| Phantasm | |
|---|---|
Andrea Beaumont as the Phantasm, on a splash page in Batman/Catwoman #2 (January 2021), art by Clay Mann.
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | |
| First comic appearance | Batman: Mask of the Phantasm – The Animated Movie #1 (January 1994) |
| Created by | Alan Burnett Paul Dini Bruce Timm |
| In-story information | |
| Full name | Andrea "Andi" Beaumont |
| Species | Human |
| Abilities |
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Andrea Beaumont, also known as the Phantasm, is a fictional DC Comics supervillain and antiheroine created by Alan Burnett and Paul Dini, and designed by Bruce Timm. Beaumont first appeared as the main antagonist in the 1993 DC Animated Universe (DCAU) film Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, where she was established as the fiancée of Bruce Wayne/Batman. Dana Delany provided the voice work for Andrea and Stacy Keach provided the electronically modified voice of her "Phantasm" alter ego; Keach also provided the voice of Andrea's father, Carl.
Andrea Beaumont has made occasional appearances in various DCAU Batman media in her Phantasm guise, often as a freelance assassin working with Amanda Waller. In December 2020,[2] Beaumont made her main DC Universe comic book debut in Tom King's Batman/Catwoman 12-issue maxiseries.[3]
In keeping with Batman: The Animated Series' film noir inspiration and "Dark Deco" visual style,[5] Bruce Timm created Andrea's civilian design to reference women's fashion from the 1940s, including: red hair in a long bob (reminiscent of Lauren Bacall), "sweater girl" sweaters, high-waisted pencil skirts, wrap dresses, and pumps.
Timm designed the Phantasm's costume to reflect Alan Burnett's initial description of a Grim Reaper-esque character. Burnett wanted the villain to be reminiscent of the Ghost of Christmas Future, a similarity that the Joker mentions in the film.[6][7] Timm went through approximately 20 different character designs for the Phantasm before creating a version that would evolve into the final design.[6] Five alternate designs for the Phantasm's costume were featured in HBO's "First Look" television preview for Mask of the Phantasm.[6]
Described by Timm as resembling a "tall, gaunt Death character",[6] the Phantasm's costume is hooded and features a metal, skull-like mask. The Phantasm carries a large blade, reminiscent of a scythe, in her right hand. The blade was not part of Timm's original design, and was added later at Burnett's insistence.[1] The character's left glove houses a chemically-based, artificial fog-generating device that the Phantasm uses for stealth, combat, and intimidation. At various points in Mask of the Phantasm, the Phantasm's manipulation of fog makes it appear that the character has supernatural powers, such as intangibility and the ability to vanish. These smoke-filled appearances were influenced by the Marvel Comics supervillain Mysterio.[8]
The Phantasm's facade is completed by a masculine voice provided by Stacy Keach, which was digitally altered in post-production to be deeper and echo. Portions of Keach's unmodified performance can be heard in Mask of the Phantasm's theatrical trailer,[9] including the Phantasm's signature phrase: "Your angel of death awaits". The Phantasm's on-screen presence is accompanied by an eerie theme composed by Shirley Walker that prominently features the theremin.
The screenwriters of Batman: Mask of the Phantasm included Alan Burnett, Martin Pasko, Paul Dini, and Michael Reaves. Pasko wrote many of the flashback sequences (including those featuring Andrea and Reaves) and the final showdown between Batman, the Phantasm, and the Joker.[1] Andrea is based loosely on a combination of Judson Caspian (the Reaper) and his daughter Rachel, characters from the four-issue 1987 "Batman: Year Two" comic book storyline that ran in Detective Comics #575-578. According to Kevin Conroy, Andrea was named after voice director Andrea Romano.[10]
InMask of the Phantasm, producer Alan Burnett "wanted to do a big love story with Bruce because we hadn't really done it on the TV show. I wanted a story that got into his head".[1] Burnett centered Andrea in his conception of the film's story: "We wanted to make a big movie story. We were telling a story about 'the girl who got away'. The one woman who could have stopped Bruce from ever becoming Batman".[6] The resulting narrative, which dealt with Bruce's decision to become and remain Batman,[1] hinged on Bruce and Andrea's relationship.
Andrea's role in Mask of the Phantasm corresponds with that of the femme fatale from hardboiled detective fiction and Hawksian woman from film noir. Burnett felt that the film's narrative should be removed from Batman's traditional rogues gallery.[1] The fact that Andrea is revealed as the main villain in a plot twist is a convention of the femme fatale stock character.
Andrea serves as a foil for Batman. The characters are very similar; they both don an intimidating costume and speak to the gravestones of their parents (as if holding a conversation with the deceased). The paralleling of their characters — most importantly the death of their parents at the hand of criminals — highlights how different they are: Though they both became vigilantes, Andrea chose to become a killer, following a warped code of "eye for an eye" justice, while Bruce chose a code of ethics that forbids killing.
Andrea Beaumont is the daughter of financier Carl Beaumont and his late wife Victoria. She meets fellow Gotham University student and billionaire Bruce Wayne, and they fall in love. Bruce vacillates between the promise he made to his murdered parents to fight crime versus starting a married life with Andrea, which he feels his parents would have wanted for him. Bruce dons a mask and leather jacket to stop a truck hijacking, but the robbers mock him instead of being intimidated. Bruce decides to marry Andrea and abandon crime-fighting, instead pledging part of his inheritance to the Gotham City Police Department. The two explore a grotto on his property, later to become the Batcave, and Andrea accepts Bruce's proposal.
Andrea discovers that her father has set up dummy corporations in Gotham with Mafia bosses: Chuckie Sol, Sal Valestra, and Buzz Bronski. When the mobsters want repayment, Carl and Andrea flee to Europe. Andrea breaks off her engagement with Bruce and he becomes a vigilante. Andrea and her father bounce around Europe before settling on a Mediterranean coast.
Ex-Beaumont lawyer Arthur Reeves, the only one with knowledge of the Beaumonts' flight, has run out of money in his campaign for election to the Gotham city council. Carl won't contribute, so Reeves sells the Beaumonts' whereabouts to the mob. Although Carl returned the money the mobsters want his life for unpunctuality. Their goon Jack Napier, later to become the Joker, does the job. Leaving, he passes by Andrea. She tells him her father paid them back, but Napier ignores her. Andrea screams when she sees her father's corpse.
Andrea trains for years, planning revenge on those who arranged for her father to be killed. She returns to Gotham as the Phantasm, with a smoke generator, scythe-bladed gauntlet, and a voice changer embedded in her mask, which makes her voice sound like her father's. She kills Sol and Bronski. Batman had thwarted Sol's plan to flood Gotham with fake money and is blamed for the killings of Bronski and Sol. Reeves demands peace and, over Commissioner Gordon's objections, orders the Police to hunt Batman. Andrea visits her mother's grave. Batman, also drawn to his parents' grave, sees her and flees, but Andrea guesses his secret identity. She rebuffs his questions about the mobsters and Carl Beaumont. Valestra's appeal to Reeves for protection from Batman fails, so he seeks the Joker to kill Batman.
The Phantasm breaks into Valestra's home to murder him, only to find Joker has already done so and set a trap for Batman. Andrea changes out of her costume and helps Batman escape. She lies to Bruce that the Phantasm is her father and that she is trying to stop his killing spree. They spend the night together. Reeves doesn't believe Joker that Batman is not responsible for the killings, nor about the Phantasm's existence. Joker attacks him with venom, but is interrupted as Andrea comes for him.
The Phantasm tracks the Joker to his hideout at the derelict Gotham World Fairgrounds, but he has guessed her identity and anticipated the attack. They battle and the Joker lures her to a giant turbine. Batman intervenes before the blades can crush the Phantasm. She attempts to justify her actions and Batman begs her to leave. She disappears in a cloud of smoke. Batman and the Joker fight to the brink of exhaustion when the fairground - rigged with explosives - detonates and begins to crumble. The Phantasm reappears saying "one way or another, it ends tonight". With the Joker in her power, the Phantasm disappears with her captive.
Escaping the fairground through the sewers, Batman assumes that Andrea and the Joker have perished. Andrea survives and leaves a locket for Bruce in the Batcave. She stands alone at night on the deck of an ocean liner.
Her first real appearance was in the movie adaptation mini comic that came with the VHS release (this comic was a digest size) and was released in December 1993. Simultaneously there was a Prestige Format which was the traditional sized comic. Both of these books had the same red cover. There was a Newstand edition which featured a different cover.
The Phantasm makes her first returning appearance in "Shadow of the Phantasm", a story in the comic Batman & Robin Adventures Annual #1 (November 1996). In a direct sequel to Mask of the Phantasm, Andrea and Batman defeat Arthur Reeves, who - having been driven mad with a permanent grin on his face by the Joker as the doctors were unable to fully treat him - is determined to exact revenge on Beaumont and Batman, who he finally learns is Bruce Wayne, with Reeves falling to his death.
In 2004's Batman Adventures: Shadows and Masks, Andrea goes undercover in Black Mask's organization, the False Face Society. During this story arc, she meets Bruce (who was also infiltrating the organisation as his criminal disguise "Matches Malone") at Wayne Manor and asks him not to interfere with her operation. He coldly rebukes her, calling her a "killer". She eventually fights Batgirl and has her captured and put in a water tank to kill her only for her to be freed by Bruce who was present there and then later tries to kill Black Mask.
The Phantasm makes a cameo appearance as an assassin in the season 2 finale episode of the television series Justice League Unlimited: "Epilogue" (2005). Years after Bruce retired from crimefighting at the beginning of Batman Beyond, Andrea, now an elderly woman but still active as a mercenary, is hired by Amanda Waller who was concerned about Batman's eventual death or retirement, to murder Terry McGinnis' parents, whose son is secretly also Bruce's under genetic tampering. The psychological trauma, Waller reasons, may steer Terry toward becoming Wayne's successor as Batman. However, the Phantasm abandons the hit moments before she would have slain the young couple. Andrea argues that the murder would defile the Batman legacy by breaking Bruce's paramount rule: to never take a life. Andrea's change of heart marks the official end of Waller's "Project Batman Beyond", though chance would compel Terry to eventually become Bruce's successor regardless after his father is murdered. In the episode, Andrea has no lines or voice actor. Her sentiments are conveyed through Waller's monologue recounting the event.
The Phantasm returns in "Mark of the Phantasm", a seven-part storyline in the 2015 digital comic Batman Beyond 2.0 (set after the Batman Beyond animated series). At the secret behest of Amanda Waller, Andrea seeks out the great-grandnephew of Joe Chill, Jake Chill (a.k.a. the Vigilante), for the murder of Terry McGinnis' father. Beaumont is charged with killing Jake before Terry learns of Jake's guilt, in an effort to remove any temptation for Terry to attempt the same.
After an initial attempt on Jake's life fails due to Terry's intercession, Andrea visits Bruce in the Batcave. Bruce reveals that he searched for Andrea, and attempts to convince her that it is not too late for them. Andrea acknowledges that, despite their similarities, they are at loggerheads: "I do things Batman can't. I always have". Beaumont abandons her second attempt on Jake's life when he accidentally dies from exposure to Joker venom.
Andrea Beaumont/Phantasm made her comic debut in Batman/Catwoman limited series by writer Tom King and artist Clay Mann in December 2020. Previously revealed in 2019, posted on Twitter by King and Mann, the image of the Phantasm included Batman and Catwoman reflected in the Phantasm's scythe, in addition to the text "She awaits you" (a reference to the Phantasm's catchphrase) and the series title.[3]
DC Comics describes Beaumont's role in one of three timelines featured in the comic: "And in the present, Bruce and Selina's union is threatened by the arrival of one of Batman's past flings, Andrea Beaumont, a.k.a. Phantasm. Beaumont's return calls into question how each character chooses to operate in their costumed, and personal, lives, and any move by Phantasm could change the fate of Bruce and Selina's future".[2]
In conjunction with the release of Mask of the Phantasm in 1993, Kenner released a Phantasm action figure. The toy was packaged with Phantasm's mask and cloak off, revealing the villain's secret identity, and — apocryphally — spoiling the plot twist for audiences. This model was later re-released as part of a "Rogues Gallery" box set, but with the costume's grey and black coloring transposed.[12]
In 2016, DC Collectibles released a new action figure in their six inch highly-articulated toy line based on Batman the Animated Series, packed with a re-release of the Batman figure from the series. This figure is more precisely sculpted and has more articulation, though does not include an unmasked Beaumont portrait or feature seen in the 4 inch figure.
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