by With its cyberpunk setting putting Batman decades in the future, the animated series Batman Beyond has lapsed the years following the events of Batman: The Animated Series and The New Batman Adventures in favor of envisioning what power the concept behind Batman would retain once and when inevitably, Bruce Wayne had to give up the cape and cowl. Ever since, it has been a popular show, prompting some to even prefer it over its predecessors, but most fans simply favor the neo-Gothic Gotham City and the Bruce Wayne Batman over Terry McGinnis, a high school student whose name was certainly forgotten by many. For all its style, good ideas and more action-driven approach, Batman Beyond has never acquired the cult following of the Animated Series. But only to those that have missed its only feature-length film Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker.
Set in 2040, the film takes place in between episodes of the series, kicking in with an action sequence that sees Terry McGinnis as Batman fighting the Jokerz, a gang devoted to follow the Joker’s spirit and worship him like a God after his disappearance. Collateral damage inflicted upon the way is tremendous, and even though Neo Gotham City appears a lot more refined in the movie that in the series, it is still hardly anything more than a cardboard and tin foil backdrop that feels bereft of any human life or interaction. Contrary to other Batman-features, Gotham City isn’t indispensible, leaving more room for character development to take its place.
And what a development we see, for when the Jokerz return from their raid on a high tech facility, we see that the clown prince of crime has reemerged from his grave. Anyone who has watched the series will be shocked, since it is revealed in the episode Joyride that the Jokerz use the purported remains of the deceased Joker lying at the bottom of a shaft for initiating new gang members. But the Joker is alive, rejuvenated too, and has lost nothing of his violent edge when he kills a beefy goon out of his crew for disagreeing with him. The film was heavily criticized for depicting such violence to an underaged audience, resulting in a heavily-altered cut version relying on implications released first. While these depictions of violence throughout the film help characterize the Joker, editing them hardly did any damage to the film that was so splendidly penned by Paul Dini.
Dini’s contribution to the Batman-Universe is invaluable. When at the top of his game, which he is with regularity, his scripts are the foundation of some of the best works particularly beyond the comic books. Next to his animated scripts, Dini conceived the storylines for the highly-successful and critically acclaimed Arkham-videogames, that raised the bar for action games. By understanding characters and what questions they’re raising, Dini sheds light on conflicts remaining outspoken, and thus manages to tie some ends that were left loose in the Batman Beyond series. The Joker’s reappearance alienates Terry from Bruce, who thinks that his worst enemy is too big a challenge for the new Batman to handle. For the first time, we thoroughly understand Terry, who comes from a past of juvenile delinquency and losing his father, confiding in Bruce that being Batman provides him with the means of making good for his sins – and contributing to society. We understand the two have become two sides of the same coin, so to say, when Terry leaves and the Joker attacks a Bruce Wayne whose sole defense is Ace, the Bat Dog, the loyal watchdog. Wayne is nearly killed by Joker gas while Terry is attacked by the Jokerz at a night club. Obviously, they know his identity, and this provides a crucial moment for his characterization.
When Terry started out, he was an athletic kid playing a future variant of pelota, or Jai alai, that puts hovering players in a tank, but without the Bat-Suit, he was no match to a young Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson, or even the skills of Barbara Gordon as Batgirl. Later in the series, he honed his skills learning martial arts, but the question remained what Terry McGinnis was without the tech-armor that ostensibly did the majority of the job for him. As he successfully stands his ground against a bunch of Jokerz, it is clarified that Terry never leaned back and took the armor for granted but developed himself thoroughly. And even though he’d been rebuffed and disrespected by Wayne countless times, he comes to his rescue. While Dick Grayson, a.k.a. the first Robin and later Nightwing, is absent from this film, fans familiar with him and his estranged relationship to Bruce Wayne invariably draw comparison between him and Terry. Both are less strict than Bruce when it comes to abiding by rules, but integrity forces them to take the consequences instead of following their mentor’s guidelines. Terry proves that, while he’s not the most physically capable Batman, his integrity and character make him an ideal choice.
Hello, Gotham. Joker’s back in town!
The Joker
Wayne has to recuperate, so Terry turns to Barbara Gordon for advice and guidance, and to explain what really happened when the Joker disappears. The story she tells is one of mental terror, as the Joker and Harley Quinn abducted Tim Drake as Robin and through brainwashing and torture forced him to reveal all of Batman’s secrets. But this is not the worst, as Batman and Batgirl find the trio at the old Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane only to see that Tim had been transformed and disfigured to become a younger version of the Joker himself. During the fight that sees Batman mad with rage and fear, Batgirl takes on Harley Quinn, who disappears, while the Joker has the edge over a Batman who is close to a mental breakdown himself. It is Tim, reemerging from the Joker’s personality clogging his own, who laughs and cries at the same time and triumphs, if only temporarily, when he kills the Joker with his own gun instead of Batman. The Joker’s last words are an admission of failure: “That’s not funny.” Barbara Gordon explains they buried his remains deep underneath Arkham, and that her father Commissioner Gordon promised to cover up the events, and even that Tim Drake’s mental sanity could be restored and that he went on to become a communications specialist and have a family, but it becomes apparent that the Joker succeeded in breaking the Bat-family apart.
It is unimaginable what terror not only Tim but also Barbara and Bruce had to endure, particularly if one imagines that a similar burden had been placed on Tim before. After all, Robin is nothing else than an extension of the Batman, drawing comparison between Batman and the joker, good and evil, revealing the Joker’s intention to drive Batman insane by proving that he’s the reason for all of Gotham’s rogues to run rampage. The Joker’s plan to blackmail the entire world by threatening them with extinction through military satellites shooting lasers is therefore negligible, also the fact that several candidates for being the new Joker, including Tim Drake at first, are presented. After learning about the original Batman’s showdown with the Joker, we want to see how the new one, often referred to as a fake, will do.
Batman traces the Joker to his hideout, the old Jolly Jack Candy Factory, in fact a very typical home to the Joker and an interesting location remaining as evidence of the old Gotham City in a place where it seems that not even landmarks like Wayne Tower survived. Terry sees that Tim Drake didn’t work for the Joker but proves to be him. By transplanting a cutting-edge technology chip into him, the Joker infiltrated Drake’s mind over decades and is now capable of transforming the former Robin into himself and taking over his body. Having learned everything there is to know about the original Batman, it seems the Joker has the advantage, but then he fails to understand that Batman is bigger than a concept, bigger than an idea. Batman is still the man behind the cowl. Terry proves his character by knowing his opponent well even without having to virtually penetrate his mind. Defense tactics fighting in the streets and proving that he never denied his past help, but by taunting and playing with the Joker’s mind and status, Terry achieves to drive him insane – just like the Joker drove the original Batman insane, if without having to torture a kid. Using the Joker’s toy buzzer, Batman explodes the chip inside of Tim, killing the Joker once and for all and they escape the factory before it is destroyed by the laser beam coming from the military satellite. Honoring his exploit, Bruce finally hands the Bat-Suit over to Terry. The stubborn old man learned a lot through Terry it seems, for he reaches out to Tim Drake and together with Barbara, the Bat-family finds itself reunited and peaceful again. It is now Terry’s responsibility to fight crime in a world that by no means resembles that the former three pledged to protect in the past.
Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker marks the pinnacle of what the entire premise of Batman Beyond offered, using its full potential to create the strongest animated Batman film yet made. All the psychological violence and the character’s conflicts in particular may prove to be a bit much for kids, and this is the only weakness one could attest this masterpiece: that it doesn’t manage to find balance between a kid’s cartoon and a serious Batman-story in the uncut version. Whether or not kids aged twelve or less should be exposed to this is debatable, not the film’s quality. After all, it featured one of the meanest and extreme Jokers ever showed on screen.
