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==Lexicon== |
==Lexicon== |
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To help carry off the feel of a world 20–40 years in the future, ''Batman Beyond'' employed a group of [[slang]] terms either specifically invented or with altered usage. |
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| Batman Beyond | |
|---|---|
| File:Batman Beyond logo.jpg | |
| Starring | Will Friedle Kevin Conroy Stockard Channing Cree Summer Lauren Tom |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | (52 aired) (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Jean MacCurdy Shaun McLaughlin |
| Producers | Alan Burnett Paul Dini Glen Murakami Bruce Timm |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | The WB (Kids' WB), Cartoon Network |
| Release | January 10, 1999 – December 18, 2001 |
Batman Beyond, also known as Batman of the Future, is an American animated television series created by The WB Television Network in collaboration with DC Comics and Warner Bros. Animation as a continuation of the Batman legacy. It began airing on January 10, 1999, and ended its run on December 18, 2001. After 52 episodes spanning three seasons and one direct-to-video film, the series was put on hold for the new Justice League animated series despite the network having announced plans for a fourth season.[1] However, there was a short-lived spin-off, The Zeta Project. In The Zeta Project's first season episode "Shadows", there is a crossover with Batman Beyond; in this continuity, the story takes place between the episode "Countdown" and the series finale "Unmasked."
Batman Beyond is set in the chronological future of the DC animated universe, although it was released before Justice League, Justice League Unlimited, and Static Shock. Some characters from the series appeared two years later in "Future Shock", an episode of Static Shock, and then again in "The Once and Future Thing," episodes of Justice League Unlimited. The character of Terry McGinnis was revisited a final time in the JLU episode "Epilogue", which tells much about the future of Batman.
Batman Beyond is said to exploit the darker side of many Batman projects, playing basically on such key elements as emotions, personal relations, the fear of the unknown, and technological malfunctions. As such, it was considerably darker than most other children's programs at the time, ironic as producer Bruce Timm recalls it was originally conceived as a kid-friendly Batman cartoon.[citation needed] 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.
The pilot episode begins in 2019, where an aging Batman, equipped with a high-tech Batsuit, takes on the kidnappers of Bunny Vreeland (the daughter of Veronica Vreeland, one of Bruce Wayne's many girlfriends). During the battle, Batman suffers a heart attack which leaves him unable to fight, forcing him to betray a life-long principle by threatening a criminal with a gun. By this point, Bruce Wayne's assistants, Alfred Pennyworth and Lucius Fox had both died although the reasons behind their deaths are not revealed until later in the series. Because of these reasons, Bruce Wayne retires the Batman persona, vowing never to revive it. It is implied by virtue of his continuing to fight crime long after he should have, and his retaining of the costumes worn by Robin, Nightwing, and Batgirl, that even before this point something horrible transpired that caused Bruce to sever his ties with the Justice League and forbid his allies to ever again assume their alter-egos. (The events which caused all of this are revealed in Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker.)
The story then fast-forwards to 2039 in Neo-Gotham, now a futuristic megalopolis equipped with staggering high rises and hovering/flying vehicles. Bruce Wayne is now a recluse, living in bitter isolation with no companion but his guard dog, Ace. Terry McGinnis is an athletic 16-year-old high school student and reformed troublemaker with a deeply ingrained sense of personal justice. His first act in the series is to defend a fellow passenger on a commuter rail from a member of the Jokerz gang. After trying to defend his girlfriend from an entire gang of Jokerz, Terry is forced to engage in a high-speed chase which ultimately ends on the grounds of Wayne Manor, where a fleeing Terry runs 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, after Bruce nods off for a bit, stumbles upon the entrance to the Batcave. He is chased out by a recovered and angered Bruce.
Terry returns home to discover that his father had been murdered, apparently by the vengeful Jokerz. Soon after, he finds out that the man actually responsible for the murder was Derek Powers, CEO of a merged Wayne-Powers (Bruce had foiled the merger repeatedly during his time as Batman, but evidently gave in soon after retiring the cowl) and his father's employer, because he possessed knowledge of illegal chemical weapons being produced by Powers. Terry "borrows" the Batsuit, intending to bring Powers to justice. Bruce initially opposes his efforts and vehemently demands Terry return the suit (going so far as to paralyse the suit while Terry is still inside it, which almost leads to his death), but Terry is able to convince him otherwise, and subsequently defeats Powers. Realizing that crime and corruption are running rampant in Gotham, Bruce offers Terry the chance to assume the role of Batman.
Terry's first foe is Derek Powers, now mutated into a radioactive monstrosity known as Blight through a combination of deadly chemical gas and radiation. He soon comes to have his own rogues gallery: the seductive shape-shifter Inque; the hypnotist Spellbinder; the bitter, deaf sound expert Shriek; the deadly assassin Curare; the insane terrorist Mad Stan; the African hunter Stalker; a new version of the Royal Flush Gang; Then he meets a nerd named Willie Watt who controlled a Golem to get revenge on the bullies. However he confronts him again in the second season more powerful than ever; and the Jokerz, a gang idolizing the notorious Clown Prince of Crime. However, on occasion, Terry is also forced to face his mentor's old foes, such as the rejuvenated Mr. Freeze; common criminals using Bane's strength-enhancing Venom substance in the form of slap-on patches; androids of the Riddler, Two-Face and Killer Croc; the immortal Ra's al Ghul; and, inevitably, the reborn Joker.
Bruce Wayne also reveals to Terry some details behind the death of Alfred Pennyworth. He explains that shortly before the incident in the first episode of Batman Beyond (where Bruce retires as Batman), Alfred left Gotham City for England for a short period of time to attend his sons' graduation from Christ Church College, Oxford University. Despite promising to return to Gotham, he never did...
Terry also comes to find similar allies. Maxine "Max" Gibson is a 17-year-old computer genius who discovers Batman's secret identity, and helps Terry with everything from computer hacking, to babysitting, to coming up with excuses for Terry's girlfriend Dana Tan. Max plays an integral part in Batman's war on crime, essentially as his Alfred. He also forms a begrudging partnership with Police Commissioner Barbara Gordon, the former Batgirl. She is unhappy with the idea of a new Batman, especially a teenager, as she is still haunted by the same event that caused Bruce to go into isolation. However, she knows that she and the police under her command need Batman, whether she likes it or not. Furthermore, she understands from personal experience that she cannot deter Terry any more than she could have been deterred from being Batgirl. Passing conversation between Barbara and Bruce suggests that, at the time of Batgirl's retirement, the suit had bullet holes in it that had since been repaired.
To help carry off the feel of a world 20–40 years in the future, Batman Beyond employed a group of slang terms either specifically invented or with altered usage.
| # | Title | Director(s) | Writer(s) | Original Airdate(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40 | "Future Shock" | Vic Dal Chele | Stan Berkowitz | January 17, 2004 (2004-01-17) | |
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Static is sent 40 years into the future, where he has to help the Batman of that era, Terry McGinnis, save a captured superhero: Static's future self.
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| # | Title | Director(s) | Writer(s) | Original Airdate(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | "The Once and Future Thing, Part 1: Weird Western Tales" | Dan Riba | Dwayne McDuffie | January 22, 2005 (2005-01-22) | |
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Batman, Wonder Woman, and Green Lantern chase Chronos to the past, where they team up with some of the greatest DC heroes of the Old West. After defeating stolen future tech in that era, they again follow Chronos to the future. Warhawk from the Batman Beyond era is revealed to be Green Lantern and Hawkgirl's son. Guest starring: Bat-Lash, Jonah Hex, and other DC characters from the Old West. This episode also teases with the idea of Wonder Woman and Batman having a relationship.
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| 13 | "The Once and Future Thing, Part 2: Time Warped" | Joaquim dos Santos | Dwayne McDuffie | January 29, 2005 (2005-01-29) | |
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Batman, Green Lantern, and Wonder Woman's pursuit of Chronos takes them to the future Gotham CityofBatman Beyond, just in time to face a battle with a group of Jokerz beside that era's Justice League. The time travellers are taken to the JLU's refuge. An older Bruce Wayne reveals the street gang they fought together was enhanced by Chronos who lead them to kill the rest of the League of that era. The combined heroes defeat the retooled Jokerz, and Batman traps Chronos in a time loop, right before he started his first time travel. This episode contains references to Crisis on Infinite Earths. The second time in the DCAU in which Hal Jordan appears as Green Lantern.
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| 26 | "Epilogue" | Dan Riba | Dwayne McDuffie | July 23, 2005 (2005-07-23) | |
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In the future, Amanda Waller reveals to an older Terry McGinnis that through her scientific manipulations, he is actually Bruce Wayne's son. The final scene in this episode mirrors the first scene in Batman: The Animated Series, as the creative team thought it could possibly be the final JLU episode.
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In the third season of Batman Beyond, a two-part story entitled "The Call", which featured (for the first time) the futuristic Justice League Unlimited helped to form an early basis for Bruce Timm's next series, Justice League, which was in turn succeeded by Justice League Unlimited. The setting and characters of Batman Beyond were also briefly revived in 2004 for an episode of Static Shock in which Static is accidentally transported 40 years into the future.
Justice League Unlimited revisited the world of Batman Beyond twice in 2005. The first time 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 Unlimited cast, including Terry McGinnis as Batman and a future Static. The second time occurred during the episode "Epilogue", where the true secret origin of the future Batman is learned in a story meant to be the de facto series finale for this Batman's story.
The Justice League Unlimited episode "Epilogue", set 15 years after the conclusion of Batman Beyond, reveals that Bruce Wayne is actually Terry McGinnis' biological father. The episode is told largely in flashbacks.
Over the years, Amanda Waller came to respect Batman and even trust him. As the years passed, she saw that he was getting older and slower. The thought of a world without Batman was unacceptable to her, so she decided to make a new one. She used her Cadmus connections to gather the technology for "Project Batman Beyond", and obtained Bruce Wayne's DNA. She found a young Neo Gotham couple with psychological profiles nearly identical to those of Bruce's parents, and injected Warren McGinnis with a nanotech solution programmed to re-write his reproductive material into an exact copy of Bruce Wayne's. A little over a year later, Mary McGinnis gave birth to Terry, a child sharing half her genetic material and half Bruce's.
When Terry was 8 years-old, Waller employed an elderly Andrea Beaumont (the enigmatic killer from Batman: Mask of the Phantasm and once Bruce Wayne's true love) 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 Batman would never resort to murder to achieve his goals. Waller, however, conceded that Beaumont had been right, and made no further attempts to push Terry into becoming Batman, although she also stated to Terry that "when making a Batman, genetics is only half the story. The rest is tragedy" in an attempt to explain why she believed that doing this would put him on the path to becoming Batman. Derek Powers would later have Warren murdered, resulting in Terry becoming the new Batman. As the death of Warren proved soon afterwards, she was correct.
Fifteen years after Terry became the new Batman, Bruce's kidneys fail and doctors need a tissue donor to clone him new ones. When Terry shows a perfect histo-compatibility match with Bruce, he runs a DNA test and found out that half his DNA was from Bruce. Terry assumes that Bruce set the whole thing up, using some old Cadmus nanotechnology to have Terry's genes rewritten to match Bruce's, similar to what the Joker did to Tim Drake. He tracks Waller down, and she reveals his origins to him. Waller also reminds Terry that he is Bruce's son, not his clone, and that despite his genetics he still has free will and makes his own choice in becoming Batman.
Whether Bruce was the genetic father of Terry's younger brother Matt as well was not clearly established, as nothing was stated as to the longevity of the alterations made to Warren McGinnis; however, the series' creators have said that this is most likely the case[citation needed]. Matt and Terry both have black hair, but are the sons of two red-haired people – a genetic improbability as red hairisrecessive, and requires a gene from both parents in order to present as a phenotype.
| DVD Name | Release Date | Episodes | Additional Information |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Complete First Season | March 21, 2006 | 13 | Special Features: Creators' Commentary on 2 Key Episodes; Inside Batman Beyond: Meet 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 2 Key Episodes; Inside Batman Beyond: The Panel – In-Depth Dialogue with the Show's Creators. |
| The Complete Third Season | March 20, 2007 | 13 | Special Features: Inside Batman Beyond; Featurettes on 4 episodes by producers, directors, and Will Friedle. |
| DVD Name | Release Date | Episodes | Additional Information |
|---|---|---|---|
| Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (edited version) | 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 & Francais. |
| Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (original uncut version) | 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 & Francais. |
| Batman Beyond: School Dayz and Spellbound | March 2, 2004 | 6 | |
| Batman Beyond: Tech Wars and Disappearing Inque | March 2, 2004 | 6 |
After an initial 6-issues limited series released in March 1999, Batman Beyond had its own comic book series, running through November 1999 until October 2001, for a total of 24 issues. They were set in the same world of the show and aimed at younger readers.
Originally, Batman Beyond #3 (the monthly series) was to focus on the Terrific Trio from the episode "Heroes." The story would have 2-D Man and Magma trying to revive their former teammate, Freon. It was rejected due to their resemblance to the Fantastic Four.[6]
Terry also appeared in Superman Adventures #64. The story has Terry/Batman traveling to the present and teaming up with Superman against a futuristic version of Brainiac.
More recently, in Superman/Batman #22 (written by Jeph Loeb), a Batman wearing the Beyond costume appears, making his first foray into the regular DC Comics continuity. The plot involves Bizarro being transported to an alternate version of Gotham City. It would appear from #23 that this Batman is someone named "Tim" (presumably Tim Drake). However, the writers admitted to the mistake of misnaming the character,[citation needed] and although the name was rumored to be changed to "Terry" in the trade paperback, it still reads "Tim" (see first page of "Smoke and Mirrors" chapter in the trade paperback). Furthermore, the packaging for the action figure created by DC Direct based on this appearance in Superman/Batman also erroneously identifies Batman Beyond as Tim Drake instead of Terry McGinnis. Another oddity is the Batwing pictured is the version from Batman: The Animated Series, not Batman Beyond. Whether this is the regular DC universe or a parallel one is still to be seen. It is possible that this may be an alternate reality as the same story has Batzarro transported to the world of Superman: Red Son, an Elseworlds communist version of Superman.
On March 3, 2007, Dan DiDio announced that Terry McGinnis may be showing up in the DCU sometime that year.[7] Terry appeared in Countdown to Final Crisis #21, as an inhabitant of Earth-12.[8]
AGreen Lantern implied to be from a universe within the multiverse similar to that of Batman Beyond (though not the same GL represented in the animated series) is a participant in the Countdown: Arena series leading towards Final Crisis.
A six-part Batman Beyond miniseries will begin its run June 2010, set in 2039 Neo-Gotham, revolving around the assassination of anyone who had anything to do with Bruce Wayne's Batman, foe or friend. Dan DiDio stated that this "Terry McGinnis mini-series" is in response to the interest expressed by the "fans of the character."[9]. It will be penned by Adam Beechen, a non-DCAU Batman television writer. According to Beechen, the comic book arc will open the door for the "legendary" DCAU to enter into the mainstream DC Universe (comics), tying into both continuities. The series will take place after McGinnis had defeated the reborn Joker and pick up where Bruce Timm initially left off, but years before he learns that Bruce Wayne is his biological father.[10][11][12]
Another unrelated project is also being produced for early 2010 release. Superman/Batman Annual 2010 will be a single over-sized issue featuring Terry McGinnis' Batman. Author Paul Levitz will be writing the story, having experience collaborating with Paul Dini and Alan Burnett in the past. It will pick up after Superman's first meeting with the new Batman taking place in the DCAU, and also jibing with the DCU.[13]
Batman Beyond had a spin-off called The Zeta Project, featuring a revamped version of the synthoid Zeta from the Batman Beyond episode "Zeta." Batman would guest star in the episode "Shadows."
The supervillain Stalker was to have appeared in The Zeta Project episode "Taffy Time," but didn't make it[1]. The second season episode, "Ro's Gift," has an appearance made 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.[2]
The show won two Daytime Emmy Award and IGN ranked the show #40 on their list of top 100 animated shows of all time.
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