One piece of Batman lore that fans will not let die is Batman Beyond, the ’90s animated series about a near-future version of Batman that represented the creative wave of imagining the approaching new Millennium. Fans have wanted to see the Batman Beyond property adapted into live-action ever since the series was airing on TV, and one fan has used the latest Batman movie footage available to create nice tribute to the Batman Beyond opening theme.
Videos by ComicBook.com
If you’re not familiar, Batman Beyond followed young high school kid Terry McGinnis, a sort of rebellious bad boy whose father is murdered, changing his life forever. When Terry becomes the target of a local “Jokers” gang, he’s chased onto the grounds of an old dilapidated mansion, and his saved by an old man with uncanny fight skills. That is how Terry meets the elderly Bruce Wayne, and learns his greatest secret: Bruce is the Batman. Seeking vengeance for his father, Terry has Bruce train him in the use of a hi-tech Batman suit, which he first uses to track down his father’s killer, and then to protect Gotham from a whole new lineup of bio and/or tech-enhanced rogues.
The only caveat of this particular fan video is that the Batman Beyond opening credits clearly depicted a futuristic world; since this video is built around Ben Affleck’s DC Films (Batman v Superman, Justice League, Suicide Squad) it can only depict a present-day setting. Attempts to throw in “hi-tech” moments like the Batwing or Bruce in front a display of computer monitors help sell the future aesthetic, but it’s not necessarily enough to get over the hump.
Nonetheless, the footage used to re-enforce the the heavy-handed biblical sin theme (“Greed,” “Apathy,” etc…) is pretty spot-on, and just hearing the audio track definitely makes us want a Batman Beyond to actually happen at some point in the future (see what we did there?).
Right now, fans are still just waiting to hear what’s going on with Affleck’s future (or not) in the Batman role, and that the exact plans are for director Matt Reeves’ The Batman movie. The latest word on the film is that it will go into production next year, but there’s still no information on who will star (Jake Gyllenhaal has been rumored), what the story will be, or if it will be connected to the DCEU.
Meanwhile, the Batman universe will continue to expand, as Hangover director Todd Philips’ Joker origin movie will soon head into production, as will Suicide Squad 2, which will continue the stories of Jared Leto’s Joker and Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn. Unfortunately, Joss Whedon’s Batgirl movie is dead until Warner Bros. can find a female director to replace him.
Justice League is now available on Home video and Digital HD. The DC Extended Universe continues with Aquaman on December 21, Shazam on April 5, 2019, Wonder Woman 2 on November 1, 2019, Cyborg in 2020, and Green Lantern Corps in 2020.
