My Idea for a Batman Beyond Reboot
Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2024 6:46 am
Batman Beyond is a great show, Terry is great, Bruce is great, Max is great, Ace is great, the action is great, the overall episodes are great and the finale (Return of the Joker NOT the actual end of the show and sure as hell not Epilogue from Justice League) is great. It was a show made as a result of Executive Producers wanting a Batman in high-school show which the writers took and made into a classic.
But I do feel that the show has a few flaws which, IMO, keep it from reaching the same heights as the original Batman those flaws being the supporting Cast and the Rogues Gallery. I LOVE Terry and think he's one of the best legacy characters in Superhero history and I like that he STARTED as Batman instead starting as Robin but his adversaries don't reach the same heights as Bruce's.
Think about some of Batman's great enemies, Joker, Two-Face, Penguin, Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy, Scarface, Harley Quinn, Killer Croc, Baby doll, Scarecrow, Red Hood, Clayface, The Riddler, Catwoman and Ra's al Ghul. Most of you likely know these characters backstories, motivations and overall design. But how many of you know Willie Watt, Shriek, Spellbinder, Curaré, Big Time and Payback?
Some of you may know some of these characters but but they're not really on anyone's top lists of favorite villains. Even some of the series' best villains like Blight and Inque don't really have much of a following outside of Batman Beyond's fanbase and even then most would agree that their not as good as Batman's villains.
While I like Melanie I also find her to similar to Selina to really get invested in her (and the fact that Terry cheated on Dana with Melanie in one episode just really killed the ship for me) and the rest of the Royal Flush Gang is so boring.
The other major problem as I said is the supporting cast.
Bruce has Alfred, Jim Gordon, Dick, Jason, Tim, Damian, Stephanie, Cassandra, Barbara, Duke and Lucius Fox. There are a ton of great Batman supporting characters, that's just some of them.
But Terry, he has Bruce, Max, Barbara and Ace all of whom are good if not great but really think of the rest of his support cast. Dana often seen as a flat and boring character, Terry's mom and brother are no better, Chelsea is fun but doesn't get nearly enough screen time, Nelson, Bobbi and Sam are both so boring I keep forgetting they even exist and the less said about Howard the better.
So, if I was somehow given the chance to write up a reboot to this series I would keep Terry mostly unchanged (the only changes I would make is to give his red hair and make it clear that NO he is NOT Bruce's son (I HATE that plot point)) and the same goes from Bruce outside of him still mostly being on good terms with his family (and NOT ever ONCE being in a romantic relationship with Barbara who in this continuity is living with her husband (Dick Grayson) and wife (Kori) in Bludhaven). He's estrange from them but still mostly on good terms. Ace is still here and still the best Batdog ever.
First up let me go over the supporting cast, as many of you can guess based on my last few posts in relation to Beyond two changes I would make is Terry's younger sibling and his romantic interest. As mentioned before I would bring in Ellen Yin who is the detective investigating the murder of Terry's father. She starts out as a cop who is anti-Batman but comes to see the value of the new Dark Knight and starts working with him and as the series progresses she grows closer to Terry, starts a relationship with him around the second or third season and learns that he's Batman.
Next up is Terry's younger sibling who instead of being generic annoying sibling is now replaced with Carrie Kelly McGinnis. Just like in Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns series Carrie is a huge Batman fan who eventually becomes the new Robin. The big difference from this Carrie and the original Carrie is this Carrie will have more of a personality and character arc. Yeah Carrie didn't have much character in TDKR she was really just there who helped out Batman and gave him someone else to talk to besides Alfred and Gordon who he wasn't being actively hostel towards.
Here Carrie is a a bit of a geek, who is a massive Batman fan who is suffering as much from the death of her father as Terry is but unlike her brother Carrie masks her grief by putting on a smile. She's easy enough to get along with even and loves to annoy her brother any chance she gets. She's also very clever which would be shown in a few episodes when she manages to outsmart a few bullies into getting themselves into trouble via telling them where she lives but turns out it's the Principle's house. And shes willing to standup for those being pushed around like when some guy is harassing her friend, Chelsea in this continuity, or when a teacher was using her authority to make her students miserable.
Eventually she starts dressing up as Robin and Terry finds out and while he wants her to stop Bruce is impressed by her and convinces Terry to let her work with him as his sidekick, much to Terry's annoyance and concern. Sure enough she proves to be quite helpful and someone Terry can count on in a fight alongside Yin.
Mary also would get more of a chance to shine as she does eventually find out that her kids are the new defenders of Gotham and while she is shocked and horrified she does eventually except this and is even proud of them.
Max is more or less the same and works as the new Fox with Bruce even giving her a job at Wayne Enterprises in tech.
Chelsea is given a bit more time to shine and her dysfunctional relationship with her father is given more focus. She's still the party girl and flirter she was originally but we get to see more of her being a loyal friend to Carrie. Even debating making HER Ten by combining her and Melanie which would help to test the friendship between her and Carrie but still debating about that right now.
Sam Young is still in this series as a District attorney and is a friend/mentor to Yin. He's the one who recognized her potential and got her a job as a detective seeing that she could help turn the GCPD into something better. He's basically Harvey Dent if he didn't go insane and as such is an invaluable ally to the Batfamily.
Howard is NOT in this series, he's terrible character with no redeeming elements and should be forgotten in the waste bin of history.
Nelson is also in this series but gets more of a chance to develop as a character. He's more of a frenemy to Terry with the two starting out as rivals but over the series he shows that he is more then a generic bully and does have a soft spot. He's not a Batman fan but he DOES bring up a good point as to why Batman is needed showing layers to his character.
As for the villains one thing I would change is Derek Powers aka Blight. Not his personality or role as the man who killed Terry's father or Terry's arch nemesis but rather in how much he is involved. Powers starts in the background at first, we wouldn't directly meet him until season 2 and he wouldn't become Blight until the end of that season. We see him in the first season but only once and only on an advertisement screen. Something like this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lFHFVc4Ye0
But aside from that he's never seen in the series as a whole. We hear him talk to other over the phone or hear longs he gives that Terry finds but that's it and those are few ad far between. He's more talked about then he is seen in the first season.
Instead in the first season his number 1 Henchman Mr. Fixx is the main antagonist who oversees many of Powers' more illegal operations and is still the man who murdered Terry's father. Fixx gets several chances to shine as a villain with him actually outsmarting and outfighting Terry in a few episodes. He even sets up a trap against both Terry and Yin because both have been causing him problems and it works as he uses an EMP to weaken the Batsuit (Bruce had the foresight to protect the suit from such an attack but it still does a number of it).
In the end Mr. Fixx is defeated in the finale of the first season where he also dies and after that Powers starts to take a more active role in the series.
To start with Powers puts out a bounty on Batman's head in the next season which leads to Terry going up against Inque, Shriek, The Repeller, the April Moon Gang, the Royal Flush Gang, Lula and The Jokerz even try to get in on it. As said before Powers gets turned into Blight at the end of the season and just like the original series he's overall goal is to reverse this and keep control of Wayne-Powers.
Of course Powers isn't the only threat in the series. Kobra actually a major antagonists in the second Season, Mad Stan is his usual "Blow it all up" kinda guy, Curaré's story is mostly the same as it was in the original, Ian Peek is the same as the original series (Nightmare Fuel death included) just with a slightly more important role. Edgar Mandragora is a reoccurring antagonist and Bennie is here just because I find him hilariously pathetic.
The final season is where Terry finally gets justice for his father's murder and where Blight is finally defeated. Unlike the original series though Blight actually scores some victories against the Batfamily even killing one of their allies (not sure who yet). But in the end he's defeated and Terry decides to stay on as Batman because he's more then earned it with Carrie staying on as Robin and Yin as their friend on the force. Bruce returns as the head of Wayne Enterprise and still plans on working as Terry's and Carrie's mentor/father figure Gotham is still corrupt and he still plans to fight that corruption anyway he can.
And that's more or less my overall idea. What do guys think, is this a reboot you'd like to see is there anything here you really liked or even disliked, let me know.
But I do feel that the show has a few flaws which, IMO, keep it from reaching the same heights as the original Batman those flaws being the supporting Cast and the Rogues Gallery. I LOVE Terry and think he's one of the best legacy characters in Superhero history and I like that he STARTED as Batman instead starting as Robin but his adversaries don't reach the same heights as Bruce's.
Think about some of Batman's great enemies, Joker, Two-Face, Penguin, Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy, Scarface, Harley Quinn, Killer Croc, Baby doll, Scarecrow, Red Hood, Clayface, The Riddler, Catwoman and Ra's al Ghul. Most of you likely know these characters backstories, motivations and overall design. But how many of you know Willie Watt, Shriek, Spellbinder, Curaré, Big Time and Payback?
Some of you may know some of these characters but but they're not really on anyone's top lists of favorite villains. Even some of the series' best villains like Blight and Inque don't really have much of a following outside of Batman Beyond's fanbase and even then most would agree that their not as good as Batman's villains.
While I like Melanie I also find her to similar to Selina to really get invested in her (and the fact that Terry cheated on Dana with Melanie in one episode just really killed the ship for me) and the rest of the Royal Flush Gang is so boring.
The other major problem as I said is the supporting cast.
Bruce has Alfred, Jim Gordon, Dick, Jason, Tim, Damian, Stephanie, Cassandra, Barbara, Duke and Lucius Fox. There are a ton of great Batman supporting characters, that's just some of them.
But Terry, he has Bruce, Max, Barbara and Ace all of whom are good if not great but really think of the rest of his support cast. Dana often seen as a flat and boring character, Terry's mom and brother are no better, Chelsea is fun but doesn't get nearly enough screen time, Nelson, Bobbi and Sam are both so boring I keep forgetting they even exist and the less said about Howard the better.
So, if I was somehow given the chance to write up a reboot to this series I would keep Terry mostly unchanged (the only changes I would make is to give his red hair and make it clear that NO he is NOT Bruce's son (I HATE that plot point)) and the same goes from Bruce outside of him still mostly being on good terms with his family (and NOT ever ONCE being in a romantic relationship with Barbara who in this continuity is living with her husband (Dick Grayson) and wife (Kori) in Bludhaven). He's estrange from them but still mostly on good terms. Ace is still here and still the best Batdog ever.
First up let me go over the supporting cast, as many of you can guess based on my last few posts in relation to Beyond two changes I would make is Terry's younger sibling and his romantic interest. As mentioned before I would bring in Ellen Yin who is the detective investigating the murder of Terry's father. She starts out as a cop who is anti-Batman but comes to see the value of the new Dark Knight and starts working with him and as the series progresses she grows closer to Terry, starts a relationship with him around the second or third season and learns that he's Batman.
Next up is Terry's younger sibling who instead of being generic annoying sibling is now replaced with Carrie Kelly McGinnis. Just like in Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns series Carrie is a huge Batman fan who eventually becomes the new Robin. The big difference from this Carrie and the original Carrie is this Carrie will have more of a personality and character arc. Yeah Carrie didn't have much character in TDKR she was really just there who helped out Batman and gave him someone else to talk to besides Alfred and Gordon who he wasn't being actively hostel towards.
Here Carrie is a a bit of a geek, who is a massive Batman fan who is suffering as much from the death of her father as Terry is but unlike her brother Carrie masks her grief by putting on a smile. She's easy enough to get along with even and loves to annoy her brother any chance she gets. She's also very clever which would be shown in a few episodes when she manages to outsmart a few bullies into getting themselves into trouble via telling them where she lives but turns out it's the Principle's house. And shes willing to standup for those being pushed around like when some guy is harassing her friend, Chelsea in this continuity, or when a teacher was using her authority to make her students miserable.
Eventually she starts dressing up as Robin and Terry finds out and while he wants her to stop Bruce is impressed by her and convinces Terry to let her work with him as his sidekick, much to Terry's annoyance and concern. Sure enough she proves to be quite helpful and someone Terry can count on in a fight alongside Yin.
Mary also would get more of a chance to shine as she does eventually find out that her kids are the new defenders of Gotham and while she is shocked and horrified she does eventually except this and is even proud of them.
Max is more or less the same and works as the new Fox with Bruce even giving her a job at Wayne Enterprises in tech.
Chelsea is given a bit more time to shine and her dysfunctional relationship with her father is given more focus. She's still the party girl and flirter she was originally but we get to see more of her being a loyal friend to Carrie. Even debating making HER Ten by combining her and Melanie which would help to test the friendship between her and Carrie but still debating about that right now.
Sam Young is still in this series as a District attorney and is a friend/mentor to Yin. He's the one who recognized her potential and got her a job as a detective seeing that she could help turn the GCPD into something better. He's basically Harvey Dent if he didn't go insane and as such is an invaluable ally to the Batfamily.
Howard is NOT in this series, he's terrible character with no redeeming elements and should be forgotten in the waste bin of history.
Nelson is also in this series but gets more of a chance to develop as a character. He's more of a frenemy to Terry with the two starting out as rivals but over the series he shows that he is more then a generic bully and does have a soft spot. He's not a Batman fan but he DOES bring up a good point as to why Batman is needed showing layers to his character.
As for the villains one thing I would change is Derek Powers aka Blight. Not his personality or role as the man who killed Terry's father or Terry's arch nemesis but rather in how much he is involved. Powers starts in the background at first, we wouldn't directly meet him until season 2 and he wouldn't become Blight until the end of that season. We see him in the first season but only once and only on an advertisement screen. Something like this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lFHFVc4Ye0
But aside from that he's never seen in the series as a whole. We hear him talk to other over the phone or hear longs he gives that Terry finds but that's it and those are few ad far between. He's more talked about then he is seen in the first season.
Instead in the first season his number 1 Henchman Mr. Fixx is the main antagonist who oversees many of Powers' more illegal operations and is still the man who murdered Terry's father. Fixx gets several chances to shine as a villain with him actually outsmarting and outfighting Terry in a few episodes. He even sets up a trap against both Terry and Yin because both have been causing him problems and it works as he uses an EMP to weaken the Batsuit (Bruce had the foresight to protect the suit from such an attack but it still does a number of it).
In the end Mr. Fixx is defeated in the finale of the first season where he also dies and after that Powers starts to take a more active role in the series.
To start with Powers puts out a bounty on Batman's head in the next season which leads to Terry going up against Inque, Shriek, The Repeller, the April Moon Gang, the Royal Flush Gang, Lula and The Jokerz even try to get in on it. As said before Powers gets turned into Blight at the end of the season and just like the original series he's overall goal is to reverse this and keep control of Wayne-Powers.
Of course Powers isn't the only threat in the series. Kobra actually a major antagonists in the second Season, Mad Stan is his usual "Blow it all up" kinda guy, Curaré's story is mostly the same as it was in the original, Ian Peek is the same as the original series (Nightmare Fuel death included) just with a slightly more important role. Edgar Mandragora is a reoccurring antagonist and Bennie is here just because I find him hilariously pathetic.
The final season is where Terry finally gets justice for his father's murder and where Blight is finally defeated. Unlike the original series though Blight actually scores some victories against the Batfamily even killing one of their allies (not sure who yet). But in the end he's defeated and Terry decides to stay on as Batman because he's more then earned it with Carrie staying on as Robin and Yin as their friend on the force. Bruce returns as the head of Wayne Enterprise and still plans on working as Terry's and Carrie's mentor/father figure Gotham is still corrupt and he still plans to fight that corruption anyway he can.
And that's more or less my overall idea. What do guys think, is this a reboot you'd like to see is there anything here you really liked or even disliked, let me know.