Batman Beyond Resolves the Most Serious Issue With DC’s Legacy Heroes

Batman Beyond commits to its premise:

While the DC Universe is continually challenging the current quo, Batman Beyond sticks to its guns. Terry McGinnis is one of the rare second-generation superheroes who has genuinely made the role their own. As DC Comics prepares to introduce a new generation of superheroes, fans can’t help but compare them to their predecessors. Although some readers may immediately acclimatize to Jon Kent’s Superman or Wally West’s Flash, it might take time for them to feel like they have earned their titles. In Battle for the Cowl, Dick Grayson AKA Nightwing took up the mantle of Batman for a season, although it didn’t stay as long as DC had implied. Tim Fox, the current Batman, might be similar. Comics are notorious for challenging the existing quo, only to conform to what readers expect. Jon Kent and Damian Wayne may be older today, but it may only be a matter of time until they return to their youth. One series, on the other hand, has shaken up canon to establish an alternative DC Universe that it wholeheartedly accepts.

Batman Beyond imagines a future Gotham City where Terry McGinnis is the new Dark Knight:

The comics’ Batman Beyond imagines a future Gotham City in which a teenaged Terry McGinnis is the new Dark Knight, expanding on the idea of the animated series. As the comics continued for more than a decade, only additional modifications to the DC Universe were introduced, yet none of them felt cheap or inauthentic in comparison to what had come before. As readers were accustomed to the concept of Terry’s Batman, his portrayal was as familiar as the earlier version of Bruce Wayne. Terry’s younger brother Matt eventually went into the Batcave, took the Robin outfit, and saw ancient videos of Bruce training Damian. His emergence as the new Boy Wonder worked similarly and didn’t feel like a jarring turn of event.

The Mainstream DC Universe Reimagines Canon’s Future:

The mainstream DC Universe can rethink Canon’s future from time to time with events like Future State, but Batman Beyond is an example of how it can be done properly. Instead of playing with the same toys and slapping on a fresh coat of paint, the Beyond world proposes a completely different take on Gotham City. Stories may have the occasional adversary from the past, but Terry occasionally introduces new enemies such as Inque and Blight. When second-generation heroes only fight adversaries that their predecessors battled, it’s easy to compare them and feel like something is lacking. Terry McGinnis continued to mature as he joined his own Justice League with a fresh team of heroes. The animated Batman Beyond focused on Terry’s journey, recognizing that the transition would be difficult for viewers to embrace. Terry McGinnis is now as much of a Batman as Bruce Wayne.

Source: ScreenRant