Before R. Patz did it, Batman Beyond gave us a younger hero braving a more dangerous Gotham
The Batman doesn't hold the patent on brash and impulsive Dark Knights
TV Lists Batman Beyond
Batman might be world-famous as a hyper-competent superhero, but in Matt Reeves’ The Batman he’s yet to earn that reputation. In the film, Robert Pattinson stars as a darkly driven vigilante who has only just established himself in Gotham City, and his destructive self-appointment as its watchful protector is a tenuous one.
It’s an intriguing take on a classic character, set during a crucial period in his fabled career. Good Batman stories conjure a foe who is the equal to the Caped Crusader at his peak, but the better ones often throw seemingly insurmountable problems at a version of Bruce Wayne who scarcely has a grip on himself. Batman has to begin somewhere, sure, but what happens after that?
There is a veritable Batcave filled with Bat-origin stories, but tales that tackle the crucial years when the character endures the stress tests that will one day forge him into the legendary hero are less pervasive. There’s Batman: Year Two, which pits Batman against a more lethal caped crusader. Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight tosses a wild card at Batman just as his dark presence in Gotham is beginning to affect change. And then there’s Batman Beyond, which follows neo-Batman Terry McGinnis (Will Friedle) as he wages his own campaign against criminality in a Gotham City that has existed for an entire generation without a resident Dark Knight.
Batman Beyond, which debuted on the Kids’ WB on January 10, 1999 and ran for three seasons, tackled its requisite origin beats with a two-part premiere (“Rebirth”) and then proceeded to follow Terry as he suffered various superhero growing pains under the mentorship of an aged Bruce Wayne (Kevin Conroy, reprising his role from Batman: The Animated Series). Developed by B:TAS creators Paul Dini, Bruce Timm, and Alan Burnett (just as the latter two were wrapping up a sterling run on Superman: The Animated Series), Batman Beyond ventured into a brave new world where Gotham City had evolved into an expansive technological hub but was still no stranger to crime and corruption. In “Rebirth” we learn what became of Wayne—he suffered a heart attack during a mission, was forced to use a gun to protect himself, and subsequently retired his cowl in shame—and we also learn what kind of city Gotham was allowed to become outside of his influence.
The concept of a teenage Batman was initially met with resistance by his creators. “We didn’t want to do that,” Timm told TwoMorrows Publishing in 2012. “Rather than just handing it off to someone else to let them do it and possibly mess it up, we figured we kind of owed it to the character to give it our best shot.”
What began as an unwanted studio prerogative to create a new kid-friendly Batman quickly became one of the DC Animated Universe’s most beloved series and one of DC’s most enduring properties; its success is largely attributed to the way Batman Beyond diverged from the Dark Knight’s well-trod paths. As Batmen, Terry and Bruce have similar backstories—both suffer tragedy and soon discover they have the wherewithal to do something about it—but their backgrounds couldn’t be further apart.
Terry McGinnis is what Bruce Wayne might have been in another life. Had Thomas and Martha Wayne died penniless, Bruce might have done a stretch in one of Gotham’s juvenile detention centers just as Terry did; if Bruce had grown to his teenage years with his family, he might have known what it meant to mature into a regular human being instead of becoming an engine of anger running purely on vengeance. Bruce sees something of himself in Terry—that much is obvious by the end of “Rebirth, Parts I & II.” Their kinship becomes the bedrock of Batman Beyond.
That relationship is important, because the threats Terry faces in Neo-Gotham aren’t your garden-variety Arkham rogues. There are a few Bat-nemeses who survive all the way to Beyond, sort of, like immortal head-in-a-jar Mr. Freeze (Michael Ansara), or Bane (who hangs on via life support courtesy of a shady nurse), or the Joker (Mark Hamill, who reprised his role for the direct-to-video feature, Batman Beyond: Return Of The Joker). This new Batman is put through a fresh gauntlet of enemies who either have a fortune that rivals Wayne’s, like Derek Powers/Blight (Sherman Howard); have the technology on hand to utterly disrupt the social order, like Spellbinder (Jon Cypher); or are the sort of enemy you definitely don’t want lurking behind your shoulder, like The Stalker (Carl Lumbly).
Young as he is, Terry has yet to hone his mind and body to counter these kinds of threats. So his in-story learning curve takes the form of the new Bat-suit, a sleek, wraithlike wonder of next-era tech that has an array of wonderful toys at his disposal to meet virtually any situation: There’s the camouflage setting, which renders Terry invisible (a handy substitute for the years Bruce trained as a ninja), the jet boots and retractable wings that allow Terry to soar over Neo-Gotham’s skyscraper canyons (far more efficient than Bruce’s grappling hook), and enhanced strength and agility. Despite all the gear Wayne provides him (which includes an absolutely cherry Batmobile), Terry still has a hell of a time navigating this dangerous frontier of opportunists, brutes, and villains.
Like Pattinson’s Batman, Terry doesn’t have it all figured out. He’s not an ultra-shrewd Caped Crusader, not yet, and all he has in his arsenal that is truly his are his wits. Batman Beyond‘s hero has to improvise; one of the more brilliant examples of this can be found in Return Of The Joker, where Terry realizes that in order to put the kibosh on The Joker he needs to use his uncanny knack for talking trash. Unfortunately, as a feature-length spin-off, Return Of The Joker doesn’t meet the parameters of this article. For now, let’s zero in on the 10 best examples of Batman Beyond that showed just what it meant for a young Batman to become the hero Gotham needed—a young, brash, and impulsive Tomorrow Knight.
“Black Out” (season 1, episode 3)
The first major threat for this new Batman (after his first brush against Blight, that is) is Inque (Shannon Kenny), a shapeshifting saboteur who works on behalf of tech magnate Derek Powers to knock out his competitors in Neo-Gotham (including the legacy company of one Lucius Fox). Inque, a sleeker version of the Clayface character, can mold throwing weapons at will and melt into the shadows in the blink of an eye—not exactly a B-list opening salvo. “You have to learn to think on your feet,” Wayne tells Terry, and he does, after admitting his limitations. (“You may be used to dealing with freaks and monsters, but I’m a little new at this!”) When Terry comes to the realization that the gooey villain can’t wriggle their way out of an ice block, he provides one—courtesy of Mr. Freeze’s frost gun, an antique from the Batcave arsenal. Cool extra bit: This episode introduces Commissioner Barbara Gordon (Stockard Channing), a tougher top cop than her predecessor, who keeps her disapproving eyes on our new winged warrior in the episodes to come.
“Meltdown” (season 1, episode 5)
That frost gun from “Black Out” turns out to be clever foreshadowing. “Meltdown” boasts the surprise return of Dr. Victor Fries, whose unique physiology (i.e., he has to stay really, really cold) has caused his body to deteriorate to the point that the only thing that remains is, alarmingly, his head. Thanks to funding from Derek Powers (who wishes to cure his own degenerative maladies by utilizing untested procedures on Fries), Mr. Freeze lives again in a new body, kinder, gentler, and under the scrutiny of a suspicious Bruce Wayne. “Meltdown” amps up the dramatics for which Batman: The Animated Series was famous and twists this cyberpunk Saturday morning cartoon into a fraught soap opera, where naïveté gives way to betrayal, and betrayal gives way to tragedy. As Terry and Bruce look upon the destruction wrought by a vengeful Freeze, the new Batman learns a tough lesson: Not every instance of supervillainy is going to be black and white.
“Shriek” (season 1, episode 7)
Possibly the darkest episode from the first season of Batman Beyond, “Shriek” explores the horrifying possibility of what might happen if Terry suddenly found himself operating without his mentor. In this wild installment, Derek Powers uses his leverage over a struggling sound technician named Walter Shreeve (Chris Mulkey) to apply his talents to the terrible purpose of driving Bruce Wayne mad. More than a showcase for the series’ top-flight sound design, “Shriek” explores themes of elderly dementia, suicidal thoughts, and the pain and helplessness that comes with both over the course of its fleeting 22-minute run time. Here, Terry has to use his wits to put Shreeve away for good (he goes undercover as a wise-crackin’ pizza delivery guy), which culminates in a gorgeously executed showdown where sound is stolen from the Batman—and from the viewer as well.
“Dead Man’s Hand” (season 1, episode 8)
Being a superhero can be rough on your social life. Naturally, a teenage superhero’s romantic endeavors can take a real beating. In “Dead Man’s Hand,” Terry’s nightly excursions finally cause the first major rift between him and his girlfriend, Dana Tan (Lauren Tom). Nursing a broken heart and wounded pride, Terry falls head first into a whirlwind romance with a mysterious girl named Melanie Walker (Olivia d’Abo) just as the notorious Royal Flush Gang returns to Gotham for a bit of wanton burglary. The frustrations of a nightly vigilante routine begin to show in Terry’s attitude here, which temporarily put him at odds with Wayne: “Hey, I put my life on the line all the time. One night’s not gonna make any difference!” “One night always makes the difference,” Bruce replies. This moment gives Terry perspective, eventually (hormones!), but this youthful Batman’s first scrape against forbidden love softens Wayne’s stone cold heart for Terry, just a bit. When the episode comes to a close, we watch as Bruce regales his partner with a tale from his own past concerning the perils of romance.
“Ascension” (season 1, episode 13)
“No more hiding for Mr. Powers. Now everyone can see what he is—even in the dark.” Batman Beyond differentiated itself from Batman: The Animated Series in several ways, but its most exciting diversion was giving Terry McGinnis a season-long arc that results in a chance for Batman to bring in the person responsible for the death of his father: Derek Powers, a.k.a. Blight. (Bruce Wayne would never find such closure in the DCAU.) Terry and Blight’s origins were inextricably linked in “Rebirth,” and their fates come to a surprisingly nuanced conclusion in this first season capper. Powers’ intrusive glow-in-the-dark radiation powers have forced him to step back from his position at the Wayne-Powers corporation, which means calling in his estranged son, Paxton (Cary Elwes). Terry allies himself with Paxton to seek out his dangerous, borderline psychotic father, but the young Powers’ dark ambitions test Terry’s desire to see justice done. Vengeance clouds judgment, Terry learns very quickly—and it rarely, if ever, brings about closure.
“Splicers” (season 2, episode 1)
Another high school drama episode, and the best of the series. Written by Evan Dorkin and Sarah Dyer, “Splicers” embraced the tech-horrors of this future-shocked Gotham City by contriving a body-changing fad that turns the city’s tragically hip into feral beasts. Terry follows Dana to the gene-splicing institute run by Dr. Abel Cuvier (Ian Buchanan) and quickly discovers that Gotham’s rise in splicer crime has a closer connection to the good doctor’s business model than people realize. The twist comes when Terry finds himself overpowered by a crew of splicers (led by a ram-man voiced by Ice-T) which gives Cuvier an opportunity to give Batman a taste of his medicine. “Splicers” is Batman Beyond putting its futuristic settings to proper use, a riff on The Island Of Dr. Moreau by way of William Gibson that shows us a youth culture enamored by things that could irrevocably change their lives for the worse.
“Hidden Agenda” (season 2, episode 5)
Throughout Bruce Wayne’s superhero career, he amassed a small contingent of allies: Alfred Pennyworth, Lucius Fox, Harold the mechanic, and others who came and went as his war on crime carried on for decades. Terry’s partnership with Bruce is essential to what makes Batman Beyond work as a DCAU legacy series, but Terry’s too charismatic to not have at least one member in his large circle of friends eventually get wise to his night work. Enter: Max Gibson (Cree Summer), a whip-smart student who finds herself targeted by a vengeful member of the Jokerz gang for reasons only she—and Batman—can suss out. Voiced by future Flash Michael Rosenbaum, Terminal was a different, more vicious take on the Jokerz concept who uses his influence over his small crew to infiltrate one of Terry’s few safe spaces specifically to do harm to the people he cares about. It’s a disturbing episode for a variety of reasons, but the darker story beats of “Hidden Agenda” are in service to the introduction of Max, a great new supporting character and an equal to Terry, who soon becomes an invaluable asset in the adventures of this new Batman.
“Bloodsport” (season 2, episode 6)
The urban jungle of Neo-Gotham has plenty of shadows, and you never know what kind of predator might be lurking inside them. As a teen superhero, Batman Beyond is often compared to the early exploits of Peter Parker, but few episodes played with those parallels quite as brazenly as “Bloodsport.” A big game hunter who has become murderously devoted to his craft comes to Gotham in search of the ultimate prey: Batman. The Stalker is an obvious riff on Marvel’s Kraven The Hunter, but Carl Lumbly’s haunting vocal performance provides depths to the character and reveals a frightening pathology to his methods. Obsession and tragedy forges a new lethal opponent for a young Batman who has to quickly learn what it means to fight a battle where he is constantly on the offensive.
“Terry’s Friend Dates A Robot” (season 2, episode 13)
Not every Batman adventure has to be a grim excursion into the internal and external forces pulling at Terry’s soul. Written by Emmy award-winner Paul Dini, “Terry’s Friend Dates A Robot” zeroes in on class dork Howard Groote (Max Brooks), whose desire to ascend the school’s social strata by scoring a cool girlfriend leads him to the seedy underbelly of Gotham’s android black market. Howard feeds his ideal partner’s stats to a skeezy, Buscemi-esque technician and thus is born Cynthia, a synthetic babe who wins Howard his popularity. Keeping Cynthia’s programmed devotion in check becomes an issue when other girls begin to take notice of good ol’ Groote, which pulls Terry away from one of the few quiet evenings where he can let his hair down and party with his awesome friends. Easily the funniest episode of Batman Beyond, and one of its best.
“The Last Resort” (season 2, episode 16)
As we’ve established, Terry McGinnis’ school life is just as complex as his private one, and they often dovetail into strange quagmires wholly unique to this new Batman. None were more dramatic than “The Last Resort,” where fed-up parents addressed Gotham’s juvenile delinquency problem by signing their at-risk teenagers over to an unscrupulous counselor named Dr. Gray Stanton (Mitch Pileggi). Stanton uses cult-like forms of emotional torture to cow his patients into becoming subservient to his control. His endgame is unclear, but Stanton represents a different, more heinous kind of adversary for Batman, who comes to the realization that this particular dilemma won’t be solved with batarangs and jet-boots alone. It’s a Very Special Episode of Batman Beyond that raises tough points about who is truly responsible for children losing their way, and doesn’t shy away from the reality that some kids sometimes grow beyond the reach of help.
“The Call, Part I” (season 3, episode 7)
Possibly the most important two-parter of Batman Beyond, at least in terms of cementing Terry McGinnis’ legacy as the future’s one true Batman, “The Call” brought in Superman (Christopher McDonald, replacing Tim Daly) to invite this new Batman to become a full-fledged member of a futuristic iteration of the Justice League. Naturally, Bruce is suspicious of Superman’s timing—a Leaguer named Micron was just taken out under dubious circumstances—and his suspicions turn out to be correct: Superman wants Terry to ferret out a traitor in the Justice League. Hands-down the biggest adventure McGinnis would see during his animated run, “The Call” goes to terrifying cosmic depths to usher the Tomorrow Knight toward a higher strata of superherodom. Rewatching these episodes makes one hope against hope that a Batman Beyond revival is closer to today than lost to some far away point in the future.
89 Comments
““Meltdown” boasts the surprise return of Dr. Victor Fries, whose unique
physiology (i.e., he has to stay really, really cold) has caused his
body to deteriorate to the point that the only thing that remains is,
alarmingly, his head.”Just to clarify, Freeze being reduced to a head was shown back in The New Batman Adventures episode “Cold Comfort,” which actually spoiled the DTV SubZero since the episode aired several months before SubZero was released.Also…
That “… and you hit like a girl” line to Ra’s is like one of my top 10 favorite DCAU zingers.
And here I was just talking about BATMAN BEYOND in the comments recently! Rebirth is a faultless intro to the world of New Gotham, and I could sing the praises of BATMAN BEYOND all day – this is a really good list, although I’d add the ‘Earthmover’ episode where Terry discovers a guy’s corpse has mutated into a network of sentient roots (sort of).I also just want to call out the music for the series as a whole – I love that it typically went the industrial route, from that cracking theme tune to incidental scoring, really helped give the show its own identity.
The blu ray for Batman Beyond is only about $30 on amazon, pretty great value I think, though it doesn’t apparently include the JLU episode “Epilogue” or “Return of the Joker”
I’m just fine with it not including Epilogue. I get what Dini was trying to go for with that episode, tying the whole DCAU together with a neat little bow for what he thought was going to be the grand finale at the time, but personally I feel like making Terry Bruce’s kid (and having Bruce know) cheapens the character/the whole show in retrospect.
Totally agree & felt the same way about the aborted plan by the ousted Ash vs Evil Dead showrunner to make Kelly Ash’s actual & not just surrogate daughter. It was unnecessary literal & kind of reductive I thought
Thank you. I feel the same way. The flashback part of Epilogue, with Batman and the Royal Flush Gang, is amazing.There was zero need to make Terry Bruce’s “biological” son. It doesn’t add anything and like you I feel it cheapens the entire thing. It also gets into what I consider to be kind of a “gross” element of adoption/”real” parentage. Terry’s dad was still… his dad. The man who raised him, the man who fathered him, etc. Biology doesn’t make a person a father. Epilogue doesn’t outright try to posit it, but it’s just like… sigh. Why does Terry need Bruce’s DNA to be Batman?Especially because Terry and Bruce are SUCH different people. That’s one of the main themes of Beyond; hell, it’s a key theme of Return of the Joker. Terry isn’t Bruce.
It does include Return of the Joker, unless they changed that.
Oh cool, I have to go back & read the blu ray info more carefully
Batman cray cray.
I love Bruce’s grin in the last panel of that image; he knows it’s irrational, and he doesn’t care.
This was honestly my favorite moment of the whole series and maybe one of the top of any Batman series ever.
The Call Part 2 has one of my favorite Bruce/Terry interactions (and possibly favorite jokes in the series). Terry is being chased in the Batmobile by a mind-controlled Superman, which leads toTerry: “What’s the top speed on this thing?”Bruce: “Mach 3. Why?”Terry: “Is that faster than a speeding bullet?”
“Voiced by future Flash Michael Rosenbaum”I legitimately had no idea that Lex Luthor has also been The Flash. This is blowing my mind.
To blow your mind further, there’s an episode of Justice League Unlimited where Luthor and Flash get Freaky-Fridayed, so Rosenbaum gets to voice Lex in Flash’s body:
GOAT moment!!!
That episode is why I will always prefer Wally to Barry. Wally acting as Lex is just *chef kiss*.
The scene where Dr. Polaris and FlashasLex meet in the bathroom.
Polaris: Aren’t you going to wash your hands?
Flash/Lex: No, Because IM Evil!
That’s not relaxing…
There’s actually a big debate about that scene because, since Tala thinks it’s Lex’s mind inside the body, not Wally’s, that technically Flash raped Tala.
I can’t stand Barry. Wally is better in comics, in other media, always. Plus it’s not like Barry was Flash for SO LONG he’s “the” Flash. Wally was Flash FOR FREAKIN’ EVER in the comics and had one of the most iconic runs with Waid/Ringo.
Let`s not forget the full on bonkers last episode of Justice League Unlimited “Epilogue” which so happens to be the real last episode of Beyond.
what they did there was pure garbage with the DNA thing and whatnot.
It only exists because the producers eventually realized that it seemed weird that both Terry and Matt had black hair when both parents were redheads.
That’s a stupid reason. And it’s a stupid storytelling choice. I hate Epilogue. Well, not the flashback with Bats and Ace. But any of the future stuff.
Yep. I hate it.
Shriek has one of the best “Bruce is nuts” lines ever!“How were you so sure that it was someone else?”“For one, I know I’m not psychotic.”“…sure.”“And second, the voice kept calling me ‘Bruce.’”“And?”“That’s not what I call myself.”“Oh…you would, wouldn’t you.”
One of my favorite things about the show is how little nuggets like this were spread across all episodes.
I couldn’t remember where it was from but this exact exchange of dialogue has stuck with me for years.
I’m shocked that Batman Beyond hasn’t been on DC’s liist of “lets make this into a movie”…It feels like such a no brainer. A Batman story but Bruce isn’t the main character….They could’ve even done it with Keaton instead of throwing him into Flashpoint…Oh well, I’d rather a continuation of the animated series anyway
Supposedly WB tried to develop it into a movie before Batman Begins.
There was a rumor floating around in around 2020 that a Batman Beyond animated film would be made as a sort of answer to Spider-Verse, but the funnel between ideas for DC movies and execution of DC movies is especially narrow.
Done?
They probably haven’t made a movie of it because it isn’t starring Bruce Wayne.
It would be too good. The trick to Hollywood is never out do yourself in the first go. You have to make things so-so to have a sequel.
I would have loved to have seen Battinson taking the cowl from Keaton
Paul Dini and Alan Burnett were hired to write a script. Dini said they had a finished draft. But it was shelved in favor of Batman Begins.
i dunno, i haven’t liked any of the batman beyond comics DC put out. I don’t have faith in them doing a Beyond that would actually be, y’know, Batman Beyond and good.
Possibly my most favorite moment:
Embedding didn’t work.
“a superSTITIOUS and COWARDLY LOT!!!”
My husband and I will never not sing this when the phrase comes up.
As funny as that scene is, I can understand Bruce’s hatred of it, and from his POV that musical would be extremely humiliating. It actually makes Terry look pretty dickish for thinking Bruce, of all people, would like it. I also wonder why the stage director put Robin in his 60’s outfit when neither Dick nor Tim had bare legged costumes back in the day.
I mean it obviously looks like ridiculous schwarbage to us, the viewers, but if you imagine that the musical is actually supposed to celebrate Batman, not mock him, then Terry isn’t a dick. He thought Bruce would enjoy a tribute to Batman, when in fact Bruce doesn’t want that at all (dealer’s choice as to why: my take is that he never put on the mask to be famous and therefore hates anyone trying to capitalize off of his life)
Terry’s a teenager; I can absolutely see him not thinking about it enough to realize Batman would hate it.
Stage Robin was played by a girl, no? She’s wearing lipstick and appears to have boobs. And as we all know performing women are required to bare skin whenever possible.
Batman Beyond was my childhood.
I never cared for Batman Beyond, I was already in my 20’s and it seemed like they made Terry into a Dick Grayson rip off working with Old man Bruce. Batman the Animated Series, Superman the Animated Series, Justice League and Justice League Unlimited were all way better than this show to me. I do realize people who were 5-14 at the time so look back at this show like it was amazing but meh…..Now the return of the joker movie was great.
I feel sort of the same way. The beginning of the show had so much promise and the ending is truly engaging; and, as you mentioned, Return of the Joker is some of the best DCAU there is. That said big chunks of the middle part of the series get really tedious and repetitive. Way too much of the show is set in high school and you can tell the show is just responding to notes from the execs. Near the end of course they know they are on the way out and do some good work.
Yeah the start and ending were really solid but I really didn’t get into Terry at all.
Yeah the writing quality dipped a bit after season 1. Never unwatchable and with a reasonably high level of quality all things considered, but yeah there was a lot of “inventory” stories where Terry meets a new villain and maybe there’s a seed of something more interesting, but never really gets explored further. I don’t think this was a strictly Batman Beyond issue though, a lot of the later Superman: The Animated Series episodes and some of The New Batman Adventures were merely “good.” I don’t think it was until the late JL/JLU era where every episode felt like it was giving 110%.
It’s a solid follow-up to Batman:TAS, but the opening credits lean hard into that late 90s “we’re hardcore as fuck” aesthetic, plus a totally inexplicable mid-credits dance break.
What I liked the most about the show, though, was how they treated old Bruce and how it tied directly into the Batman of TAS and Justice League. There was no happy ending for Bruce Wayne, his relentlessness had poisoned every relationship he’d ever had, so he’s ultimately left broken and alone, abandoned by all of his various proteges for being such a perpetual dick.
I was a little put off by that as I felt like Dick should have been around more. No matter how much he hates Bruce he always came back to be around him in the comics etc. I also fucking hated that Bruce and Barbara hooked up in the show (in the past) as that would be the worst thing Bruce could have done to Dick.Return of the Joker did do a great job with the Tim explantion though.
I actually liked that, over the decades, Dick finally just had enough of Bruce’s bullshit. Though you’re right about hooking up with Barbara. I get why the writers did it . . . they needed a single thing that they could show in a quick flashback rather than gradually becoming disillusioned with Bruce’s rigidity, but it’s still not great.
Yeah the hook up probably annoyed me more than Dick just leaving him. I think your idea of Dick being fed up with his shit would have worked better if they didn’t also throw the hook up part in, as it seemed like that would be the reason Grayson told him to F off.
Big fan of Batman Beyond and Terry. Wish they’d adapt him into a movie or a new series again.
Chris McDonald voicing Superman in The Call was great because he had previously voiced Jor-El in STAS! So as Superman ages, he becomes more like his father.
I….I had no idea. That is so great!
Honorable mention for any episode featuring Mad Stan.
It really is a shame that Return of the Joker was out of bounds, because that final confrontation is so great.“He loves to talk…” “…I like to talk too!”“I thought the Joker always wanted to make Batman laugh!”
Return of the Joker was the perfect end to Batman: The Animated Series. And, considering how ridiculous the plot is, it is so much better than it has any right to be.Not that I didn’t love Justice League/Unlimited, but thematically RotJ is the pitch-perfect button.
“Ha… ha.” Joker’s sheer incandescent rage, masterfully acted by Hamill, at Terry’s silence, is fucking outstanding storytelling.
Look man, I know it’s a different series and all, but the Batman Beyond finale they snuck into JLU needs a mention here.
Episode is titled “Epilogue,” 2×13.
You might also bring up “The Once and Future Thing Part Two: Time Warped,” 1×13, which also features Terry. It’s considerably less essential from a Batman Beyond POV, though.
“Epilogue” is straight up garbage.When it comes to the Animated Universe, Bruce Timm is somehow both hero and villain.
You’re objectively wrong about Epilogue, but based on The Killing Joke movie I think you’re right about Timm.
Not sure you grasp the concept of “objectivity”. That said, I’m happy to hear we won’t allow Bruce Timm to come between us.
I know what I said.
K. An opinion is by its nature subjective.Claiming otherwise isn’t not knowing what you said, it’s saying something objectively wrong.
Right, and you said, “Epilogue is straight up garbage.” You’re objectively wrong.
“You don’t know your way around, a lot of things have changed!”“Are criminals still superstitious and cowardly?”“Yup.”
They should do a Catwoman Beyond movie or series, with Michelle Pfeiffer as Selina Kyle mentoring a younger Catwoman
No DCU movie will ever get these kinds of nostalgic comments. People posting scenes and memories of a cartoon just tells you DC needs to up their writing. Even the TV shows are not so memorable. DC needs to do better.
How are we not going to mention “Hooked Up” where they painfully but beautifully deal with issues regarding teenage addiction and crime.
this show was so good because it was funny and snarky at the same time. the music was great as well. i can’t miss the opportunity to say justice for terry/max. I never understood why the show insisted that terry and dana would work out long term. invincible has it right about how these superhero/non superhero relationships often work out.
eta: the show was also really smart as well
Max was forced on the series by execs who thought it needed “more teens” or some nonsense. A lot of fans hate Max, but I thought they did fine blending her into the show.
The strange thing is what you pointed out — she took the place of Dana and then they kept Dana anyway. If Dana is Terry’s soulmate, why not let Dana in on the secret instead of letting someone new get closer?
Because the writers hated Dana and were surprised when she became so popular. By the time the fan outcry over her demotion got loud enough, the show was basically cancelled.
A genuinely excellent piece of television. Of course the entire DCAU is excellent television, but this took mostly original characters and built them out. Great writing, great voices, great design, great everything.
What a treat the DCAU was.
I’ll never give up HBO Max, as long as it keeps the DCAU on there.
I was shocked to realize I liked Terry so much because he’s basically Spider-Man. Snarky, agile, sticks to walls, and many of his rogues are 1-1 analogs to Spidey’s.
It also contains one of the best Batman line ever:
Meltdown would be in a my top 10. The ending with Freeze just sticks with me, “Leave me, you’re the only one who cares”.Heroes, Season 1 ep 8, is another good one where Batman faces off with the Terrific Trio, a Fantastic Four esque group of scientists turns heroes.
I maintain part of the reason Mr. Freeze has such memorable impact is the voice — Michael Ansara is so good, here and elsewhere in DCAU.
My only real complaint about Batman Beyond:It needed serialization as it went on.Season 1 is great. Like, 13 episodes, outstanding.The further show goes along, the more the “episode of the week” standard feels lacking. Season 3 in particular feels like they NEEDED some kind of “forward motion.” The kind of season-long plotting the the DCAU eventually got to in both seasons of JLU. Sure, villains recur, but between Terry’s relationship with Dana, Barbara Gordon, and other pieces, it strains at being “status quo” every episode. They needed a longer-term story. It wasn’t quite where cartoons where at the time, however. Now it’s kind of standard. It’s still really enjoyable, awesome stuff, but I can never make it through a full three-season rewatch. The problem doesn’t affect Batman: TAS because, I guess, it’s Batman.
The thing with Batman Beyond was it started with mild elements of serialization with the Derek Powers stuff, then stopped doing it and as a result the rest of the series can feel a bit too status quo. I’m always surprised they never did more with the Derek Powers/Blight storyline, or his son, who had a strong episode in Season 3 but never was much of an antagonist otherwise. I think there was a network ask to go more high school from season 2 onwards, but you’d think when developing a new property you’d want to keep the villain with the most personal connection to the protagonist. But yeah, otherwise the DCAU had played with serialization prior (particularly the Darkseid arc in Superman) but serialization was really the exception at this point.
Well after the Flash movie it seems our DCEU continuity Batman will be a septuagenarian, so no better time than now to revisit Terry….