I’ve drifted away from the Batman comics, but there was such a ridiculous issue where Damian saves baby Terry. That’s a good example of trying to be deep- but completely missing it. p.s. does anyone ever mention that his little brother is in the same genetic boat?
I loved Batman beyond. It was a cool bonding thing for me and my Dad. He was excited watching the animated series and me younger felt beyond was cooler and more my speed. WB sat mornings had them back to back for a time and we would sit eating cereal together watching. I still remember the series fondly and even checked up on some of the comic stories (Thru comics explained or the like)
I recommend the Batman Beyond: Neo Year comic. It’s a six issue series that ends this month and fleshes out Terry growing up w/o Bruce really well while having all new, super 2020s relevant villains. 🔥
I feel like Bruce finally grew up in Beyond. He finally realized he can't stop all crime and there is a limit to what a man can do, he understands how dangerous that lifestyle is and didn't want to burden Terry
That episode where Shriek demanded Terry to sacrifice so he would spare the city while every citizen demanding Batman to “pay for his crimes” and Bruce saying to Barbara “This kid gave it all to this city, now they need to returned it, this ungrateful doesn’t deserve him”
“Tim is the Ultimate victim of Bruce’s World. Someone who all he is is a costume. The skin of Batman. The Skin of Joker. The skin of Robin with not much left underneath it. As an adult who’s merely a host running away”. Such a Powerful statement that sums up the tragedy of Tim Drake’s Robin in the DCAU
It's even more sad if it's paired with the comics origin story for Tim Drake's Robin. In the DCAU he's basically kinda like Jason Todd without the anti-hero stuff; in the comic he was a huge fan of Batman and (Dick Grayson's) Robin.
I just realized it's a better executed version of the MCU's Spiderman, A billionaire takes in a teenager, and gives him a high-tech suit, and wants him to be better a better hero and person than the he ever was. I love this show so much, not to sound cliche, but it was ahead of it's time
Batman Beyond had a LOT in common with the OG Amazing Spiderman comics, and in turn even Spider-Man took cues from Batman Beyond. 1. Peter's fight with Uncle Ben was inspired from Batman Beyond. 2. Terry's personality is the same as 616 high-school Peter Parker, with a slight more aggression. 3. Batman taking off his mask to calm down a kid in a burning car was later adapted into TASM's bridge scene. 4. Batman Beyond villain Stalker, Shriek and Spellbinder are very similar to Kraven, Shocker and Mysterio. Though Shriek is a better character. 5. MCU directly ripped off from Terry's recruitment scene lmao.
Can we take a second to appreciate the Batman Beyond soundtrack? And not just the show's soundtrack, because the Return of the Joker theme is too cool for how underrated it is.
I was 13 when it premiered, super unsure of whether this was going to suck or not. Adolescent cynicism leaking out of my pores. It premiered on primetime, BOLD. I watched it in my room with the lights off, and my Xmas gift stereo attached to the TV. After the cold open, that theme song came on, and I knew, this is for real, this is special. That soundtrack was a perfect gel with my early love of The Prodigy, Daft Punk, and Radiohead.
What really makes the Whole Joker Chip thing scary are the implications it has. Did the Joker actually cut open Tim’s head and surgically put the chip in his Brain or was it just connected to his neck and interacting with his Brain because there’s a deleted version of the opening that suggest that the chip might have been surgically put deep inside of Tim’s Brain. Another implication that I thought about is did Tim have kids with his wife willingly or was that just the Joker slightly influencing him because I can easily see the Joker making Tim have kids with his wife so that he could eventually make them his sidekicks if you know what I mean
@@MegaManXPoweredUp did joker control Tim’s body only as an adult or as a kid too? If that’s the case it’s very chucky- like. Like how in the first movie how he was gonna transfer his soul into Andy
In a way I feel like that relates to the show’s theme song/opening as well. It’s dark and edgy but also sassy, hip, and even slightly hopeful at different parts of the song.
Terry is such a great character and the concept of Batman Beyond is such a perfect setup for a series that I’m astonished it only had one, imo short lived, chance while Bruce Wayne’s Batman gets reboot after reboot. With CG at the level that it is now, and with actors like Kevin Conroy at the perfect age to play an older Bruce, this could be a series that is ripe for lost of dramatic and powerful storytelling potential. Then again, with the level of writing for superhero stories that aren’t called Invincible or The Boys at the level they are, perhaps it’s best for Terry to stay with his one, unsullied run as Batman.
@@Black_Knight_-BK- A teenage Batman does sound a bit interesting. Bruce starting his career at a younger age. They've done it kinda before in The Batman cartoon from 2004.
@@SaimAli-k4v I say a video game would be better if not a series. That way they could explore the duality with Terry and Batman. And I'm glad Young Justice wasn't left in the past.
@@fynnthefox9078 only way i see teenage batman work is if its sort of like batman begins meets soul of the dragon. Young bruce training and crossing paths with all the characters we hardly see properly. wildcat, shiva, bronze tiger, talia, Nobody/ducard family, etc. also ninja bruce wayne would be fire to see, as opposed to typical batman
Man you wanna talk about a show that just does everything right? The opening alone tells you everything you need to know, the future is bleak and dark but despite that there's still a chance for it to be saved by a new generation. I honestly feel it's the best out of all the DCAU shows and that says a lot about its quality.
I liked the vid and your post. From a storyteller/producer point of view, If the JL had worked and crime was all but gone....there wouldn't be a need for the show.....they had to have...needed a dark broken world...
Batman Beyond seems like such a terrible show when you read the summary but somehow these mad bastards made the impossibly lame one of the best superhero shows of all time.
The best part is that the creators really did make the best out of a bad situation. The network wanted them to make a teenage Batman series to appeal to the teen demographic, which everyone thought was a horrible idea. But under duress they managed to find a way to not only make that concept work, but they turned it into one of the most beloved pieces of Batman media ever created.
@@frog6054 Teenage Batman show filled with teen angst so you can appeal to 16 year olds and make toy sales, put on a kids cartoon channel. All from the wonderfully vapid brains of executives. Pretty easy to see how this sounds terrible on a paper and only salvaged by the creatives.
Batman Beyond was so badass and well written that when I was a kid, I had standing orders from my dad to come and find him everytime it came on so he could watch it too. Wouldn't watch any other cartoon for more than 5 mins, but he never missed Batman Beyond.
I never thought the revelation about Terry being Bruce's son never took away from the message of the series. Just because he's his son it never suddenly made him forced to be all like Bruce. Terry still lived his own life, had his own personality. Children can still be independent of their parents. Plus, all the clues were there in the series itself. How neither Terry nor his brother resembled their parents that much, things like Inque asking if the "old man" was his father or grandfather, and Superman noting there was more than Terry knew about how similar he and Bruce were. And the black and white segments were always only ever imagine spots from Epilogue, not real. So, it's not like Terry was truly ever resentful of Bruce, just his mind racing through the possibilities after he discovered he and Bruce shared DNA. He may have had some inner turmoil, but everyone goes through that at times for small problems or big. Terry may be Bruce's son, but he never became Bruce's Batman. He imprinted his own identity onto the mask. Bruce was always taken in by the tragedy of his life, but Terry showed how one can heal, find love and joy, and still be Batman.
I'm not completely against it either, but I can understand why people have problems with it. Personally though, I will say that Terry should be the heir of Batman's legacy, not Bruce Wayne's.
Kinda like the video said, I think the reason it works is that it uses the concept to ask questions like is Terry only Batman because he's Bruce's secret son, & his he destined to end up just like him, & the answer it comes away with is that it doesn't matter whether he's genetically related to Bruce or not; he's his own person, & he rises above Bruce's failures when he finally proposes to Dana instead of pulling the old "it's too dangerous to get close to me" thing.
In my opinion it's a revelation that only serves to take away from the overall story. Terry becoming Batman was just as much Bruce's redemption as Terry's. For Bruce, it proved he was able to grow beyond the past, making up for Joker scarring Robin for life by learning to trust someone else with the mantle again, and in the process helped a total stranger redeem themselves too. If Terry is Bruce's secret nutjacker baby it rips a gaping hole in how emotionally special that is, now he's just passing the torch to his clone-son. He didn't grow, he just handed the keys over to what he hoped would be just himself +1, he was trying to prestiege.
@@KiraSlith I feel like that’s not giving the whole continuity before they put Epilogue on screen enough credit. Through JLU, Bruce learned there would be a new Batman, but never who that Batman was. What he did learn there, though, was that this new batman was not him. It wasn’t Bruce 2.0, it was someone who would take up his cause without all of the baggage that drove him away from others. Even in Epilogue, it’s implied that while Bruce probably knows, he also didn’t learn until much later, thus not tarnishing the original episode. He thought Terry was a punk who stole the next Batman’s suit… but after interacting with the troubled young man, he saw potential, and finally pieced together, this… this is what Batman’s about… doing the right thing when nobody else can or will… and this punk… who is not me in any way… this is who Batman should be.
Batman Beyond is like an (extremely successful) experiment in taking really bad and silly ideas and making them great. The whole premise of the show was thought up by WB execs who wanted to do a show about a teenage Batman in high school because teen dramas like Dawson's Creek and Felicity were the highest rated shows on the network and they were trying to draw in that audience. But the DCAU writers were able to make something great out of that cash grab idea. The show also had to follow FCC and network guidelines about doing "after school special" episodes where they had to include anti-bullying, amti-drug, anti-peer pressure, etc. messages. But they managed to make great "special message" episodes. For example, that episode with Bane was their "very special" anti-drug episode.
And a good one at that. We all saw Bane being all powerful with the venom but it takes years of constant use to do real damage. Majority of after school specials just makes it look like drugs instantly turns you into a husk and it doesn't. But seeing the all powerful Bane, a terror even to the Batman...in a chair not able to move because of his abuse of this super steroid, it drove it home that yeah...you may feel amazing now but eventually the drug wins in the end.
A lot of anti-bullying and peer pressure created WIllie Watt, Spellbinder was also a very potent avatar to push those FCC messages while also not ruining a good plot.
Batman is a good vehicle for doing those kinds of things because his normal operating procedure is fighting against the kind of low level crime that guidelines for obligatory moralisation want to push kids away from, and Gotham as a setting is a good representation of the conditions that create them, and having Terry be closer in age to the intended audience helps make it feel more genuine - he experiences the problems first hand rather than merely dropping in to externally lay down the law on them like Bruce would.
There were other ANTI DRUG episodes to Splicers for example was an ANTI DRUG and so was SpellBinders second episode where he's hooking up runaways to dangerous Virtual Reality machines that are highly addictive and end up making the teen runaways or brain dead. That was also a Double Whammy of Human Trafficing and so was The Brain Trust Epside
Nowadays you will NEVER have cartoons ab issues such as these even the episode where they showed how teens r treated in those trouble wards was insanely good!!
It oddly seemed like a show that actually cared about the real struggles of being a teen, rather than those "very special episodes" in sitcoms that always seemed to miss the mark
This show and Static Shock were good for bringing up certain issues, while still keeping it within the confines of an interesting story within the world/ setting they created
That was my experience at 7 years old seeing the original roboteck. That was the show that made me fall in love with animation and sparked my interest in anime
I actually don't think making Terry biologically Bruce's son as a negative. Terry unlike the rest of the bat family wasn't adopted as a kid or trained but instead he finds his sense of justice through his own upbringing and enters the role already a young adult, not beholden to the usual pitfalls of Batman's successors.
This Batman story could be a perfect way to continue Tim Burton's Batman universe, If Warner's new boss doesn't do this, he lacks too much vision. In this way they would have the universe with Ben Affleck's Batman and Cavill's Superman on one side and that of Michael Keaton and the Supergirl from The Flash movie in another universe, It frustrates me that Warner has everything to beat the Marvel universe and do nothing
@Talebird K I mean star Wars has already had that issue with luke he is literally the son of the chosen one and a chosen one in his own right but no one has an issue with that one
Batman beyond was such an amazing follow up series to Batman the animated series. Another great mention is Mr Freeze and just how much he struggles to adjust and move forward with his life only to fall back into his own misery and despair. I think of his character and the Mad Hatter from BTAS a lot with how tragic they are
6:50 IIRC, the creator of Beyond was NOT very pleased with the Unlimited finale reveal b/c it undermined the message that ANYONE could “wear the mask” and be Batman, like with Miles Morales and Spider-Man. 9:00 Also wow, now THAT’S an ending you won’t hear nowadays!
Something that I think a lot of people have trouble understanding about Epilouge is the point of the story. Terry isn't the clone of Bruce Wayne, but his son. Bruce and Terry are very different people with different experiences, one of the biggest examples being from the episode itself. When Terry was 8 Waller hired Phantasm to kill Terry's parents to give his the same drive to bring justice to criminals, but the latter let them go. Terry grew up without the same trauma as Bruce did the spured him to be Batman. Additionally, their some of their skills are different true; Bruce is the more intelligent of the two and is clearly the better detective and more trained than his son, but Terry is better at working with other people on even footing and is more sociable (something that helps him keep a better life out of work than his father). Besides, the decision to be Batman was always Terry's choice, as neither he nor Bruce knew of the truth of Terry's birth until after the fact, due to this it doesn't really matter the what circumstances of Terry's origin, merely his willingness to do so. I also admit that I always viewed the fact that Terry's birth was more as a reward for Bruce, as it was through his son he was able to mend some of the old bridges with his friends and batfamily and leave his mission to Terry knowing he'll carry on the mantle as Gotham's defender. One last thing I want to mention, is Bruce and Terry's relationship. While I don't think it was Implicitly Pretentious's goal, it made it seem that while Terry admired and deeply loved Bruce, the latter didn't love Terry back, which is false. Bruce does love Terry, but doesn't express in a typical way. Whenether Terry is in danger Bruce always tries to help (even taking to the field despite his old age) and is willing take care of some of Terry's needs, such as proving to Terry's mother that her son wasn't abusing slappers and trying to, subtly, ease Terry's guilt when Ian Peek learned their secret identies. The problem is that Bruce has DECADES of trauma that naturally affects his relationships and has been a recluse for 20 years or more, which has naturally made him poor in social interactions with people he loves. Terry kinda understands this and with the few exceptions, including the imaginary confrontation show in the video, just rolls with the punches and still manages to have a rather healthy relationship with his secret father.
I remember watching tapes of batman beyond until I wore out the tapes from being rewound too many times as a kid. I'm glad to see you give it some love.
Batman Beyond showed just how terrifying the DCAU could get. Dark imagery and serious themes that weren’t played for just shock value and social commentary with lasting relevance. Splicers starting with a fashion trend and turning into a nightmare inducing monster maker. The rehabilitation center for teens where conditioning is standard protocol and punishments include solitary confinement. The gossipmonger whose main asset sent him to one of the worst fates in the DCAU by the end of his single appearance.
I’m honestly still surprised how much this show was allowed to tackle. Animal abuse, drug addiction, plus all that freaky body horror! One of the greatest interpretations of Batman ever!
Other scary images in the series is seeing how far advanced biotechnology has become in Neo-Gotham. Examples being Inque, a contract assassin and saboteur who fluidly shapeshift into liquid and solid forms, blends into the shadows and the environment thanks to years in a chemical mutagen treatment, and her favourite forms of attacks being to form bladed melee weapons like the T-1000 or shoving herself down your throat to asphyxiate you or put pressure on your stomach (and she's always the one villain Terry could never beat alone). Or the splicing episode which gave the writers a chance to do commentary or a very special episode on teen fads, drug use, and body modifications, with the ending being Terry defeating the villain by injecting him with dozens of different splicing mutagens to the point he mutates uncontrollably into something that stepped out AKIRA and the villain disposes himself by blowing himself up thanks to his unwieldy form.
Inque's mutigen is clearly based off Clayface's, then you got the Splicers which is so how LEGAL. Yeah the slap patches that too Bane's venom and perfected it for ease of us/abuse. But yeah Inque was Terry's most dangerous rogue because he never really beat her clean.
@@ExeErdna Terry has defeated her twice. The first time was with Mr. Freeze's gun. And the second time he broke the glass ceiling, causing the rain water to drown her into the sewers.
Batman is a symbol. As much as I along with others love the original Bruce. You can't always wear the mask. Time flies everyone and everything grows and changes. Bruce eventually realized this with his age and health and also nearly breaking his one rule. Terry is an irresponsible kid getting in fights in school having a trouble relationship with his father. But Terry soon has grown a lot to become something better and greater. Eventually being the next in line of being a new crusader. A new Batman. Bruce also realized that the mission isn't over and learns to pass the torch. Both becoming more than they were before.....
This is my favorite version of Batman without a doubt I wish there were more episodes of the series more movies it's just so good The intro is so bad-ass the story is amazing I really really really want them to bring this back I loved the show as a kid and I still love it today
I always loved this show plus the Return of the Joker movie. Dark, brutal, introspective, it's actually shocking they got away with so much with both of these. Also the Cyberpunk setting of Neo Gotham is great. Like Batman meets Blade Runner or Judge Dredd.
I definitely get the issues with the whole "Bruce's son" thing. But at the time I really did enjoy the idea. At least from the angle that Waller being the way she is still ended up thinking that Batman's existence was so absolutely necessary that she's actually make sure that Bruce basically would have a clone in the world that could take his place.
Which literally is what he said in here. Making him a clone just reinforced the idea that Bruce Wayne/Batman is the main character here, and other people are just added to highlights him even further. Which goes against the whole point of Terry's character background.
@@mudken but he’s not a clone he’s his son i mean his dad couldn’t have kids then he goes to the clinic and he’s shooting bruce Wayne’s dna. Bruce is a sperm donor essentially. I know that’s not how they entirely explain it but it makes sense why terry is so different. Plus Terry and his brother have black hair there mom and “dad” have red
@@Kdoghalo yeah no. It still kinda dumb. It ruins the idea that “anyone can be Batman” that’s literally the whole point of why people like the dynamic between Batman and Joker. Anyone could be the Joker with one bad day, but one bad day could make someone into a Batman (metaphorically or literally). By having Terry be Bruce’s son/clone it makes it seem like you can only be a hero if you’re predestined.
@@wesstewart2677 Anyone COULD be Batman. That's what was misguided about Waller's approach. She tried to forcibly recreate the exact conditions that created Batman, but Batman only returned when Terry decided to do it of his own free will.
@@TheLithp honestly if they wanted to do the whole Project Beyond/Child of Bruce Wayne…why didn’t they go with Huntress in the series like intentionally planned. Helena Wayne would’ve made more sense in the epilogue than Terry being all of a sudden retconned to be Bruce’s Son/Clone. But that’s my opinion…
You are such a good editor and each of your essays are so on point. I so look forward to each one and how you don’t just use whatever program is popular. Series like Batman Beyond deserve a bit of the deep dive you guide us through. Well done again
What makes these series also appealing, is the fact that Bruce always gives Terry advice through the batsuit's earpiece. And the batsuit is quite amazing, with all its special powers, like retractable wings, powered shoes, invisibility, retractable claws, audio-enhancing sensors at the fingertips, and the bat-arangs that shoot out from the base of the hand. Quite a technological marvel.
One of my favorite shows. I’m so glad that Justice League Unlimited gave it a deserved end even though I wish there were more animated adventures with Terry.
Such an unappreciated masterpiece. 😢 this was so far beyond its time that people couldn’t catch up to appreciate it. Bruce finally got the son he could be proud of and love and I know Bruce knew in his heart who Terry was. But Bruce gave him the freedom to grow and develop in his way and on his terms. The best most emotional animated series ever created to all those who made this happen I thank you all for your hard work dedication and love to Batman. Thank you for giving us a Bruce we deserved in Terry and giving Bruce a second chance Terry was the most loyal and faithful son and never left his side no matter what they had been through he stuck it out and that built his character.
I loved Batman Beyond as it was the first "Mainstream" representation of the cyberpunk genre that I already loved. I remember it years before Matrix, and not long after Aeon Flux as well as me finding the Sprawl series by William Gibson. But my favorite part was how it encouraged you to question everything and not take anything at face value. Thats what I took away from it anyway.
I think Batman Beyond was definitely darker and more serious. The introduction of Terry was very different, but also cool. It showed us that a young guy who hadn't trained to become a vigilante could still be one, after his dad was killed and wanted to avenge him. With Bruce's eventual guidance, he was able to become his own Batman despite his lack of experience. As much as I liked Batman The Animated Series and The New Adventures Of Batman and Robin, I really liked Batman Beyond a lot, mainly because Terry and Bruce were so well written and the voice acting from Will Fredel and Kevin Conroy was excellent. I was quite disapointed when it was cancelled after it's third season, because I was looking forward to season 4. There will never be another show like it.
Yes it is! (Shudders) whooooo is it cold in here?!. The EarthMover episode, made me grow up quick! 😨😵💫😧. Yes, I agree with the elderly Bane found in a breathing apperatus chair. Terry McGuiness’s father’s murder, the way it was played out was so heartbreaking, for a kids show, at that time. (Neo style) woah. Loved the DCAU. Long. Live. The . DCAU.
You have no idea how therapeutic your videos are for me and how much I reevaluate who I am and my behaviors influenced by my traumas. If that's not catharsis, I don't know what is. So thank you Starting therapy and following your channel has been very constructive for me. 💛
In my opinion, Epilogue's reveal undermines the father/son relationship that Terry & Bruce developed over the course of the show & the whole idea of Terry not being a carbon copy of Bruce.
You're not alone in quoting the most random thing from that movie, me and a friend love to just constantly reference that incredibly minor "Not much? It's nothing." line.
Loving that you are working your way through the DCAU! I just did a watch through of all the DCAU shows and movies, so the timing is perfect for me haha.
Everytime I see a little batman beyond I always forget how iconic it is And terry is so underappreciated because he really does become his own Batman and yes he is no Bruce but he way more than does the job
Batman Beyond aged extremely poorly in some ways like thinking we’d still have record stores in the future, but other episodes like Spellbinder’s machine that lets users live out whatever fantasy they want at the cost of their real world lives predicted things like the Metaverse with frightening accuracy.
We have antique shops now, we probably will til the end. I think the concepts that cannot be reconciled involve broader issues like "social attitudes toward X." cuz we are now a very backwards society compared to what we'll need to be, look at what we were 500 years ago...
You do realize that there are still record stores right? And that even new releases, be it Taylor Swift or Billie Eilish, have had vinyl release as of late? There are still a great deal of people who believe in physical media be it games, books, or movies. What makes you so sure that in the future that’ll change? Even as a nostalgia gimmick there are high odds that sort of thing will always exist. Nostalgia is powerful, as proven by everyone here watching a video about a pretty old show.
@@mvalentino5650 And you do realise that the way they’re treated in the show isn’t that they’re weird, retro places where you find old stuff but as the hip, current places indicating no technological shift in that regard? The point I’m making is that predicting the future is hard, especially when predicting sweeping changes in technology no one can predict as you have no idea what will change things in a dramatic way so Beyond shouldn’t be blamed for thinking record stores would be as popular 50 years in the future as they are now but that it should be commended for guessing something like Spellbinder’s machine which while just an anti-drug message at the time, would reflect the genuine reality that people refer digital lives to real ones.
@@Longshanks1690 I mean, it's very clearly going for a cyberpunk aesthetic, which hasn't been really used as a serious take on what the future would look like since like the 70s or so when the genre really took root.
Did not expect to have my mind blown by batman today but damn I really relate to what Terry says about wearing the suit I used to be a real piece of work i was an addict and hurt the people that loved me most by continuing to use now I'm sober and work as a drug prevention specialist and it feels like redemption to be able to help the community you once hurt and there are no words for what it can do to rebuild your self esteem and self image to feel like your helping other fight the same inner demons that used to keep you down
This show confused the crap out of me as a kid and scared me a little. But everything confused me back then. And the show has managed to keep it's cold, dark feeling to the point where even today, I feel like there's a draft coming in from somewhere by the time I make to the credits
I really love the section of the idea of terry's origins. I'm mixed on whether he should be the son of bruce wayne or just some guy. I lean towards the latter because it shows that anyone can awaken the sense of justice to help their fellow man. Just like bruce wayne, Terry chooses to be the hero.
Terry was always the greatest possible successor to batman and it's because of his more optimist and free spirited look on life. While both bruce and terry become batman out of a tragedy with there parents bruce ends up becoming obsessed with being batman to the point that in "the new adventures of batman" he is a cold blooded all about business kinda of hero, no more thoughts that the villains he faced can be redeemed like in the original batman tas, it get's so bad that in beyond bruce does the one thing he vowed to never do use a gun the thing that killed his parents coming full circle with his origin which makes him retire for good. On the Other hand terry is not obsessed with batman and even reluctant at some points but he is almost the exact opposite of bruce a neigh pure hearted youth. Which is why in the Batman Beyond Return of Joker movie Terry is the only character in the history of DC to actually defeat The Joker for good not by playing into the jokers madness like what bruce often does but laughing at him if you've seen the ending of the movie you know what I mean in the last scene where the Joker is confroting Terry trying to destory him physically and mentally Terry Simply laughs he dosent feel anger or sadness its a foreign reaction that the Joker isn't used to which is the main reason Terry is able to beat bruce's biggest foe. Terry is a better batman than bruce ever was because of his outlook on life compared to Bruce.A better successor than nightwing, , tim drake, redhood, all of those guys are about about as physiologically damaged as bruce at times well besides tim drake.
It still blows my mind to this day that WB never went after some kind of film adaptation of Batman Beyond. It was such a brilliant, deep, layered show set up in an incredibly atmospheric Gotham of the future. It has so much promise and brims with potential for a fresh take on the Batman story. But no, all they have done is re-thread Bruce' Batman over and over with the same premise and the same lessons and the same stories, but darker, grayer, angrier. The film's Batman gets further and further away from the perfect Batman of the DCAU, the smart, compassionate, inventive character. Which again, while I am incredulous that they never made a Batman Beyond film, I am also glad. I can very well imagine what a committee of execs instead of Bruce Timm and Pail Dini would have done to my poor boy Terry. Better let him stay in his animated run and remain in the company of the greatest superhero adaptations ever that was the DCAU.
I think the reason they haven’t is because they haven’t even established a well built story yet in an established dceu movie verse yet. Sense it’s the future too they want to make sure it’s the right time. They haven’t even made a nightwing movie yet, and people want Batman beyond.
@@parkerboy795 ive been partial the future where damian is batman and terry is his successor. In my mind, i can see Damian as THE final Robin. he used to want to take over but changes his mind once his father dies, Batman with him. Terry could steal a batsuit and become the first batman in almost a century (especially if its old man Damian who i can see acting like old man bruce and giving limited advice due to only having faced certain things as a kid. maybe he utilized the lazarus pit to live longer as well)
Wow, just wow! You are a true poet. You've emcompassed the metaphysical problems that face most young men in society and you were able to eloquently use this medium as both a review of this great piece as well as a great piece of lesson to be understood.
Damn dude. This was so good. I shed a tear. I feel like so much of what you said was bottled up dee inside me from back in the day when this was airing on TV. We’ve all had our own personal struggles since then too, with the world becoming so hostile at the same time. So much of that wisdom from a freaking cartoon is now the guiding light of my life. Appreciating those who love you and choosing which mask you want to wear for society rather than letting society or the mask itself choose for you. Powerful stuff man. Great video
I hated that they made him Bruce's son through some "magic science". His story as an outsider, troubled kid, was amazing. They developed a character who was his own person separate from Bruce, then tossed it away to shoe horn a blood relationship.
Batman Beyond a show about a young man who’s father is murdered, he’s being raised by his single mother growing more angrier each day with no real guidance until he meets a new father figure in Bruce Wayne that leads his life into a legacy by becoming a hero to Gotham.
As rough and sad as it is with the Passing of Mr Conroy I'd like to see Will reprise his role as an older Terry/Batman dealing with a now passed on Bruce and whether to pass on the training so that there is always a Batman or let Batman Fade into memory
Sitting here and thinking about it, I wonder if Batman Beyond was originally supposed to be a Nightwing series. Terry very much reminds me of dick from his personality, his relationship with Bruce, and down to the design of the suit.
If anything, Batman Beyond seems heavily based on Spider-Man, much more than Nightwing. Hell, just look at Terry's Origin. It's almost a beat for beat match to Peter Parker's.
I don’t remember too many episodes when I was younger, but I do remember that moment where inque entered Terry’s mouth to suffocate him. That still haunts me a little… Edit:14th September
Another one of DC's masterpieces. Fantastic show and characters. Terry is definitely a true Batman to me and deserves more attention. I can only hope that Terry and the slick bat suit is given its due in maybe games, live action or at best a new animated show.
This is my first video of this channel. I have never before been so happy that someone has delved into the deeper narratives of children's tv shows from the 2000's. The older I get, the more I see that I have subconsciously modeled myself out of my favorite cartoon characters from tv shows growing up. My future therapist will thank you on the insight to why it is I am so fucked up from essentially being a mixture of heroes from Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, and Disney channel. Thank yous kindly
Bruce's story is pretty sad, we actually see in Batman TAS that he's balancing his Batman and Bruce Wayne persona, lookup "i didnt count on being happy batman" and "does the hurt ever go away batman" to see this nuance. He was also connected to a lot of the criminals he dealt with, and tried to reason with and get them help, like Two-Face. Romantically, he had bad luck, because he couldn't let someone get hurt just so he could pursue romance with a regular woman. And the women he met in his hero world were complicated relationships, like Selina Kyle and Talia, because they had their own obligations and compulsions. By the end of TAS and the start of Justice League, we see Bruce basically turn into a war veteran, because the situations he faced with his emotional connection to friends and family led him to neglect his humanity. It's a kind of stoicism that everyone in Beyond simultaneously admires but doesn't completely understand.
I always found it weird that Conroy’s Batman ends up alone in Batman Beyond. He was always very well adjusted in The Animated Series - he had friends and was generally liked by people.
At first. As the series went on the to the new batman adventures and Justice league he begins pushing people away and drawing himself inward and this continues off screen until the first episode of Beyond
In the first episode, when Terry is going over the disc that has info on the death of his father, his younger brother sneaks up on him to see what he is doing. The brother would be Bruce's son too, so it showed that he already intuitively had instincts to sneak around like his father
I saw Earth Mover and had nightmares for a month. I refused to tell my mom what they were about because Batman Beyond was my favorite show and I didn’t want her to make me stop watching it.
I'm just glad god-tier shows like this one are kept in the past. And I hope they're never remade to appeal to the newer audiences. The shows of today embody a painful ignorance to the harsh themes our generation has been accustomed to through timeless media peices such as this one. It's all feelings this and feelings that in the today's era. I'm glad we got shows like this that gave us a lot more than just a love for iconic characters. They gave us the strength to build character.
Man this video is schway. Uploaded on my birthday, Batman Beyond is the only character I’ve cosplayed (and my favorite DC hero), AND I’m a sociology major. Kudos
Terry is amazing because he’s how many of us would be, care about women & fun as well as completing the mission. It can be balanced, Bruce just didn’t wanna risk it. Even when he had a crew that could take up the slack so he could enjoy a little more life…he didn’t and became old & completely alone, even Alfred is dead
I really like epilogue and I don't think it undermines Batman Beyond's core concept. It's for the reason you said, the thematic conflict created by Terry being Bruce's son is what the episode is about, and grappling with the implications of this revelation on his free will and self concept are what makes it a good story for Terry. The truth is, Terry isn't Bruce- and making the mantle his own is very much his arc throughout the show.
When I first saw that epilogue ep. way back I was so bummed out it was Dana & not Melanie. She was the better character, it’s Tim’s Catwoman who actually wanted out & a life
Bruce is also chained by the past. He has the same car model as the original series, same dress style, his mansion looks the same and even his computer. He knows how much he lost and the only way he lived with himself and seeing everything he loved crumble was by locking himself in what little he had left. Its only when he meets Terry that he starts moving forward once more. Being Batman saved Terry, but the first and most important person he made a difference for was Bruce.
This was done so well. The sound track of the series was absolutely spot on, the parallels in the ways Terry and Bruce both stepped up to protect people, plus Terry's progression from being, as he basically called himself, a street punk, to protector. The way the past had left its mark, the old ones trying to tell Terry that what he was doing would be thankless because no one except them could know it was him and ran the high risk of getting him killed. Yet there again, there's Terry, like he had told Bruce, he wanted to prove he was a worth while person, and even though telling Bruce it was for himself, there had to be a part of him that also wanted Bruce's approval as well, after Terry lost his father, and blamed himself for his own father's death without even fully realizing what the real cause was.
I think something important you miss constantly with the whole Terry being Bruce's biological son that's said by Amanda (I think), is that it didn't matter. Terry meeting Bruce and becoming Batman had nothing to do with him being his biological son, it simply just happened. Though, maybe some convient writing also had something to do with that.
A part of me is saddened that Bruce ends up so unhappy in Batman Beyond after everything that happened in TAS and JLA. However, the reasons for why he is where he is makes sense for his character (more so his TAS version for obvious reasons) and it's not like his current life is devoid of happiness. With so many franchise's keeping to the "This character is the same but older" approach to legacy characters, getting to see Bruce be allowed to age and have his character furthered is still so refreshing.
Honestly, Terry's story as Batman still feels like there is so much potential wasn't explored.
I’ve drifted away from the Batman comics, but there was such a ridiculous issue where Damian saves baby Terry. That’s a good example of trying to be deep- but completely missing it.
p.s. does anyone ever mention that his little brother is in the same genetic boat?
p.p.s. Didn’t the writers say it was planned from the beginning? That’s how you get 2 black haired kids from 2 ginger adults
@@sarahanley7142 No, it was a fan theory they were made aware of, & they thought, "That's actually pretty cool, let's do it."
I loved Batman beyond. It was a cool bonding thing for me and my Dad. He was excited watching the animated series and me younger felt beyond was cooler and more my speed. WB sat mornings had them back to back for a time and we would sit eating cereal together watching. I still remember the series fondly and even checked up on some of the comic stories (Thru comics explained or the like)
I recommend the Batman Beyond: Neo Year comic. It’s a six issue series that ends this month and fleshes out Terry growing up w/o Bruce really well while having all new, super 2020s relevant villains. 🔥
The best part of Batman Beyond is that Terry wasn't a Bruce Batman clone, he was his own brand of Batman.
They made it a very big selling point in the joker film. Was great
Yeah I think that's what I liked about it the most
Yeah, to bad later it was said that Terry is bruce's son/clone.
lol he is though. quite literally. he is Batman's sperm baby/clone
@@themask5493 but the point was he wasn’t a clone of Bruce he was still his own person
He just also happened to be genetically his son
I feel like Bruce finally grew up in Beyond. He finally realized he can't stop all crime and there is a limit to what a man can do, he understands how dangerous that lifestyle is and didn't want to burden Terry
That episode where Shriek demanded Terry to sacrifice so he would spare the city while every citizen demanding Batman to “pay for his crimes” and Bruce saying to Barbara “This kid gave it all to this city, now they need to returned it, this ungrateful doesn’t deserve him”
“Tim is the Ultimate victim of Bruce’s World. Someone who all he is is a costume. The skin of Batman. The Skin of Joker. The skin of Robin with not much left underneath it. As an adult who’s merely a host running away”. Such a Powerful statement that sums up the tragedy of Tim Drake’s Robin in the DCAU
😢
It's even more sad if it's paired with the comics origin story for Tim Drake's Robin. In the DCAU he's basically kinda like Jason Todd without the anti-hero stuff; in the comic he was a huge fan of Batman and (Dick Grayson's) Robin.
I just realized it's a better executed version of the MCU's Spiderman, A billionaire takes in a teenager, and gives him a high-tech suit, and wants him to be better a better hero and person than the he ever was. I love this show so much, not to sound cliche, but it was ahead of it's time
Big fax
No the mcu copied Batman beyond NOT the other way around
@@WZ4RD3 he never said mcu Spider-Man predated Batman beyond just said it’s a better version of a similar story
Batman Beyond had a LOT in common with the OG Amazing Spiderman comics, and in turn even Spider-Man took cues from Batman Beyond.
1. Peter's fight with Uncle Ben was inspired from Batman Beyond.
2. Terry's personality is the same as 616 high-school Peter Parker, with a slight more aggression.
3. Batman taking off his mask to calm down a kid in a burning car was later adapted into TASM's bridge scene.
4. Batman Beyond villain Stalker, Shriek and Spellbinder are very similar to Kraven, Shocker and Mysterio. Though Shriek is a better character.
5. MCU directly ripped off from Terry's recruitment scene lmao.
@@Pakilla64 and Batman beyond inspired by Spiderman 2099
Can we take a second to appreciate the Batman Beyond soundtrack? And not just the show's soundtrack, because the Return of the Joker theme is too cool for how underrated it is.
I keep on repeating Cold vs. Hot and the opening theme. They’re so good!
I was 13 when it premiered, super unsure of whether this was going to suck or not. Adolescent cynicism leaking out of my pores. It premiered on primetime, BOLD. I watched it in my room with the lights off, and my Xmas gift stereo attached to the TV. After the cold open, that theme song came on, and I knew, this is for real, this is special. That soundtrack was a perfect gel with my early love of The Prodigy, Daft Punk, and Radiohead.
"Crash" was a banger in the club scene
When I was a kid my brother convinced me that the soundtrack was made by Nine Inch Nails and I totally believed him for way too long.
@@denistuohy2535 lol
What really makes the Whole Joker Chip thing scary are the implications it has. Did the Joker actually cut open Tim’s head and surgically put the chip in his Brain or was it just connected to his neck and interacting with his Brain because there’s a deleted version of the opening that suggest that the chip might have been surgically put deep inside of Tim’s Brain. Another implication that I thought about is did Tim have kids with his wife willingly or was that just the Joker slightly influencing him because I can easily see the Joker making Tim have kids with his wife so that he could eventually make them his sidekicks if you know what I mean
Or worse, to make Tim take the lives of his family when his Joker side takes over. The sick, sadistic irony would've appealed to Joker.
Pp
Thiking what I’m thinking. How many times has his wife or kids talked with him but it’s not tim in the drivers seat.
@@MegaManXPoweredUp did joker control Tim’s body only as an adult or as a kid too? If that’s the case it’s very chucky- like. Like how in the first movie how he was gonna transfer his soul into Andy
Hattoripool when you put it like that dear lord that's horrific imagine the the kids learning their birth/life is a fat joke
So many alarming concepts come up in this series, it's like a song with a cheerful tune and nightmare lyrics. I love it.
In a way I feel like that relates to the show’s theme song/opening as well. It’s dark and edgy but also sassy, hip, and even slightly hopeful at different parts of the song.
Like Pumped Up Kicks?
Like semi charmed life?
It's the time frame. All early 2000s movies and shows had this. Any movie or TV show with technology
My baby don't mess around because she loves me so and this I know fa shoooooo...
Terry is such a great character and the concept of Batman Beyond is such a perfect setup for a series that I’m astonished it only had one, imo short lived, chance while Bruce Wayne’s Batman gets reboot after reboot.
With CG at the level that it is now, and with actors like Kevin Conroy at the perfect age to play an older Bruce, this could be a series that is ripe for lost of dramatic and powerful storytelling potential.
Then again, with the level of writing for superhero stories that aren’t called Invincible or The Boys at the level they are, perhaps it’s best for Terry to stay with his one, unsullied run as Batman.
They were actually gonna cancel it since they didnt like the idea of a teenage Batman lol. Goes to show that some ideas arent always bad
For real. If DC can't cut back on giving Batman focus, which they should, they can at least show a different Batman besides Bruce.
@@Black_Knight_-BK- A teenage Batman does sound a bit interesting. Bruce starting his career at a younger age. They've done it kinda before in The Batman cartoon from 2004.
@@SaimAli-k4v I say a video game would be better if not a series. That way they could explore the duality with Terry and Batman. And I'm glad Young Justice wasn't left in the past.
@@fynnthefox9078 only way i see teenage batman work is if its sort of like batman begins meets soul of the dragon. Young bruce training and crossing paths with all the characters we hardly see properly. wildcat, shiva, bronze tiger, talia, Nobody/ducard family, etc. also ninja bruce wayne would be fire to see, as opposed to typical batman
Man you wanna talk about a show that just does everything right? The opening alone tells you everything you need to know, the future is bleak and dark but despite that there's still a chance for it to be saved by a new generation. I honestly feel it's the best out of all the DCAU shows and that says a lot about its quality.
I liked the vid and your post. From a storyteller/producer point of view, If the JL had worked and crime was all but gone....there wouldn't be a need for the show.....they had to have...needed a dark broken world...
The opening says it best in a way that most people miss. Apathy. Greed. Corruption. Power. .....Hope. Justice.
Yeah these writers and show runners slammed dunked their jobs
Batman Beyond seems like such a terrible show when you read the summary but somehow these mad bastards made the impossibly lame one of the best superhero shows of all time.
Terry shouldn't have worked, but he ended up as a fantastic Batman
The best part is that the creators really did make the best out of a bad situation. The network wanted them to make a teenage Batman series to appeal to the teen demographic, which everyone thought was a horrible idea. But under duress they managed to find a way to not only make that concept work, but they turned it into one of the most beloved pieces of Batman media ever created.
A Batman show takes place in futuristic cyberpunk Gotham sounds rad as hell how tf the summary is lame
@@frog6054 Teenage Batman show filled with teen angst so you can appeal to 16 year olds and make toy sales, put on a kids cartoon channel. All from the wonderfully vapid brains of executives.
Pretty easy to see how this sounds terrible on a paper and only salvaged by the creatives.
@@Doople why are you choosing to be vapid?
Batman Beyond was so badass and well written that when I was a kid, I had standing orders from my dad to come and find him everytime it came on so he could watch it too. Wouldn't watch any other cartoon for more than 5 mins, but he never missed Batman Beyond.
I never thought the revelation about Terry being Bruce's son never took away from the message of the series. Just because he's his son it never suddenly made him forced to be all like Bruce. Terry still lived his own life, had his own personality. Children can still be independent of their parents. Plus, all the clues were there in the series itself. How neither Terry nor his brother resembled their parents that much, things like Inque asking if the "old man" was his father or grandfather, and Superman noting there was more than Terry knew about how similar he and Bruce were.
And the black and white segments were always only ever imagine spots from Epilogue, not real. So, it's not like Terry was truly ever resentful of Bruce, just his mind racing through the possibilities after he discovered he and Bruce shared DNA. He may have had some inner turmoil, but everyone goes through that at times for small problems or big.
Terry may be Bruce's son, but he never became Bruce's Batman. He imprinted his own identity onto the mask. Bruce was always taken in by the tragedy of his life, but Terry showed how one can heal, find love and joy, and still be Batman.
I'm not completely against it either, but I can understand why people have problems with it. Personally though, I will say that Terry should be the heir of Batman's legacy, not Bruce Wayne's.
Kinda like the video said, I think the reason it works is that it uses the concept to ask questions like is Terry only Batman because he's Bruce's secret son, & his he destined to end up just like him, & the answer it comes away with is that it doesn't matter whether he's genetically related to Bruce or not; he's his own person, & he rises above Bruce's failures when he finally proposes to Dana instead of pulling the old "it's too dangerous to get close to me" thing.
A true Legacy character, not like some of the cheap stuff we have nowadays.
In my opinion it's a revelation that only serves to take away from the overall story. Terry becoming Batman was just as much Bruce's redemption as Terry's. For Bruce, it proved he was able to grow beyond the past, making up for Joker scarring Robin for life by learning to trust someone else with the mantle again, and in the process helped a total stranger redeem themselves too. If Terry is Bruce's secret nutjacker baby it rips a gaping hole in how emotionally special that is, now he's just passing the torch to his clone-son. He didn't grow, he just handed the keys over to what he hoped would be just himself +1, he was trying to prestiege.
@@KiraSlith I feel like that’s not giving the whole continuity before they put Epilogue on screen enough credit.
Through JLU, Bruce learned there would be a new Batman, but never who that Batman was. What he did learn there, though, was that this new batman was not him. It wasn’t Bruce 2.0, it was someone who would take up his cause without all of the baggage that drove him away from others.
Even in Epilogue, it’s implied that while Bruce probably knows, he also didn’t learn until much later, thus not tarnishing the original episode. He thought Terry was a punk who stole the next Batman’s suit… but after interacting with the troubled young man, he saw potential, and finally pieced together, this… this is what Batman’s about… doing the right thing when nobody else can or will… and this punk… who is not me in any way… this is who Batman should be.
Batman Beyond is like an (extremely successful) experiment in taking really bad and silly ideas and making them great. The whole premise of the show was thought up by WB execs who wanted to do a show about a teenage Batman in high school because teen dramas like Dawson's Creek and Felicity were the highest rated shows on the network and they were trying to draw in that audience. But the DCAU writers were able to make something great out of that cash grab idea.
The show also had to follow FCC and network guidelines about doing "after school special" episodes where they had to include anti-bullying, amti-drug, anti-peer pressure, etc. messages. But they managed to make great "special message" episodes. For example, that episode with Bane was their "very special" anti-drug episode.
And a good one at that. We all saw Bane being all powerful with the venom but it takes years of constant use to do real damage. Majority of after school specials just makes it look like drugs instantly turns you into a husk and it doesn't. But seeing the all powerful Bane, a terror even to the Batman...in a chair not able to move because of his abuse of this super steroid, it drove it home that yeah...you may feel amazing now but eventually the drug wins in the end.
A lot of anti-bullying and peer pressure created WIllie Watt, Spellbinder was also a very potent avatar to push those FCC messages while also not ruining a good plot.
Batman is a good vehicle for doing those kinds of things because his normal operating procedure is fighting against the kind of low level crime that guidelines for obligatory moralisation want to push kids away from, and Gotham as a setting is a good representation of the conditions that create them, and having Terry be closer in age to the intended audience helps make it feel more genuine - he experiences the problems first hand rather than merely dropping in to externally lay down the law on them like Bruce would.
@@ExeErdna Willie watt hates white people
There were other ANTI DRUG episodes to Splicers for example was an ANTI DRUG and so was SpellBinders second episode where he's hooking up runaways to dangerous Virtual Reality machines that are highly addictive and end up making the teen runaways or brain dead. That was also a Double Whammy of Human Trafficing and so was The Brain Trust Epside
I love how old Waller is resentful of her past and she slowly starts becoming a better person throughout her late life
shes only doing cuz shes close to deaths doorstep see how she was preaching god scared to die and go to hell for the bad stuff shes done
If only she realized it sooner.
Nowadays you will NEVER have cartoons ab issues such as these even the episode where they showed how teens r treated in those trouble wards was insanely good!!
It oddly seemed like a show that actually cared about the real struggles of being a teen, rather than those "very special episodes" in sitcoms that always seemed to miss the mark
This show and Static Shock were good for bringing up certain issues, while still keeping it within the confines of an interesting story within the world/ setting they created
Yea so much real world problems on this cartoon
Dnt know man young justice is amazing 🤩
I remember watching episodes on the TV and it terrifying my folks. Meanwhile I was just sitting there completely awestruck by the experience.
That was my experience at 7 years old seeing the original roboteck. That was the show that made me fall in love with animation and sparked my interest in anime
Adults thought Batman Beyond was scary?
I actually don't think making Terry biologically Bruce's son as a negative. Terry unlike the rest of the bat family wasn't adopted as a kid or trained but instead he finds his sense of justice through his own upbringing and enters the role already a young adult, not beholden to the usual pitfalls of Batman's successors.
This Batman story could be a perfect way to continue Tim Burton's Batman universe, If Warner's new boss doesn't do this, he lacks too much vision. In this way they would have the universe with Ben Affleck's Batman and Cavill's Superman on one side and that of Michael Keaton and the Supergirl from The Flash movie in another universe, It frustrates me that Warner has everything to beat the Marvel universe and do nothing
For Bats was his destiny but chose to embrace it
I found it was a neat, quick way to wrap up the Animated universe with a neat bow and basically say the legacy of the characters live on.
@Talebird K I mean star Wars has already had that issue with luke he is literally the son of the chosen one and a chosen one in his own right but no one has an issue with that one
The main thing that ruins it is the massive coincidence that they met the way they did. That's just too much.
Batman beyond was such an amazing follow up series to Batman the animated series. Another great mention is Mr Freeze and just how much he struggles to adjust and move forward with his life only to fall back into his own misery and despair. I think of his character and the Mad Hatter from BTAS a lot with how tragic they are
6:50 IIRC, the creator of Beyond was NOT very pleased with the Unlimited finale reveal b/c it undermined the message that ANYONE could “wear the mask” and be Batman, like with Miles Morales and Spider-Man. 9:00 Also wow, now THAT’S an ending you won’t hear nowadays!
Bro hasn't missed with these classic DC cartoon analyses. Keep up the good work
Something that I think a lot of people have trouble understanding about Epilouge is the point of the story.
Terry isn't the clone of Bruce Wayne, but his son. Bruce and Terry are very different people with different experiences, one of the biggest examples being from the episode itself. When Terry was 8 Waller hired Phantasm to kill Terry's parents to give his the same drive to bring justice to criminals, but the latter let them go. Terry grew up without the same trauma as Bruce did the spured him to be Batman. Additionally, their some of their skills are different true; Bruce is the more intelligent of the two and is clearly the better detective and more trained than his son, but Terry is better at working with other people on even footing and is more sociable (something that helps him keep a better life out of work than his father). Besides, the decision to be Batman was always Terry's choice, as neither he nor Bruce knew of the truth of Terry's birth until after the fact, due to this it doesn't really matter the what circumstances of Terry's origin, merely his willingness to do so. I also admit that I always viewed the fact that Terry's birth was more as a reward for Bruce, as it was through his son he was able to mend some of the old bridges with his friends and batfamily and leave his mission to Terry knowing he'll carry on the mantle as Gotham's defender.
One last thing I want to mention, is Bruce and Terry's relationship. While I don't think it was Implicitly Pretentious's goal, it made it seem that while Terry admired and deeply loved Bruce, the latter didn't love Terry back, which is false. Bruce does love Terry, but doesn't express in a typical way. Whenether Terry is in danger Bruce always tries to help (even taking to the field despite his old age) and is willing take care of some of Terry's needs, such as proving to Terry's mother that her son wasn't abusing slappers and trying to, subtly, ease Terry's guilt when Ian Peek learned their secret identies. The problem is that Bruce has DECADES of trauma that naturally affects his relationships and has been a recluse for 20 years or more, which has naturally made him poor in social interactions with people he loves. Terry kinda understands this and with the few exceptions, including the imaginary confrontation show in the video, just rolls with the punches and still manages to have a rather healthy relationship with his secret father.
I remember watching tapes of batman beyond until I wore out the tapes from being rewound too many times as a kid. I'm glad to see you give it some love.
Batman Beyond showed just how terrifying the DCAU could get. Dark imagery and serious themes that weren’t played for just shock value and social commentary with lasting relevance. Splicers starting with a fashion trend and turning into a nightmare inducing monster maker. The rehabilitation center for teens where conditioning is standard protocol and punishments include solitary confinement. The gossipmonger whose main asset sent him to one of the worst fates in the DCAU by the end of his single appearance.
Future Bruce sucked, though
I’m honestly still surprised how much this show was allowed to tackle. Animal abuse, drug addiction, plus all that freaky body horror! One of the greatest interpretations of Batman ever!
Animal abuse? 😭
@@eldaa.4879 they showing dog fighting in that show 😭😭
Other scary images in the series is seeing how far advanced biotechnology has become in Neo-Gotham. Examples being Inque, a contract assassin and saboteur who fluidly shapeshift into liquid and solid forms, blends into the shadows and the environment thanks to years in a chemical mutagen treatment, and her favourite forms of attacks being to form bladed melee weapons like the T-1000 or shoving herself down your throat to asphyxiate you or put pressure on your stomach (and she's always the one villain Terry could never beat alone).
Or the splicing episode which gave the writers a chance to do commentary or a very special episode on teen fads, drug use, and body modifications, with the ending being Terry defeating the villain by injecting him with dozens of different splicing mutagens to the point he mutates uncontrollably into something that stepped out AKIRA and the villain disposes himself by blowing himself up thanks to his unwieldy form.
Inque's mutigen is clearly based off Clayface's, then you got the Splicers which is so how LEGAL. Yeah the slap patches that too Bane's venom and perfected it for ease of us/abuse.
But yeah Inque was Terry's most dangerous rogue because he never really beat her clean.
Holy shit i said the same thing in a reply
This show was why more mature than the old batman i watched it like 4 time
There's also the possibility that Inque may have been spliced with DNA from the Imperium's minions from the Justice League premiere "Secret Origins".
@@ExeErdna Terry has defeated her twice. The first time was with Mr. Freeze's gun. And the second time he broke the glass ceiling, causing the rain water to drown her into the sewers.
Batman Beyond villains get it way worse than the old rogues. Remember that assassin lady that failed and ended up hunted by her own people?
Yea then she spun the block like a goat had the top leader runnin!!!!
And then there’s Inque, who gets dissolved by her own daughter. Quoth Bruce Wayne, “Poor, diluted fool.”
How about the guy who phases like a ghost through things? He eventually falls to the center of the earth. That man is very dead
@@kerbalairforce8802 Or what about the guy who gets so much of the splicer dna that he literally becomes a blob of flesh and random animal body parts.
You guys forgot Terry's old friend, "Big Time" who mutated into a monster and fell to his death.
Batman is a symbol. As much as I along with others love the original Bruce. You can't always wear the mask. Time flies everyone and everything grows and changes. Bruce eventually realized this with his age and health and also nearly breaking his one rule. Terry is an irresponsible kid getting in fights in school having a trouble relationship with his father. But Terry soon has grown a lot to become something better and greater. Eventually being the next in line of being a new crusader. A new Batman. Bruce also realized that the mission isn't over and learns to pass the torch. Both becoming more than they were before.....
Future Bruce sucked
This is my favorite version of Batman without a doubt I wish there were more episodes of the series more movies it's just so good The intro is so bad-ass the story is amazing I really really really want them to bring this back I loved the show as a kid and I still love it today
Returning to this cartoon showed me many lessons that my younger self overlooked. I appreciate each and every one of them now.
I always loved this show plus the Return of the Joker movie. Dark, brutal, introspective, it's actually shocking they got away with so much with both of these.
Also the Cyberpunk setting of Neo Gotham is great. Like Batman meets Blade Runner or Judge Dredd.
I hold onto the hope that Rocksteady makes a Batman Beyond game at some point
That would be so damn good. Why haven't they done it already?
I definitely get the issues with the whole "Bruce's son" thing. But at the time I really did enjoy the idea. At least from the angle that Waller being the way she is still ended up thinking that Batman's existence was so absolutely necessary that she's actually make sure that Bruce basically would have a clone in the world that could take his place.
Which literally is what he said in here. Making him a clone just reinforced the idea that Bruce Wayne/Batman is the main character here, and other people are just added to highlights him even further. Which goes against the whole point of Terry's character background.
@@mudken but he’s not a clone he’s his son i mean his dad couldn’t have kids then he goes to the clinic and he’s shooting bruce Wayne’s dna. Bruce is a sperm donor essentially. I know that’s not how they entirely explain it but it makes sense why terry is so different. Plus Terry and his brother have black hair there mom and “dad” have red
@@Kdoghalo yeah no. It still kinda dumb. It ruins the idea that “anyone can be Batman” that’s literally the whole point of why people like the dynamic between Batman and Joker. Anyone could be the Joker with one bad day, but one bad day could make someone into a Batman (metaphorically or literally).
By having Terry be Bruce’s son/clone it makes it seem like you can only be a hero if you’re predestined.
@@wesstewart2677 Anyone COULD be Batman. That's what was misguided about Waller's approach. She tried to forcibly recreate the exact conditions that created Batman, but Batman only returned when Terry decided to do it of his own free will.
@@TheLithp honestly if they wanted to do the whole Project Beyond/Child of Bruce Wayne…why didn’t they go with Huntress in the series like intentionally planned. Helena Wayne would’ve made more sense in the epilogue than Terry being all of a sudden retconned to be Bruce’s Son/Clone. But that’s my opinion…
You are such a good editor and each of your essays are so on point. I so look forward to each one and how you don’t just use whatever program is popular. Series like Batman Beyond deserve a bit of the deep dive you guide us through. Well done again
The thing about Terry is that despite having Bruce's DNA he's still his own person mentally because he didn't live the same life as Bruce.
What makes these series also appealing, is the fact that Bruce always gives Terry advice through the batsuit's earpiece. And the batsuit is quite amazing, with all its special powers, like retractable wings, powered shoes, invisibility, retractable claws, audio-enhancing sensors at the fingertips, and the bat-arangs that shoot out from the base of the hand. Quite a technological marvel.
One of my favorite shows. I’m so glad that Justice League Unlimited gave it a deserved end even though I wish there were more animated adventures with Terry.
Such an unappreciated masterpiece. 😢 this was so far beyond its time that people couldn’t catch up to appreciate it. Bruce finally got the son he could be proud of and love and I know Bruce knew in his heart who Terry was. But Bruce gave him the freedom to grow and develop in his way and on his terms. The best most emotional animated series ever created to all those who made this happen I thank you all for your hard work dedication and love to Batman. Thank you for giving us a Bruce we deserved in Terry and giving Bruce a second chance Terry was the most loyal and faithful son and never left his side no matter what they had been through he stuck it out and that built his character.
I loved Batman Beyond as it was the first "Mainstream" representation of the cyberpunk genre that I already loved. I remember it years before Matrix, and not long after Aeon Flux as well as me finding the Sprawl series by William Gibson. But my favorite part was how it encouraged you to question everything and not take anything at face value. Thats what I took away from it anyway.
I think Batman Beyond was definitely darker and more serious. The introduction of Terry was very different, but also cool. It showed us that a young guy
who hadn't trained to become a vigilante could still be one, after his dad was killed and wanted to avenge him. With Bruce's eventual guidance, he was able to become his own
Batman despite his lack of experience. As much as I liked Batman The Animated Series and The New Adventures Of Batman and Robin, I really liked Batman Beyond a lot,
mainly because Terry and Bruce were so well written and the voice acting from Will Fredel and Kevin Conroy was excellent. I was quite disapointed when it was cancelled after it's
third season, because I was looking forward to season 4. There will never be another show like it.
Yes it is! (Shudders) whooooo is it cold in here?!. The EarthMover episode, made me grow up quick! 😨😵💫😧. Yes, I agree with the elderly Bane found in a breathing apperatus chair. Terry McGuiness’s father’s murder, the way it was played out was so heartbreaking, for a kids show, at that time. (Neo style) woah. Loved the DCAU. Long. Live. The . DCAU.
You have no idea how therapeutic your videos are for me and how much I reevaluate who I am and my behaviors influenced by my traumas. If that's not catharsis, I don't know what is. So thank you
Starting therapy and following your channel has been very constructive for me. 💛
In my opinion, Epilogue's reveal undermines the father/son relationship that Terry & Bruce developed over the course of the show & the whole idea of Terry not being a carbon copy of Bruce.
You're not alone in quoting the most random thing from that movie, me and a friend love to just constantly reference that incredibly minor "Not much? It's nothing." line.
I say this line every time I see my bank account. 😂
Loving that you are working your way through the DCAU! I just did a watch through of all the DCAU shows and movies, so the timing is perfect for me haha.
Everytime I see a little batman beyond I always forget how iconic it is
And terry is so underappreciated because he really does become his own Batman and yes he is no Bruce but he way more than does the job
(9:29) Amanda must have gone a lot of character development to be quoting the Bible.
Batman Beyond aged extremely poorly in some ways like thinking we’d still have record stores in the future, but other episodes like Spellbinder’s machine that lets users live out whatever fantasy they want at the cost of their real world lives predicted things like the Metaverse with frightening accuracy.
We have antique shops now, we probably will til the end. I think the concepts that cannot be reconciled involve broader issues like "social attitudes toward X." cuz we are now a very backwards society compared to what we'll need to be, look at what we were 500 years ago...
You do realize that there are still record stores right? And that even new releases, be it Taylor Swift or Billie Eilish, have had vinyl release as of late? There are still a great deal of people who believe in physical media be it games, books, or movies. What makes you so sure that in the future that’ll change? Even as a nostalgia gimmick there are high odds that sort of thing will always exist. Nostalgia is powerful, as proven by everyone here watching a video about a pretty old show.
@@mvalentino5650 And you do realise that the way they’re treated in the show isn’t that they’re weird, retro places where you find old stuff but as the hip, current places indicating no technological shift in that regard?
The point I’m making is that predicting the future is hard, especially when predicting sweeping changes in technology no one can predict as you have no idea what will change things in a dramatic way so Beyond shouldn’t be blamed for thinking record stores would be as popular 50 years in the future as they are now but that it should be commended for guessing something like Spellbinder’s machine which while just an anti-drug message at the time, would reflect the genuine reality that people refer digital lives to real ones.
@@Longshanks1690 I mean, it's very clearly going for a cyberpunk aesthetic, which hasn't been really used as a serious take on what the future would look like since like the 70s or so when the genre really took root.
Glad I'm not the only one who saw the spellbinder episode and was like, "holly shit this is actually happening".
Did not expect to have my mind blown by batman today but damn I really relate to what Terry says about wearing the suit I used to be a real piece of work i was an addict and hurt the people that loved me most by continuing to use now I'm sober and work as a drug prevention specialist and it feels like redemption to be able to help the community you once hurt and there are no words for what it can do to rebuild your self esteem and self image to feel like your helping other fight the same inner demons that used to keep you down
I’ve always felt good Batman stories should have an element of scariness in them.
Did dude just say “Bruce dismisses him like an asian parent” 🤣😭
This show confused the crap out of me as a kid and scared me a little. But everything confused me back then. And the show has managed to keep it's cold, dark feeling to the point where even today, I feel like there's a draft coming in from somewhere by the time I make to the credits
I really love the section of the idea of terry's origins. I'm mixed on whether he should be the son of bruce wayne or just some guy. I lean towards the latter because it shows that anyone can awaken the sense of justice to help their fellow man. Just like bruce wayne, Terry chooses to be the hero.
Paul Dini is completely responsible for the incredible success of Batman Beyond.
Terry was always the greatest possible successor to batman and it's because of his more optimist and free spirited look on life. While both bruce and terry become batman out of a tragedy with there parents bruce ends up becoming obsessed with being batman to the point that in "the new adventures of batman" he is a cold blooded all about business kinda of hero, no more thoughts that the villains he faced can be redeemed like in the original batman tas, it get's so bad that in beyond bruce does the one thing he vowed to never do use a gun the thing that killed his parents coming full circle with his origin which makes him retire for good. On the Other hand terry is not obsessed with batman and even reluctant at some points but he is almost the exact opposite of bruce a neigh pure hearted youth. Which is why in the Batman Beyond Return of Joker movie Terry is the only character in the history of DC to actually defeat The Joker for good not by playing into the jokers madness like what bruce often does but laughing at him if you've seen the ending of the movie you know what I mean in the last scene where the Joker is confroting Terry trying to destory him physically and mentally Terry Simply laughs he dosent feel anger or sadness its a foreign reaction that the Joker isn't used to which is the main reason Terry is able to beat bruce's biggest foe. Terry is a better batman than bruce ever was because of his outlook on life compared to Bruce.A better successor than nightwing, , tim drake, redhood, all of those guys are about about as physiologically damaged as bruce at times well besides tim drake.
It still blows my mind to this day that WB never went after some kind of film adaptation of Batman Beyond. It was such a brilliant, deep, layered show set up in an incredibly atmospheric Gotham of the future. It has so much promise and brims with potential for a fresh take on the Batman story. But no, all they have done is re-thread Bruce' Batman over and over with the same premise and the same lessons and the same stories, but darker, grayer, angrier. The film's Batman gets further and further away from the perfect Batman of the DCAU, the smart, compassionate, inventive character. Which again, while I am incredulous that they never made a Batman Beyond film, I am also glad. I can very well imagine what a committee of execs instead of Bruce Timm and Pail Dini would have done to my poor boy Terry. Better let him stay in his animated run and remain in the company of the greatest superhero adaptations ever that was the DCAU.
I think the reason they haven’t is because they haven’t even established a well built story yet in an established dceu movie verse yet. Sense it’s the future too they want to make sure it’s the right time. They haven’t even made a nightwing movie yet, and people want Batman beyond.
It's such a simple concept too, Batman meets Blade Runner.
I'm with you. They should do a story with Dick or Terry as Batman. There is so much they could do with either of them.
@@parkerboy795 ive been partial the future where damian is batman and terry is his successor. In my mind, i can see Damian as THE final Robin. he used to want to take over but changes his mind once his father dies, Batman with him. Terry could steal a batsuit and become the first batman in almost a century (especially if its old man Damian who i can see acting like old man bruce and giving limited advice due to only having faced certain things as a kid. maybe he utilized the lazarus pit to live longer as well)
@@enishi4ty5 That's not bad either.
Wow, just wow! You are a true poet. You've emcompassed the metaphysical problems that face most young men in society and you were able to eloquently use this medium as both a review of this great piece as well as a great piece of lesson to be understood.
I just remembered this episode. The one where bane was well. It did hit so much different it impacted so much heavier.
I hope that the Batman adaptation allow Terry's Batman to smile, it's one thing that made him different than Bruce, his visible optimism.
Man this show is beautiful. Saw the whole thing in May and it holds up so well and the extra commentary for the tenth anniversary is beautiful
This show deserves a ending, it was so different and yet so cool
The Tim drake arc was surprising and very dark
Damn dude. This was so good. I shed a tear. I feel like so much of what you said was bottled up dee inside me from back in the day when this was airing on TV. We’ve all had our own personal struggles since then too, with the world becoming so hostile at the same time. So much of that wisdom from a freaking cartoon is now the guiding light of my life. Appreciating those who love you and choosing which mask you want to wear for society rather than letting society or the mask itself choose for you. Powerful stuff man. Great video
I hated that they made him Bruce's son through some "magic science". His story as an outsider, troubled kid, was amazing. They developed a character who was his own person separate from Bruce, then tossed it away to shoe horn a blood relationship.
Yeah I see it as noncanon
@@maniacgreen8609Too bad bitch
Batman Beyond a show about a young man who’s father is murdered, he’s being raised by his single mother growing more angrier each day with no real guidance until he meets a new father figure in Bruce Wayne that leads his life into a legacy by becoming a hero to Gotham.
As rough and sad as it is with the Passing of Mr Conroy I'd like to see Will reprise his role as an older Terry/Batman dealing with a now passed on Bruce and whether to pass on the training so that there is always a Batman or let Batman Fade into memory
Very well written always nice to hear about my nostalgia pieces. Nice video!
Sitting here and thinking about it, I wonder if Batman Beyond was originally supposed to be a Nightwing series. Terry very much reminds me of dick from his personality, his relationship with Bruce, and down to the design of the suit.
I think Terry is a lot more rough around the edges than Dick. Dick does have a bit of rebellion in him but not to the same degree as Terry
@@comicdans7732 I can agree
If anything, Batman Beyond seems heavily based on Spider-Man, much more than Nightwing. Hell, just look at Terry's Origin. It's almost a beat for beat match to Peter Parker's.
@@wesleygriffiths8748 I never thought of that. It's an interesting take.
In life there are 3 things that become better with more time on it:
-Wine
-Sapphires
-BATMAN BEYOND
I don’t remember too many episodes when I was younger, but I do remember that moment where inque entered Terry’s mouth to suffocate him.
That still haunts me a little…
Edit:14th September
Freakiest moment to me was that guy who got doused in toxic waste & was reduced to a withered skeleton fused with the dirt.
At least Terry didn't explode like the dude Super Buu jumped into.
Same that shit traumatized me,
Got to admit ink chick got my 9 years old self briked up not gonna lie
Another f up moment was the splicing that furry episod where terry is transformd into a bat
Same. That Inque moment always freaked me out.
Another one of DC's masterpieces. Fantastic show and characters. Terry is definitely a true Batman to me and deserves more attention.
I can only hope that Terry and the slick bat suit is given its due in maybe games, live action or at best a new animated show.
Watching this literally 15 minutes after hearing about Kevin Conroy. RIP to him.
This is my first video of this channel. I have never before been so happy that someone has delved into the deeper narratives of children's tv shows from the 2000's. The older I get, the more I see that I have subconsciously modeled myself out of my favorite cartoon characters from tv shows growing up. My future therapist will thank you on the insight to why it is I am so fucked up from essentially being a mixture of heroes from Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, and Disney channel. Thank yous kindly
Bruce's story is pretty sad, we actually see in Batman TAS that he's balancing his Batman and Bruce Wayne persona, lookup "i didnt count on being happy batman" and "does the hurt ever go away batman" to see this nuance. He was also connected to a lot of the criminals he dealt with, and tried to reason with and get them help, like Two-Face. Romantically, he had bad luck, because he couldn't let someone get hurt just so he could pursue romance with a regular woman. And the women he met in his hero world were complicated relationships, like Selina Kyle and Talia, because they had their own obligations and compulsions. By the end of TAS and the start of Justice League, we see Bruce basically turn into a war veteran, because the situations he faced with his emotional connection to friends and family led him to neglect his humanity. It's a kind of stoicism that everyone in Beyond simultaneously admires but doesn't completely understand.
As soon as you mentioned "finding bane" I knew exactly where you were going with this.
2:57: Oh, that's what you meant by thongs. In America that means a completely different thing 😏.
@ 2:45
My man really spit in his mouth while he had him in a hold. That's just diabolical...
I can see Chris Nolans Batman Beyond in my head, and I think he could do it justice, if they were to ever tell the story on the big screen.
That venom episode was the first time I watched Batman Beyond, and man was that enough to leave a very long lasting impression on me
I always found it weird that Conroy’s Batman ends up alone in Batman Beyond. He was always very well adjusted in The Animated Series - he had friends and was generally liked by people.
At first. As the series went on the to the new batman adventures and Justice league he begins pushing people away and drawing himself inward and this continues off screen until the first episode of Beyond
In the first episode, when Terry is going over the disc that has info on the death of his father, his younger brother sneaks up on him to see what he is doing. The brother would be Bruce's son too, so it showed that he already intuitively had instincts to sneak around like his father
batman beyond was beautiful, when kids shows actually had plot and a team that loved what they did
I saw Earth Mover and had nightmares for a month. I refused to tell my mom what they were about because Batman Beyond was my favorite show and I didn’t want her to make me stop watching it.
I'm just glad god-tier shows like this one are kept in the past. And I hope they're never remade to appeal to the newer audiences. The shows of today embody a painful ignorance to the harsh themes our generation has been accustomed to through timeless media peices such as this one. It's all feelings this and feelings that in the today's era. I'm glad we got shows like this that gave us a lot more than just a love for iconic characters. They gave us the strength to build character.
Man this video is schway. Uploaded on my birthday, Batman Beyond is the only character I’ve cosplayed (and my favorite DC hero), AND I’m a sociology major. Kudos
Rip Kevin Conroy
Not gonna lie, the moment you said nano machines, the entire senator armstrong scene played in my mind…
Terry basically beats Joker by insulting him
A comedian can't handle a heckler. But then again, Joker was never a good comedian.
@@parkerboy795 True lol
Terry is amazing because he’s how many of us would be, care about women & fun as well as completing the mission. It can be balanced, Bruce just didn’t wanna risk it. Even when he had a crew that could take up the slack so he could enjoy a little more life…he didn’t and became old & completely alone, even Alfred is dead
I really like epilogue and I don't think it undermines Batman Beyond's core concept. It's for the reason you said, the thematic conflict created by Terry being Bruce's son is what the episode is about, and grappling with the implications of this revelation on his free will and self concept are what makes it a good story for Terry. The truth is, Terry isn't Bruce- and making the mantle his own is very much his arc throughout the show.
batman beyond forshadows terry and matt being bruce's biological sons throughout the show
This has to be the best deep dive video essay of an animated show of all time
When I first saw that epilogue ep. way back I was so bummed out it was Dana & not Melanie. She was the better character, it’s Tim’s Catwoman who actually wanted out & a life
You mean "Terry's catwoman"?
@@Nelson_Win Autocorrect 😅
Bruce is also chained by the past. He has the same car model as the original series, same dress style, his mansion looks the same and even his computer. He knows how much he lost and the only way he lived with himself and seeing everything he loved crumble was by locking himself in what little he had left. Its only when he meets Terry that he starts moving forward once more. Being Batman saved Terry, but the first and most important person he made a difference for was Bruce.
Kudos for referencing my favourite sociological theorist to discuss one of the most interesting aspects of Batman's history.
That Joker flashback hit so hard man! Almost made me cry
The Amanda Waller flashback in the Batman Beyond episode of Justice League Unlimited is the greatest Batman story ever told. Fight me.
This was done so well. The sound track of the series was absolutely spot on, the parallels in the ways Terry and Bruce both stepped up to protect people, plus Terry's progression from being, as he basically called himself, a street punk, to protector. The way the past had left its mark, the old ones trying to tell Terry that what he was doing would be thankless because no one except them could know it was him and ran the high risk of getting him killed. Yet there again, there's Terry, like he had told Bruce, he wanted to prove he was a worth while person, and even though telling Bruce it was for himself, there had to be a part of him that also wanted Bruce's approval as well, after Terry lost his father, and blamed himself for his own father's death without even fully realizing what the real cause was.
I think something important you miss constantly with the whole Terry being Bruce's biological son that's said by Amanda (I think), is that it didn't matter. Terry meeting Bruce and becoming Batman had nothing to do with him being his biological son, it simply just happened. Though, maybe some convient writing also had something to do with that.
Rest In Peace Kevin Conroy. You will be forever missed!! 😢
Indeed!
A part of me is saddened that Bruce ends up so unhappy in Batman Beyond after everything that happened in TAS and JLA. However, the reasons for why he is where he is makes sense for his character (more so his TAS version for obvious reasons) and it's not like his current life is devoid of happiness. With so many franchise's keeping to the "This character is the same but older" approach to legacy characters, getting to see Bruce be allowed to age and have his character furthered is still so refreshing.
1:50 he didnt had them, but the sunglasses were needed there...