When it comes to Batman’s mythos in animation, it’s hard to deny how monumental “Batman Beyond” was. The series, which Paul Dini co-created alongside Bruce Timm and Alan Burnett, first debuted in 1999 and ran for three seasons. A sequel to “Batman: The Animated Series” and “The New Batman Adventures,” “Batman Beyond” took the character of Bruce Wayne in a radically different and nuanced direction. In the futuristic series, Bruce Wayne (voiced by Kevin Conroy) is far too old to be doing his Caped Crusader shenanigans.
Retired and detesting his old man shtick, the grizzled Wayne recruits the young but erratic Terry McGinnis to take on the role of Gotham’s Batman. Armed with a futuristic suit and the help of Wayne’s wisdom, McGinnis becomes a force to be reckoned with, cleaning up Neo-Gotham’s streets with precision. It’s a fascinating take on the Dark Knight’s legacy and one of the defining appearances Batman has had on the small screen.
Unfortunately, “Batman Beyond” was never able to make the jump onto the big screen. In his chat with Kevin Smith, Dini discussed that he and Alan Burnett were brought on board by Warner Bros. to pen a live-action adaptation. It was supposed to have been directed by Boaz Yakin, best known for spearheading the Denzel Washington-led sports drama “Remember the Titans.” And from what Dini had to say about the shelved picture, it would have been an authentic adaptation of the series. “There was a little bit of ‘The Dark Knight,’ there was a little bit of contemporary comics, and there was Terry McGinnis and the suit and everything,” he shared.
