Review:
When I was a kid, the Muppet Babies came along. It was then, combined with Scrappy Doo, that my detest for young versions of classic characters was born. Paul Dini must have had a similar experience because what he’s done with Batman Beyond is much, much different.
It’s the future, and Batman (voiced, as always, by Kevin Conroy) is on the ropes. During a fight, chest pains cause him to pick up a gun and aim it at a hooligan to save someone. This, combined with the age-related problems that created the problem to begin with, cause Batman to retire to seclusion in Wayne Manor.
We skip even further into the future and find Gotham a much different place. Without Batman to keep criminals in line, the underworld has flourished. Bruce Wayne’s corporation has been merged with a Lex Luthor-ish Derek Powers’. In this world, teenager Terry McGinnis (voiced by Will Friedle), is a kid with a bad attitude. When he blows off his dad’s orders, encounters a gaggle of gang members dubbed the Jokerz, has a fateful meeting with a reclusive Bruce Wayne, and returns home to find his father murdered, it doesn’t take long for someone new to be in the Batman’s cowl. Throughout the season, Terry will encounter classic Batman villains such as Mr. Freeze and Bane and establish his own rogues gallery of the likes of Ink, Shriek, and Spellbinder.
The transition of Bruce Wayne to a mentor with someone else in the suit works wonderfully. Wayne always played the father figure for his Robins, and perfectly eases into that role for Terry. He treats Terry as an extension of his own legacy, which fits well with the character. This is how the Batman of the future really should be.
Dini definitely knew what he was doing by this point, as the series is uniformly excellent. Even throwaway episodes explode to life. The settings are more futuristic, but they don’t overwhelm the general noir feeling established in previous series. I also have to add that the opening still impresses nearly a decade after the series premiered.
In the end, I think everyone enjoyed Paul Dini and Bruce Timm’s Batman. Anyone sad with its ending got a huge present in the form of Batman Beyond. My only regret is that there are only three seasons. They are all available on DVD, so there is no reason not to enjoy them.