Honestly, Terry's story as Batman still feels like there is so much potential wasn't explored.

The best part of Batman Beyond is that Terry wasn't a Bruce Batman clone, he was his own brand of Batman.

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

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

“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

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.

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.

So many alarming concepts come up in this series, it's like a song with a cheerful tune and nightmare lyrics. I love it.

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

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.

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.

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.

I love how old Waller is resentful of her past and she slowly starts becoming a better person throughout her late life

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!!

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.

I remember watching episodes on the TV and it terrifying my folks. Meanwhile I was just sitting there completely awestruck by the experience.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

Bro hasn't missed with these classic DC cartoon analyses. Keep up the good work

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!

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 villains get it way worse than the old rogues. Remember that assassin lady that failed and ended up hunted by her own people?

I hold onto the hope that Rocksteady makes a Batman Beyond game at some point

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

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.....

Returning to this cartoon showed me many lessons that my younger self overlooked. I appreciate each and every one of them now.

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

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.

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.

Did dude just say “Bruce dismisses him like an asian parent” 🤣😭

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.

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.

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.

Paul Dini is completely responsible for the incredible success of Batman Beyond.

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 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.

I’ve always felt good Batman stories should have an element of scariness in them.

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. 💛

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.

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

This show deserves a ending, it was so different and yet so cool

Not gonna lie, the moment you said nano machines, the entire senator armstrong scene played in my mind…

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

Very well written always nice to hear about my nostalgia pieces. Nice video!

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

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.

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

Rest In Peace Kevin Conroy. You will be forever missed!! 😢

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

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.

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

As soon as you mentioned "finding bane" I knew exactly where you were going with this.

This has to be the best deep dive video essay of an animated show of all time

Watching this literally 15 minutes after hearing about Kevin Conroy. RIP to him.

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 Joker flashback hit so hard man! Almost made me cry

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

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.

Terry basically beats Joker by insulting him

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.

I just remembered this episode. The one where bane was well. It did hit so much different it impacted so much heavier.

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

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.

@ 2:45 My man really spit in his mouth while he had him in a hold. That's just diabolical...

Thanks for this! Makes me remember all the things I love about this show

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.

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

Fire. That hit hard. Batman Beyond in my opinion is the best of the Batman Animated series.

batman beyond was beautiful, when kids shows actually had plot and a team that loved what they did

Rip Kevin Conroy

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.

Nice track for the end credits, man. And yeah, the Batman Animated Series touches topics that you need to rewatch as an adult to make sense of.

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 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.

Great video. I gotta re-watch this series. Missed a lot of episodes.

Amanda Waller really said "nanomachines, Bruce's son!"

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.

The Amanda Waller flashback in the Batman Beyond episode of Justice League Unlimited is the greatest Batman story ever told. Fight me.

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.

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

Kudos for referencing my favourite sociological theorist to discuss one of the most interesting aspects of Batman's history.

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

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

1:50 he didnt had them, but the sunglasses were needed there...

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.

two more hours till the new years and I'm here watch this

Amanda Waller was at her most likeable in one episode. I like to think something changed after all those years in doing black ops for the US. Ahh the story i'll never know.

When Bruce says to Terry "Welcome to my world". , one could feel the sound of dark gothic chants and church music ringing loudly into the night.

Dawg Batman beyond is like a kiss from the gods!!! Can’t believe it even came out at the time tht it did