Batman Beyond remains one of the greatest versions of the Dark Knight, following Terry McGinnis in the city of Neo Gotham, as he is mentored by Bruce Wayne in a cyberpunk setting. The show was unceremoniously canceled, despite its great premise and ratings, in favor of Justice League Unlimited, which also ended the show officially in its episode Epilogue.
Bruce Timm, in conversation with Think McFly Think, revealed the original ending that the show was supposed to have, which has a rather Star Wars quality to it. The original ending would also have been a direct-to-video film, much like The Return of the Joker.
The original ending of Batman Beyond was to reveal Bruce Wayne as Terry McGinnis’ biological father
Bruce Timm had a lot to say about Batman Beyond, especially when it came to the ideas about the ending of the show. Despite getting a film like The Return of the Joker and an episode in Justice League Unlimited, there were original ideas for an ending, one which Bruce Timm was happy to discuss with Think Mcfly Think ;
“We did the return of the joker, and that at one point was almost how we were ending it. Then we did epilogue with Justice League and that worked. What we had originally planned on doing was another direct to video movie just for Batman Beyond, where Terry finds out that Bruce is actually his biological father. That’s something we were really looking forward to, but it didn’t work out at that point in time.”
Justice League Unlimited revealed the fact that Bruce Wayne is Terry’s genetic father anyway, but the original ending in a film would have allowed the plot to be unraveled more gradually. This would have made quite a splash with the community, had it been given a chance to see the light of day, given how much audiences enjoy being in the world of Batman Beyond.
Currently, there are no plans to return to the universe of Batman Beyond
Despite the popularity of the character, Batman Beyond has been shut down repeatedly from coming back. Recently, there were rumors of a Batman Beyond movie with Michael Keaton, but that never saw the light of day. Even more recently, a Batman Beyond film in the style of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, was pitched to execs at WB, but was also shut down for unknown reasons.
Currently, Terry McGinnis makes cameos in the three-part finale of the Tomorrow-verse, Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths. Batman Beyond is an amazing concept that is in dire need of more screen time. James Gunn has a very good opportunity when it comes to revamping the animated series or working it in as an Elseworld, as the show would be something fans would be thrilled to see be a part of the DCU.
