The idea to do Batman as a teenager actually came from the head of the Kids WB programing department. Basically they (the higher ups on the Kids WB) loved Batman TAS but felt the character was a little old to attract younger viewers. The answer to this dilemma was - of course - to make Batman a teenager. This brilliant concept (that's sarcasm) was then thrown at Bruce Timm and Paul Dini (the guys who made Batman TAS and Superman TAS). Their reaction ... "What the @#$*?". Okay maybe that wasn't their exact response, but they were not thrilled. So they brainstormed some ideas (one of which was Batman Beyond) and ran them by Glen Murakami (another Batman/Superman alumni). His response ... "Cool!". Thus Batman Beyond (originally titled Tomorrow Knight and later Batman Tomorrow) was born.
Batman Beyond ran over the course of three seasons totaling 52 episodes and one DTV (Direct to Video) movie in length. Despite my original skepticism I enjoyed the show's initial run. A couple years back I bought all the DVDs with the plan to someday re-watch the series in its entirety. Finally that day came and I found that the show had aged beautifully. This is - without a doubt - one of the better action/adventure cartoons ever done and is a very worthy successor to the Batman/Superman series.
I should probably extrapolate a little on the premise of the show. Batman Beyond takes place in the year 2039 and features a teenager named Terry McGinnis. One day - by chance - Terry runs across an 80 year old Bruce Wayne while fighting a local street gang called the Jokerz (the z is intentional). After they dispense of the riffraff Bruce's heart condition acts up and he needs Terry's help to get back to Wayne Manor and take his medication. Once there Terry stumbles across the Batcave and discovers that the old man who just helped him used to be the Batman (Bruce had to give up being Batman 20 years prior). Soon thereafter Terry returns home only to find that his father (Terry's mother and father have been divorced for several years) has been murdered. Wanting to bring the killers to justice Terry asks Bruce to help him out. Bruce tells him no. So Terry takes matters into his own hands and steals Bruce's last Batsuit, a cybernetically enhanced getup he was using to compensate for his old age (Bruce couldn't give up his crime fighting obsession and needed an edge as he got into his 60s). Naturally Bruce is pissed, but he gets over it and the two join forces to bring Batman back to Gotham City.
I usually like to start my reviews with a show's writing, and today will be no different. As you probably suspect the writing from Batman Beyond is fantastic. The show's staff does an excellent job of incorporating elements from the original Batman series to tell a tale that is familiar but at the same time unique. A couple of villains from Batman TAS do show up, most notably Mr. Freeze and the Joker (the Joker only appears in the DTV movie), but for the most part the series consists of original villains made specifically for the Batman Beyond universe. Though none of the villains really come close to the original Batman rogues gallery, they do work very well within the context of the show. Since Batman Beyond features a teenage hero we also get a couple episodes that are high school centric and feature teenage themed issues (addiction, performance enhancers, bullying). Thankfully the show avoids the traps that other shows fall into and keeps the messages from becoming too heavy handed. Really the show just has solid overall story telling.
Now as much as I enjoyed the writing of this show I did not agree with everything the series creators did. For one thing it is revealed that back when Bruce Wayne was younger he and Barbra Gordon (Batgirl) had a romantic relationship. My reaction ... "What the @#$*?". It had always been alluded to that Barbra and the original Robin - Dick Grayson - had a thing, so this pairing comes way out of left field. Honestly it just feels .... well dirty. For Bruce to hook up with his former wards ex-girlfriend was exceedingly creepy and sleazy. Since when is Batman picking up Robin scraps (okay maybe that was a little harsh)? To the producers credit though it was a very interesting plot point (still gives me the willies though). I was also disappointed that we never learn the fate of the aforementioned Dick Grayson. We find out what happens to Barbra Gordon (she follows in her fathers footsteps and becomes police commissioner), we find out the fate of the second Robin, Tim Drake, but we never find out about Grayson. He is mentioned several times in the series - and it's implied that he is still alive - but I would have loved to have seen a story about how things with him and Bruce ended up shaking out.
The cast of characters from Batman Beyond is also superb. Terry McGinnis isn't some carbon copy of Bruce Wayne. In fact it turns out he has a criminal past. Back when Terry was fourteen (about the time his folks split) he ended up doing some breaking and entering that got him three months in juvenile hall. He's also brash and makes numerous mistakes while learning the ropes of costumed crime fighting. Luckily he has Bruce Wayne as a mentoring figure. I have to say 80 year old Bruce is a blast to watch on this show. Gone is the facade of the playboy millionaire from the original Batman series. In its place is a lonely bitter recluse who has spent the last 20 years of his life in a depressed haze. With Terry though Bruce finds his life's purpose re-invigorated and the two form a strong bond as teacher and student. Terry's mother (who he now lives with) and little brother are not used often in the show but when they are I find the dynamic very interesting, especially in the early goings of the series. There are times that you just get the impression that Terry's mom doesn't quite trust him, like she is waiting for him to slip up and get in trouble again. Though not really a plot point, it's this kind of underlying tension that gives these characters such fantastic dimension.
Unfortunately not all the characters on the show have such depth. In particular there is one secondary cast member that truly falls flat in this show, Terry's girlfriend Dana. Dana and Terry have been dating for an unspecified amount of time when the series starts, and once Terry becomes Batman (a secret that Dana knows nothing about) she finds herself neglected constantly. This leads to a lot (and I mean a LOT) of nagging. Now even though Dana has every right to be pissed her only real charter trait is the superhuman ability to BITCH INCESSANTLY! This does not make for an interesting addition to the show. At no point do we - the viewer - ever really root for these two crazy kids to work things out. I see no reason for Dana to stay with Terry and vice versa. This divide is made bigger (in my opinion) by the introduction of Max in season two (FYI, Max is short for Maxine. So yes she is a girl).
Max is friends with both Terry and Dana, but when she discovers that Terry is Batman she also becomes Terry's confidant. By that I mean she helps him work through tough decisions and lends him a sympathetic ear when needed. Because she's a computer geniuses she also helps him out with crime fighting when necessary; though her desire to get involved in this aspect of Terry's life gets her into trouble more than once. Already you can tell that Max is far more three dimensional than Dana and even though the shows creators never use Max as a romantic interest for Terry (despite the best efforts of Alan Burnett) she would have made a far better one than Dana ever did. I'm not saying that Dana should have been written off the show or anything, I'm just saying she needed more development. Why does she try so hard to stay with Terry? Give us some background on their relationship. Get her involved in Terry's life as Batman (just don't turn her into a constant damsel in distress like Lana Lang in that horrendous show Smallville). If I had any real complaint about this show I would have to say it's the underdevelopment of Dana. Other than that Batman Beyond has a great cast.
As you would expect the production quality of this series is outstanding. All the characters are on model, the animation - for the most part - is great (though there are a handful of mediocre animated episodes) and the voice acting is exceptional. I especially admired the design work of the series. The costumes and backgrounds are some of my favorite of any action/adventure cartoon. I'm tempted to go as far as to say they are the best in the entire DCAU (DC animated universe), but I'll stop short of making such a bold claim. In terms of quality it's easy to take DCAU shows for granted, they've been so consistently good in every department for so long that we've come to expect excellence. Still when you watch some of the other shows that were on the air at this time it's a sobering reminder of just how good these guys really were.
My final thoughts are pretty straight forward. With the exception of a couple minor complaints Batman Beyond is a classic. After ten years the show has lost none of its charm, and in some ways I enjoy it more now than when it first aired. If you don't have these DVDs I recommend you pick them up. Not only do you get a great cartoon but you also get some fantastic special features (commentaries on select episodes and a great series of round table discussions with the shows creators). All 52 episodes are collected in three volumes and don't forget the DTV "Batman Beyond Return of the Joker" (FYI there are two versions of the DTV, Standard and Directors Cut. The Directors Cut is PG-13, so be aware of which you are getting).
