Throughout the years, a lot of stars have portrayed the role of The Dark Knight, aka Batman, in multiple media franchises. However, we have only witnessed the character of Bruce Wayne as the Caped Crusader in live-action roles and not many other versions of Batman have made it to the big screen.
A lot of fans have demanded a different version of Batman to be adapted into a live-action over the years and the creator of Batman Beyond, Bruce Timm agrees with the idea.
Bruce Timm opens up about the hopes of a live-action version of Batman Beyond
Batman Beyond was considered one of the most popular animated series back in the day. The series revolves around the story of Terry McGinnis, a teenage boy who is being trained by Bruce Wayne aka Batman himself to become his successor and watch over Gotham City as The Caped Crusader has become too old.
Batman Beyond was first released in 1999 and quickly gained massive critical acclaim. Although the fans initially doubted if the story would be any good if the focus was shifted from Bruce Wayne to Terry McGinnis, they were proven wrong eventually.
The creator of the series, Bruce Timm once opened up in an interview with Syfy and talked about how Batman Beyond has the potential to be made into a good live-action project. He said,
“It’s obviously super gratifying that people are still such fans of that show, especially because it was almost 25 years ago now that we did that show. It’s crazy. We’re almost halfway to the future. We’re almost halfway to the time period it’s supposed to take place in. It’s super gratifying.
Could it work in live action? Sure. Of course, it could. I think it’s ready-made for it. I do think it would be a little on the higher end production-value-wise, because it would not be a cheap movie to make because it’s set in the future. But I there’s definitely some cinematic possibilities there, for sure.”
Bruce Timm also opened up about who he would like to play an older version of Batman in the live-action.
Bruce Timm picks Michael Keaton to portray the role of an older version of Batman
Michael Keaton is one of the most established stars of Hollywood and the American actor has portrayed the role of The Dark Knight in multiple movies. Most recently, he took up the mantle of Batman in The Flash movie, where he appeared as an older version of the character in an alternate timeline.
Although it was most likely a one-time thing, it still cannot hurt the actor to portray the role of an older version of Batman in a live-action that is based on the future, almost 15 years from the present. Bruce Timm also seems convinced with the idea of Keaton taking up the role of an old Batman if a live-action of Batman Beyond is made. He said,
“Honestly, I think the idea of Michael Keaton doing it is cool. Honestly, he looks a little too good. I know he’s probably in his mid 60s now, but he looks pretty damn good for being over 60. I like my old Bruce Wayne to be like really old. But, who knows? It could certainly still work. He looks like he could kick most guys’ as*es.”
Since the DCU is going through a reboot right now, it is highly unlikely that we will be seeing Terry McGinnis becoming a part of the DCU in the near future. However, Warner Bros Pictures can still decide to pursue the storyline in a separate feature as they did in Matt Reeves’ The Batman.
All seasons of Batman Beyond are currently streaming on HBO Max.
