety. https://www.variety.com/article/VR1117785384.html?categoryid=13&cs=1. 
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External links[]

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