Batman (Terry McGinnis)

Terry McGinnis

Batman (Terry McGinnis)
Publication information
Publisher DC Comics
First appearance Batman Beyond
"Rebirth, Part 1 (1999)"
First comic appearance Superman/Batman Annual #4 (June 2010)
Created by Bruce Timm
Paul Dini
(based on Batman by Bob Kane and Bill Finger)
Voiced by Will Friedle
In-story information
Alter ego Terrence "Terry" McGinnis
Team affiliations Justice League Unlimited
Batman Family
Partnerships Bruce Wayne
Notable aliases Batman II, The Tomorrow Knight, The second Dark Knight, The Dark Knight of Tomorrow, Batman Beyond
Abilities
  • Peak physical condition
  • Highly skilled martial artist and hand-to-hand combatant
  • Highly skilled detective
  • Utilizes high-tech suit, weapons and equipment

Batman (Terrence "Terry" McGinnis) is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini and first appeared in the pilot episode of the animated television series Batman Beyond (1999–2001), voiced by Will Friedle.

Terry McGinnis is the vigilante known as Batman in the future, having taken over the name after the aging Bruce Wayne went into retirement. In the DC animated universe continuity, he is also Wayne's biological son.

Publication history

McGinnis was created for the Batman Beyond animated television series, as a continuation of The New Batman Adventures, originally meant as a character for the DCAU. For a long time, he was not considered a character for the main DC Universe. Countdown introduced Earth-12, an alternate universe with its own version of Terry McGinnis and other Beyond-like characters. Batman #700 by Grant Morrison was the first comic to depict McGinnis as existing in the future of Batman and the characters of the mainstream comic book DCU, though his origin differs somewhat from Terry's, as does the timeline and the circumstance of his becoming Batman. In Batman # 700, Terry's mentor is not Bruce, but Damian Wayne, who had become the third Batman after Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson (in other words Terry would be the fourth Batman).

The 2010 story Superman/Batman Annual #4 returned to the DCAU Terry's story, as later did a 2011 Batman Beyond miniseries. From 2012, DC began publishing three Terry-related comic books: Batman Beyond and Justice League Beyond most prominently, though the character also appears in Superman Beyond. Terry officially entered mainstream DC continuity in the 2014 New 52 maxiseries, The New 52: Futures End.[1] It has since then produced two separate comic book series, the first in 2015 where Tim Drake has replaced Terry as Batman, and the second one in 2016 which is part of DC Rebirth where Terry has become Batman once again.

Fictional character biography

Terry was born in Gotham City to Warren and Mary McGinnis, a research scientist at Wayne-Powers and an astronomer at Astro-Tech respectively. By his own admission, he was once a "bad kid." As a former member of a street gang run by youthful racketeer Charlie "Big Time" Bigelow, Terry had his fair share of run-ins with the Gotham City Police at age fourteen while his parents were going through a divorce, even serving a three-month stint in juvenile hall (having been underage, he is spared Charlie's three-year sentence where Charlie was old enough to be tried as an adult).

A 16-year-old Terry McGinnis; from the animated series Batman Beyond.

Twenty years after Batman is last seen, Terry finds himself on the run from the Jokerz, another street gang, who have modeled themselves after the long-dead Gotham City legendary criminal, the Joker. Terry flees onto the grounds of Wayne Manor, where an aged Bruce Wayne comes to his defense. The strain of the fight places substantial stress on Bruce's weak heart, so Terry helps Bruce into the mansion and gets him his medication; Bruce proceeds to fall asleep afterward. Before leaving, Terry notices a bat stuck inside a grandfather clock. As he tries to free it, he stumbles upon the entrance to the Batcave and realizes that the elder man was the city's heroic Dark Knight. He is then forced to leave by an enraged Bruce.

Terry returns home to find his father murdered, ostensibly by Jokerz. He later discovers that Derek Powers (who has assumed leadership of a merged Wayne-Powers) ordered Warren's death after the latter discovered Powers' plan to mass-produce biological weapons. Powers' right-hand man Mr. Fixx leads a raid on the McGinnis home and shoots Warren McGinnis. (In the comic books, he orders one of his henchmen, who is a great grand-nephew of Joe Chill, to shoot Warren.)[2] Terry then seeks Bruce's assistance in bringing Powers down but cannot convince the old man to inflict swift justice. Bruce is still shaken from an ordeal 20 years earlier of having relied on a gun for self-defense as well as the events portrayed in Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker. Bruce suggests that Terry take the evidence against Powers to the current commissioner of police but, after a scuffle with Powers during which Derek is able to reclaim the evidence, Terry takes matters into his own hands and steals the latest incarnation of the Batsuit. Despite some initial mistrust, their similar backgrounds convince Bruce to aid Terry. Terry successfully derails Powers' plan, exposing Powers to his own hazardous chemicals in the process, resulting in his mutation into Blight.

Convinced that there is still a need for a Batman, Bruce hires Terry as his "personal assistant" and begins secretly training him for his new role as Gotham's Dark Knight. In addition, Bruce assists Terry in the field primarily by keeping in continual contact with him from the Batcave. Beyond the vigilante duties as Batman, Terry is also Bruce's chauffeur and provides assistance with Bruce's daily business and personal tasks at his home and office, which also allows him to bond with Bruce's dog Ace when he helps him care for the Great Dane. In time, the pair develops a bond of trust and respect, and confide in each other not only just their mutual missions, but also life issues as well, similar to a father and son. Bruce would even trust Terry over Barbara Gordon's words when the villain Spellbinder frames Terry for murder with another one of his illusions.

After Powers' criminal identity is revealed to the public and he finally brings retribution to his father's killer, Terry decides to continue his role as Batman to make up for his past sins, in the hope that it is his chance at redemption. Later in his career as Batman, he has a confrontation with an elderly Amanda Waller, who reveals that she engineered his origin to create a replacement Batman for Bruce Wayne. McGinnis learns that Wayne is his biological father; Waller used nanotechnology to ensure that Bruce Wayne's DNA overwrote the DNA in Warren McGinnis's reproductive cells. She had intended to take things one step forward and recreate the tragic circumstances that drove Bruce into becoming the Batman (by hiring The Phantasm to murder the young boy's parents in front of him), but her hired assassin refused at the last minute. In conclusion, Waller tells Terry that while he does not possess Bruce's level of deduction and analytical skills, he does possess the same heart.

Relationships

Bruce Wayne

Despite his role as the new Batman, Terry leads a very different, far less privileged life than Bruce. In addition to coping with his father's death, Terry struggles to keep his double life secret from his mother and younger brother. Because of his responsibilities as Batman and personal assistant to Bruce, he is not afforded the same licenses the Robins enjoyed and is expected to be on the call whenever he is needed. As a result, Terry is just barely successful at balancing out his dual life, on several occasions prompting both men to reconsider Terry's reliability. This is evidenced by him perpetually sleepy during the day, struggling to stay awake for school or to have time for his family and girlfriend.

Terry and Bruce develop an unspoken respect for each other, with Terry regarding Bruce as a surrogate father, not knowing his biological connection to Bruce at first. This is demonstrated in the episode "Sneak Peek" where Terry pays reporter Ian Peek a visit to plead on Bruce's behalf:

Terry: "I don't care what you do to me, but he doesn't deserve this. He's done too much for this city to wind up in the middle of a media circus."
Peek: "He means a lot to you, doesn't he?"
Terry: "Yes... he does."

Even though the stern attitude of Bruce with Terry is meant to ensure that he pushes Terry both emotionally and physically, and even though Bruce can at times be very emotionally distant to the young Batman, there have also been times he has shown genuine concern and love for Terry. In one instance he defended Terry to Commissioner Barbara Gordon when Shriek held Gotham hostage in exchange for Batman's life:

Bruce: "What are you saying Barbara? That I should just hand Terry over to Shriek?"
Barbara: "No, give him to me. I'll figure out something. I had some pretty good teachers, remember?"
Bruce: "I remember, but you work for a mayor who would sell out the kid at the drop of a hat."
Barbara: "Look, if you've got a better plan..."
Bruce: "All I know right now is this: That kid's done a lot for this city, it's time the city did something for him."

In turn, Bruce initially treats Terry the same way he treated Dick Grayson and Tim Drake. In time, Terry grows into the cowl, and Bruce grows to accept him as his heir to the Batman legacy, demonstrating a great deal of faith in him despite his criminal past; in the episode "Eyewitness," when Terry was framed by Spellbinder for murder, Bruce trusted Terry's claims of innocence even after Barbara Gordon told Bruce that she had seen Terry kill a man. Over time, the generally private Bruce Wayne even told Terry about some of his old enemies and adventures as Batman, such as his old relationship with Selina Kyle, Terry also doing his own independent research into individuals such as Talia al Ghul, although Bruce rarely discussed the Joker due to the intensely personal nature of his confrontations with the villain.

In the comic books, during the return of Hush, Bruce briefly appeared prepared to replace Terry with Bat-Wraith robots, but admits when Terry is injured in a confrontation with Hush that Terry is an excellent Batman, with Bruce's issues with his performance stemming simply from his own inability to move on from the role that he had long believed only he could handle.

The Justice League Unlimited episode "Epilogue" reveals that Terry is Bruce's biological son due to Amanda Waller's "Batman Beyond" project. The project caused Warren McGinnis to have his DNA re-written into an exact copy of Bruce's when he had what he thought was a flu shot; this would make Bruce the biological father of Terry and his younger brother Matt McGinnis, even though they were born to Warren and Mary McGinnis. When Terry was 8 years old, the same age Bruce lost his parents, Waller then hired assassin Andrea Beaumont, AKA: The Phantasm, Bruce Wayne's former fiancée, to kill Warren and Mary as they were coming out of a movie theater with their son, hoping to recreate the same psychological trauma that resulted in Bruce becoming Batman within Terry, but at the last minute Beaumont abandoned the job, believing it would go against everything Bruce stood for: this would eventually lead Waller to completely abort the project - however, Warren's death at the hands of a criminal ironically cemented Terry's destiny as the next Batman. This twist seems to be foreshadowed in a number of Batman Beyond episodes, as references to Bruce being a father figure are occasionally made, both by Terry and other characters, as well as the similarities the two men share. Both of Terry's parents are shown as having red hair in Batman Beyond, which is usually a recessive trait, which would make it extremely unusual for them to have biological sons with black hair. Additionally, at the end of the episode "The Call", Superman implied he knew of Terry's true lineage.

Family members

Terry values his mother, Mary McGinnis, and his younger brother, Matt, as the closest family he has left. At the time of his death, Warren McGinnis was divorced from his wife and their sons split between them: Terry with his father, Matt with his mother. After the divorce, Terry's relationship with his father is shown in the episode "Rebirth" to be strained. The last time they spoke Terry and his father have a heated argument, something Terry is never completely able to forgive himself for. After Warren's death, Terry moves back in with his mother and brother.

Even though there exists a spark of sibling rivalry and tough love between himself and Matt, Terry would be there to raise his brother's spirits when he was feeling down, notably in the episode "Revenant" when Matt reminisces about their father. Matt is also an obsessive Batman fan, which is ironic considering that he never realizes his brother and the hero he idolizes are one and the same, and oblivious of his biological relation to the original Dark Knight.

As far as Mary and Matt are concerned, Terry is simply employed by Bruce Wayne to run errands during the series, finding the idea of Terry being Batman to be absurd, ridiculing him when he once attempts to reveal his secret in the episode "Sneak Peek."

In the Justice League Unlimited episode "Epilogue", Terry tells Bruce Wayne that he never once doubted that Warren McGinnis loved him with all his heart, and would have taught Terry right from wrong if the young man had been willing to listen.

When the series was placed within the New 52 universe, in this new timeline, Matt McGinnis is aware of his brother's secret identity.[3]

Friends and colleagues

Max Gibson

Maxine "Max" Gibson, a classmate of Terry's and later one of his closest friends, is an African American girl with short dyed pink hair who attends Hamilton Hill High School with Terry. Her parents are separated, and she has one older sister who often works late hours. Max is exceptionally intelligent and talented with computer programming, even among her peers. It is revealed in the episode "Babel" that the Gibsons own a seal-pointed Siamese cat.

Max becomes curious about Batman after his "return" to Gotham City. Exceptionally skilled with computers and electronics, she creates a program that is designed to uncover Batman's secret identity to satisfy that curiosity. After unmasking Terry (following an incorrect assessment of him being a Jokerz hooligan), Max insists on being a part of his secret life and helps him with everything from computer hacking to coming up with excuses to give his girlfriend Dana. She even expressed a desire to want to be the next Batgirl at some point, but both Bruce and Terry refused to allow that possibility to become a real one.

Max's importance is similar to that of Barbara Gordon's in the comics, as the resident hacking genius. Terry and Max remain close, but their relationship is never shown to exceed the boundaries of friendship, which is in contrast to the relationship between Barbara and Bruce, who were briefly involved. Max is, essentially, Terry's version of Alfred Pennyworth; Terry even jokingly referred to her as such on one occasion.

The show has been revisited several times since its end, in Justice League Unlimited, Static Shock and in the movie Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, but Max has not been seen or mentioned in any of these. However, she has made an appearance in the fourth issue of the ongoing comic book series Batman Beyond and presently of the first issue of the current Batman Beyond series that was released as part of DC Rebirth,[4] which is part of a separate continuity that is part of the New 52 universe.

Notable episodes

In the episode "Hidden Agenda," Max reveals that she is writing a computer program to analyze all the data available on Batman and deduce his secret identity. She informs her friends Terry McGinnis and Dana Tan that she believes that Batman is a new person in the old suit, and is somehow connected to their school. This concerns Terry, who is in fact the new Batman.

When the school is vandalized by a gang of Jokerz, Max reconfigures her program to search for Jokerz instead. Unknown to her, the vandalism was targeted at her personally: the leader of the Jokerz, Terminal, is actually an honor student named Carter Wilson, and Max's standing is higher than his, outperforming him academically; at the current rate, she will be valedictorian instead of him.

Terry, as Batman, discovers that Max is a specific target and mistakenly believes that it is because of her computer program. He convinces her to stop running the program, but when Max goes to delete it, she learns that it has completed its analysis. Much to her surprise, Terry's name comes up on the list of potential Jokerz, and she becomes convinced that Terry is Terminal and sends him a message, threatening to expose his secret if he does not meet her. Further confusing the issue, Terry does not get the message until late, and Terminal (who was following her) shows up at the meeting place with his Jokerz. Terry arrives as Batman and rescues Max, revealing Terminal's true identity in the process.

Max later admits to Terry that she had thought he was one of the Jokerz, but has now figured out the truth. She goes to delete her program, but Terry advises her that it's already been wiped after Bruce hacked into the school's computer systems. Max then immediately proves herself an asset by providing an alibi for why Terry did not call Dana the previous night when he was saving Max. Max tells Terry that he cannot call her Robin; he instead jokingly calls her "Alfred." (Naturally she fails to understand the reference, given Alfred's lack of exposure in Batman's exploits to the public.)

In the episode "Hooked Up", Max attempts to join Terry on patrol as his partner, even though both he and Bruce do not approve. Trying to prove her worth to Terry, she becomes addicted to Spellbinder's illegal VR technology, but fights off its influence and knocks Spellbinder out before he can injure Terry. Although Terry remains unwilling to allow her to physically assist him, he accepts her as his partner after she helps him defeat Curaré and disarming Mutro Botha's nuclear weapon in the episode "Final Cut."

Terry initially hides Bruce's identity from Max, but Max already has enough information to deduce that Terry's employer is actually the original Batman. In "Where's Terry?", when Terry goes missing in Gotham's maze of subway tunnels, Bruce and Max look for him together and manage to come to an understanding regarding their respective importance to Terry, although Bruce steadfastly refuses to allow her to become involved in rescuing Terry.

Dana Tan

Terry flirted with several girls throughout the show, but his main love interest has always been Dana Tan, his long-time girlfriend. In the episode "Big Time," she recognizes Charlie "Big Time" Bigelow by sight, suggesting that Dana and Terry knew each other since their early teens, although in "Rebirth", Terry's mother notes that Dana, Terry's "friend", left him her number, suggesting that they became an item over the course of the series. Despite their commitment to each other, their relationship is strained as Terry struggles early on as Batman to balance his dual obligations. The two have been on the verge of breaking up several times, especially before Terry meets Melanie Walker, AKA Ten of the Royal Flush Gang, but despite being close to breaking up many times over, Dana somehow manages to forgive Terry for his absences, believing that Terry sees Bruce Wayne as a father-figure and doesn't want to fail him. The two are usually shown together many times through the series, including the motion-picture movie Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker.

However, as the Justice League Unlimited episode "Epilogue" reveals, Terry ultimately grows into full acceptance of his role as Batman, and somewhere along the line discloses his secret to Dana. Despite knowing his secret, Dana shows to have accepted his double life and is willing to be with him, even if her safety is threatened. She is also frustrated with the fact that they have been dating for years and have not married. Although it takes him some time to get over his fears for her safety in the event that his identity is ever compromised, the episode ends with Terry planning to propose to her.

Melanie Walker/Ten

In the midst of a spat with Dana, Terry meets Melanie Walker and the two become extremely attracted to one another instantly; however, Terry is crushed when he learns she too leads a double life: as Ten, the youngest member of the latest incarnation of the Royal Flush Gang. He discards a note Melanie had left him without reading it, choosing to be with Dana instead in his anger due to the betrayal, leaving Melanie apparently oblivious that her enemy and her lover are the same person.

Terry has additional encounters with Ten and the Royal Flush Gang; each time, he advises her to turn straight, showing that he still cares deeply about her. Their relationship is somewhat reminiscent of the one the original Batman had with Catwoman, and Bruce even notes it. Melanie is later shown to have gone straight and has abandoned the life of a criminal for a normal one.

In a comic book series based from the continuity of the animated series, Melanie is now enrolled in Terry and Dana's high school, continuing the love triangle between them.

Commissioner Barbara Gordon

Terry upholds tradition by forging an alliance with Gotham City's police commissioner, Barbara Gordon, formerly Batgirl/Oracle and the daughter of James Gordon. The alliance starts out on a sour note, as Barbara never fails to take Terry's juvenile record into account and believes he is too reckless for the role of Batman. The fact that Terry occasionally ruins police stakeout operations by intervening without fully assessing the situation sometimes worsens their relationship. In addition to this, Barbara, actually the last of the Bat-family to retire from vigilantism, revealed she and Bruce were romantically involved at one point, but his unwavering focus on his mission strained their relationship, thus having a new Batman appears to have opened up old wounds for her.

Barbara is reluctant to assist the new Batman and to have a teenager as Gotham's new protector. The direct-to-video movie Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker revealed that Barbara remains haunted by the torture that Tim Drake long ago suffered at the hands of the Joker. She advises Terry to give up being Batman, and once tries to arrest him after he is framed for murder by Spellbinder; however, when the truth comes out, Barbara rewards Terry with a civic service award as an apology. Barbara eventually relents, however, upon realizing that she could not deter him any more than she could have been deterred from being Batgirl.

Barbara eventually warms up to Terry, assisting him when Bruce is put out of action by a revived Joker. She states that she hopes Terry would avoid the lonely existence that Bruce leads. However, Barbara's attitude is different from Jim Gordon's, and she notes once that she is "not [her] father", never working as closely with Terry as her father did with Bruce (i.e. using a Bat-Signal, directly giving him leads, etc.).

Charlie Bigelow

Charlie "Big Time" Bigelow is a con artist who dragged Terry into a life of crime. In the episode "Big Time," Terry reveals his background with Charlie to Max, explaining that the same felony which landed him in juvie for three months had Charlie put away for three years. Guilt-ridden, Terry would e-mail Charlie periodically while he was in prison. When Charlie is finally released, Terry convinces Bruce to give him a job at Wayne-Powers. This turns out to be a ploy by Charlie to aid in a corporate espionage scheme, during which Charlie is exposed to an experimental growth compound and mutated into a monstrous, disproportionate creature.

Despite Terry's friendship with Bigelow and the regret that his time in jail did not reform him, subsequent events in the episode "Betrayal" make clear that Bigelow saw Terry merely as hired muscle. Terry finally lets go of his guilt toward Charlie and sees him for the monster he really is. Terry and Charlie's friendship is reminiscent of Bruce and Harvey Dent, two best friends who eventually become enemies, another similarity that Bruce notes.

With other superheroes

Terry grew up admiring other superheroes of his day, the Justice League Unlimited. Eventually, he is recruited by Superman to root out a traitor in the team, which turns out to be Superman himself, under the control of the extraterrestrial creature Starro. Though the rest of the team at first distrusts him due to his perceived inexperience, Terry gains their trust by saving their lives and freeing Superman from the alien's mind control. However, he says that he would prefer to be like his mentor and only partially serve on the Justice League.

When Static is sent 40 years into the future from the time of the Static Shock series, he is forced to work with Terry to rescue Static's future self from the KOBRA organization. While Terry doubts his abilities at first, he eventually develops respect for Static. Terry also sees the resemblance in both the teenage and adult version.

Terry seems to have rejoined, as later episodes of Justice League Unlimited show him as a regular member (and possibly leader). In the alternate timeline shown in the JLU episode "The Once and Future Thing, Part 2: Time Warped," Terry fights alongside Static (of that era) and Warhawk. He is killed in the episode, though his death is undone thanks to time travel.

Project Batman Beyond

In the Justice League Unlimited episode "Epilogue", which takes place 15 years after Batman Beyond, Terry discovers the shocking truth about his paternity. When Bruce requires tissue for the cloning of a kidney to transplant, Terry is checked for compatibility. To his surprise, his DNA is almost identical to Bruce's. After hesitating for a time, he runs a DNA test and finds out that Bruce is his biological father. Terry tracks down Amanda Waller, the only person in the world he believes can answer his questions. As he does so, he imagines scenarios where he leaves the people important to himself because he believes his life was a lie.

Terry vents some of his frustration about Bruce and his plans to Waller, only to be surprised when Waller reveals that it was not Bruce who was responsible for Terry's genetic makeup - it was her, without Bruce's consent or even knowledge.

Decades earlier, Waller was the government liaison to the Justice League and she slowly began to realize and believe that Batman was the most capable person in the League; despite not having any powers, his willpower, body strength, and acute intelligence made him the most balanced and reliable fighter in the entire League. Because of this, Waller slowly began to respect and trust Bruce Wayne. Unfortunately, Waller noticed something as the years went by: Batman was human. As such, he was getting older and more and more unable to handle the day-to-day intensities as a crimefighting superhero. She knew that one day Batman would have to retire, or there would be the chance that he'd be killed by one of his enemies eventually. Fearing that fact and believing the world always needed Batman, she decided to create a new one.

Waller, with old connections to Project Cadmus, gathered the technology necessary for her movement. She called this movement "Project Batman Beyond." Bruce Wayne's DNA was obtained from a mission where he got injured - a small blood sample on a piece of gauze left at the scene of the mission. Years later in New Gotham, she found a couple that was psychologically identical to Bruce's parents. Warren McGinnis was called in to get a routine flu shot that was actually a Project Cadmus nanotech solution that was used to reconstruct his reproductive material to match Bruce Wayne's. A short while later - approximately one year - Mary McGinnis gave birth to Terry, who was a combination of her and Bruce.

That was only the first part of Waller's plan. When Terry was eight years old, he and his parents went to a film—titled The Gray Ghost Strikes (The Gray Ghost was Bruce Wayne's hero as a child). While they were going home, they didn't notice someone following them. It was in fact an assassin - Andrea Beaumont, Bruce Wayne's former fiancée and the enigmatic Phantasm - hired by Waller to kill Terry's parents. Waller believed that the trauma of seeing his parents murdered in front of him would cause Terry to someday become Batman; however, a problem came up just as Beaumont was about to do the deed — she refused to murder Terry's parents, saying that even though "Batman was obsessive and would do anything to achieve his goals, he'd never resort to murder." Waller knew that Beaumont was right, and if she wanted to honor Batman and his legacy, she couldn't order the murder in cold blood of two innocent people. This led to the project's inevitable cancellation, resulting in Terry's brother being born later.

Nevertheless, nine years later, Terry's father was murdered and the young man encountered Bruce, sealing Terry's fate.

Waller's admission of guilt and affirmation of Terry's destiny allowed Terry to overcome his anger and bitterness. Terry then decided to propose to Dana.

According to episode co-writer Dwayne McDuffie, Bruce, as the world's greatest detective, becomes aware that Terry and Matt are his genetic offspring at some point after Terry assumes the role of Batman, and figures out the machinations of Waller and Project Cadmus; however, he never brings it up out of respect for Warren McGinnis, and because he wants Terry to be his own man.

This project was used in the Batman Beyond original comic book miniseries, with the Beyond version of Hush being a twisted clone of Dick Grayson created after the original was badly injured in a fight, Waller reasoning that a clone of Grayson would be easier to control than one of Bruce.

Powers, abilities, and equipment

In addition to the training he receives from Bruce, Terry appears at least to be an able street fighter. In the pilot episode "Rebirth", he is able to fend off a number of Jokerz without aid, and appears to be a member of his high school's wrestling team. As expected of Batman, he engages in regular, rigorous training to minimize his reliance on the Batsuit: under Bruce's tutelage, Terry has honed his body to at least Olympic levels.

Terry has engaged in combat outside of the Batsuit in various instances. His training has granted him exceptional reflexes, enabling him to evade gunfire and make impressive leaping attempts whether in or out of the Batsuit. In one instance, without the suit's aid, Terry survives a fall from several stories high by bouncing off a pillar that is about to crush him and lands on his feet. Terry even defeats his suit in single combat when it is controlled by the computerized consciousness of a deceased business mogul, armed only with the equipment in Bruce's vintage utility belt. Fifteen years after the last episode of Batman Beyond, as Terry reaches his thirties, he is able to get through Amanda Waller's security systems and overpower her guards without the aid of his suit, suggesting that his skills are rivaling his mentor's when he was in his prime.

In "Epilogue", Waller comments that Terry has inherited several of Bruce's qualities: he possesses a high intellect (though Waller notes that Bruce is still the brighter of the pair) and has grown into Bruce's physical stature and build, having been much leaner than Bruce was as Batman during the series. Terry tends to rely on Bruce for the intellectual details when in the field but he has received an amount of detective training from Bruce, allowing him to perform such feats as tracking down Shriek or determining a connection between Joker and Tim Drake when Bruce was incapacitated. Despite his detective training, Terry's ambition is to be a physician, and, under Bruce, he learns to create cures, remedies and antidotes. As a student, his main interests are in health or medical sciences and history; however, his job as Batman and less-than-stellar study habits have caused problems with his grades, as seen in "The Eggbaby" where he needed to get a good grade on a Family Studies practical assignment to pass the class.

As Batman, Terry emulates Bruce's deep, harsh tone. He does this of his own accord, to separate the entities of Terry and Batman (Terry can be heard using his "Batman voice" outside of the Batsuit in the episodes "Shriek" and "Future Shock"). Actor Will Friedle has stated that he believes Terry's "Batman voice" is not just to strike terror into the hearts of criminals, but also to conceal his adolescence.

Terry is also capable of using a rather convincing Brooklyn accent when undercover ("Shriek," "Ace in the Hole"). Terry is a skilled motorcyclist, seen hijacking a Jokerz motorcycle in "Rebirth" and using it throughout the series, and has also demonstrated considerable skill in handling a flight-capable Batmobile.

Terry's Batsuit

Terry's Batsuit.

The Batsuit worn by Terry is the last incarnation created by Bruce before his retirement. Though the technology in the suit is at least 20 years old, it is still considered cutting edge. In addition, after Terry becomes Batman, it is implied that the suit is updated numerous times, and after it is destroyed, he and Wayne are seen rebuilding and modifying it. The cowl in this suit covers the face completely, with the mouth being the only opening. Lenses in the eyes transmit visual data to the wearer, allow for various scanning abilities and allow Wayne to monitor Terry's activities from the Batcave, seeing and hearing what he sees and hears and advising him. The traditional cape has been eliminated in favour of retractable glider wings under the arms. Thrusters built into the boots allow flight in the absence of wind, although for prolonged long-range flight Terry typically relies on a flight-capable Batmobile. In case the suit is stolen, the circuitry in the suit can be paralyzed remotely from the Batcave.

This Batsuit conforms to the size and physique of its wearer, being able to fit both the physically imposing Bruce and the much slimmer Terry. The form-fitting material provides almost no reduction in flexibility, while muscular enhancement technology enhances the wearer's strength and also grants the wearer agility and endurance.

The material in the suit is resistant to massive concussive forces (in particular, it was able to take blows from Superman), fire, lasers, electric shocks, water pressure, wind force, bullets and even low levels of radiation. After an episode where Terry nearly drowns, a built-in rebreather is added to allow the user to remain underwater for long periods or breathe in other inhospitable areas.

The suit possesses a two-way audio-visual link with the Batcomputer, allowing Terry to keep in contact with Bruce for superior tactical planning. The same applies to the Batmobile, which will automatically fly to the user's location when summoned. Directional microphones in the fingertips allow the user to hear and record audio through walls or at a distance - this data can then be transferred to a separate microchip as evidence. The lenses in the cowl can scan a number of frequencies in the electromagnetic spectrum allowing night vision among other things. However, as the suit's visual capabilities are entirely electronic, the user is effectively rendered blind if they are disrupted.

The suit has several defensive capabilities. A device on the belt can electrically charge the suit to repel close attackers, added after Terry's encounters with the shapeshifting supervillain Inque; this same feature can be limited to just the hands, turning the defensive technology into an offensive one if need be. The suit (and the Batmobile) also possesses a cloaking device that can render Terry invisible to the naked eye - although it cannot, however, filter ultraviolet light. Pads on the feet can be magnetically charged, allowing the user to cling to metal surfaces even when upside-down.

The suit's offensive capabilities are also significant. It carries a large number of dispensable Batarangs which, when inactive, are compact enough to be invisible to the naked eye. These Batarangs come with a range of auxiliary functions, such as producing electric shocks or explosions. The Batarangs are usually thrown by hand, but can be fired from a wrist-mounted launcher (which also fires its own "Dark Knight Discuses" in the game). However, there is a limit to the amount of Batarangs the Batsuit can dispense; Batman has run out on at least one occasion. The utility belt is integrated into the suit and carries tracers, flash and smoke pellets, extinguisher capsules, flexicuffs and a detachable buzz saw on the buckle. Retractable claws on the fingers can be used to cut through objects and grip solid surfaces and the forearms are equipped with grappling hooks that can act as bolas.

Finally, the Batsuit possesses a number of other devices to aid in detective work. The right index finger possesses a retractable decoding device for electronic locks, the palms possess polygraph sensors, and the fingers can analyze most substances they are dipped into. Other, less-used devices, such as frequency scanners, also make appearances.

Prototype Batsuit

In the later comics, when Terry's suit was heavily damaged Bruce gave him a spare prototype Batsuit to join the Justice League on a mission. The most notable feature was a cape, and while the suit gave him identical physical abilities, its sensors and communication capabilities were less advanced.

Lord Batman's Synthetic Kryptonite Batsuit

Lord Batman Beyond.

While on a mission into the parallel universe where the Justice Lords reside, Terry found an alternate version of his Batsuit (hidden in the compartment where Bruce kept the prototype suit) built by Lord Batman before his death to counter Lord Superman's powers and abilities, the extra enhancements included force fields, holographic projections, and it featured synthetic kryptonite as a weapon. After defeating Lord Superman, he and Dick Grayson started upgrading his own suit with the enhancements. The upgrades include a new pair of wings on Terry's Batsuit to help him gain better capability in flight, but Bruce rejects the new wings.

The Bat Armor

Seen only twice in the series, the Bat Armor is donned by Bruce in an encounter with Inque, who had kidnapped Terry and was holding him hostage. It is a retractable powered exoskeleton composed of heavy plate armor that enhances the survivability of the wearer, boosting their physical strength and resilience to superhuman levels greater than that of the Batsuit. When retracted, Bruce was able to wear a trench coat over it and not look like he had any considerable increase in body mass, although activating the armor shredded the trench coat in the process.

Bruce created the Bat Armor years earlier in light of his increasing heart problems as a possible replacement for the Batsuit; however, during testing, using the armor nearly gave him a heart attack and he was forced to abandon that option. Understandably, Bruce only uses the Bat Armor in dire circumstances.

It is featured in the episode "Disappearing Inque."

In other media

Terry and Bizarro.

DCAU Tie-in comics

In addition to having his own ongoing comic book, the Tomorrow Knight made an appearance in Superman Adventures #64, chasing a futuristic version of Brainiac.

Television

DC Main Universe

The Batman Beyond concept became DC Comics canon in the pages of Superman/Batman issues 22 and 23, wherein Bizarro is transported to an alternate reality somewhere in Hypertime which resembled the Batman Beyond-era Gotham City, with Batman Beyond in action with the 1999 animated black-and-red costume and the 1992 Batplane from the original animated series. This version of the character is in radio contact with Bruce Wayne, but was referred to as "Tim". The Batman Beyond cameo was enough to garner a DC Direct action figure, the character's first in years, listed as "Tim Drake".

Also, in Countdown to Final Crisis, former Robin Jason Todd, former Wonder Girl Donna Troy, Green Lantern Kyle Rayner, and Bob the Monitor travel to "Earth-12," which resembles the DCAU's future. They witness from the rooftops someone in a Batman Beyond costume defeating members of the Jokerz gang (although they do not know who is under the mask of the future Batman), to which Jason Todd says: "Huh. The more things change, the more they stay the same." The group speculates that either Tim Drake or Dick Grayson is under the mask. However, The Monitor confirms it is indeed McGinnis.[5]

Dan DiDio announced in a July 2009 questions segment with Newsarama that Terry McGinnis would be appearing within DC Comics again in the future.[6]

The Batman Beyond miniseries began its run on 16 June 2010, set in 2039 Neo-Gotham, revolving around the assassination of anyone who had anything to do with Bruce Wayne's Batman, foe or friend. Dan DiDio stated that this "Terry McGinnis mini-series" is in response to the interest expressed by the "fans of the character."[7] It will be penned by Adam Beechen, a non-DCAU Batman television writer. According to Beechen, the comic book arc will open the door for the "legendary" DCAU to enter into the mainstream DC Universe (comics), tying into both continuities. The series will take place after McGinnis had defeated the reborn Joker and pick up where Bruce Timm initially left off, but years before he learns that Bruce Wayne is his biological father.[8][9][10]

In 2010, Terry appeared alongside Superman in the oversized issue Superman/Batman Annual 2010, where it picks up after their first meeting together taking place in the DCAU, and also jibing with the DCU.

Terry became officially part of the DCU canon in Superman/Batman Annual #4. In the "The New 52" reboot following the 2011 Flashpoint comic book crossover, Terry will make his debut in DC Comics' latest continuity in 2014.[11]

On October 6, 2010, it was announced at New York Comic-Con that Batman Beyond would start as an ongoing series in January 2011.[12] The series ended with only eight issues in August. However, a new series titled Batman Beyond Unlimited will serve as a return to the Beyond universe. The title will feature Superman Beyond, Justice League Beyond and Batman Beyond starring McGinnis.

Video games

See also

References

  1. ↑ Moore, Matt (December 11, 2013). "DC Readies Weekly Weekly Series, 'Futures End' for Spring". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 2014-04-07. Retrieved 2013-12-11.
  2. ↑ Batman Beyond Unlimited #5
  3. ↑ Batman Beyond (vol. 6) #1 (October 2016)
  4. ↑ Batman Beyond (vol. 6) #1 (October 2016)
  5. ↑ Countdown to Final Crisis #21
  6. ↑ "Video: 20 Questions With Dan DiDio, July 2009, Part 2". Newsarama. Retrieved 2010-12-30.
  7. ↑ "Newsarama by Vaneta Rogers: Monday, August 24, 2007". Newsarama.com. Retrieved 2010-12-30.
  8. ↑ Ackley Design (2010-03-17). "Batman Beyond Returns!". Big Shiny Robot. Retrieved 2010-12-30.
  9. ↑ "Beechen on "Batman Beyond"". Comic Book Resources. 2010-03-18. Retrieved 2010-12-30.
  10. ↑ "Adam Beechen on BATMAN BEYOND's Secret Story Arc Title". Newsarama.com. Retrieved 2010-12-30.
  11. ↑ "DC readies weekly series, 'Futures End' for spring". AP News. Archived from the original on 2014-04-07. Retrieved 2013-11-12.
  12. ↑ "DC Universe: The Source » Blog Archive » NYCC 2010: BATMAN BEYOND GOES FROM MINI TO ONGOING IN JANUARY". Dcu.blog.dccomics.com. 2010-10-06. Retrieved 2010-12-30.

External links

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