a5c7b9f00b At least 40 years after the "current" adventures of Batman and 20 years after Bruce Wayne retired from the role, his secret is discovered by troubled teen Terry McGinnis. After McGinnis' father is murdered by the man who took over Bruce Wayne's company, McGinnis dons a high-tech Bat suit that Wayne last used, creating a new hero for a future Gotham. Fueled by remorse and vengeance, a high schooler named Terry McGinnis revives the role of Batman. Under supervision of an elderly Bruce Wayne, he fights crime in a harsh futuristic Gotham. I know many a hard core fan that resent this series based simply on the fact that Bruce Wayne is not Batman. Get over it. I find this to be a very well written, interesting show. The show is great looking, improving upon the stlyized animation of its predecessor. The only real flaws are the lack of memorable villains and the silly looking new batsuit. The show is still young, though and if given the chance to blossom further this could be a fantastic series. There have been many "what if" stories regarding what happens to the mantle of the bat after Bruce Wayne is no longer able to carry on. I think Batman Beyond handles the concept better than any other attempts that have been made thus far. So to all you purists who NEED Bruce Wayne in the batsuit, try and look beyond that one dimensional thinking and take the show for what it is. There's plenty to be enjoyed here. Plain and simple, if you like the Batman from the 90's and 80's, please avoid this futuristic mockery. I beg you to leave it alone if you are a batman fan period, but, definantly if you like the cartoons and movies of the 90s and 80s. Terry McGinnis himself has a given birth-date of 2023. Gotham City is a fictional U.S. port city located on the north-eastern Atlantic coast. It was originally a stand-in for New York City, but has also been likened to other crime-ridden urban centers such as Chicago and Detroit. Some sources have placed Gotham City in the state of New Jersey; however, this cannot be considered definitive. In the context of Batman: The Animated Series, the second (1993-1994) season episode "Avatar" shows a map that places Gotham City in the location of the real-world New York City. In addition, the direct-to-video animated movie SubZero (1998) gives Barbara Gordon's street address as Gotham City, NY; and gives a ZIP code (10025) and telephone area code (212) that are assigned to New York City.<br/><br/>The current DC Universe version of Gotham City is actually a small island connected to the mainland by a series of bridges and tunnels. The east and south sides of Gotham face the Atlantic Ocean. The city is further divided by the Sprang River (named for Dick Sprang) on the northern end and the Finger River (for Bill Finger) to the south. Tiny Blackgate Isle to the south-east is home to Blackgate Maximum Security Penitentiary. Blackgate is replaced by Stonegate Peniteniary in the animated series "Batman" (1992) and its spin-offs. Aside from Bruce Wayne acting as the mentor to Terry McGinnis, yes.<br/><br/>Barbara Gordon (aka Batgirl) makes plenty of appearances within the series as the current police commissioner of the Beyond era, taking the place her father, Jim Gordon, did years before. Unlike her comic counterpoint, this Barbara Gordon was never shot by the Joker and paralyzed from the waist down. The series does make a veiled reference to that storyline: the first time Barbara Gordon appears in the Bat Cave, she looks at her old costume (set in a display case beside the vintage Batman, Robin and Nightwing suits) and says to Bruce, "I see you sewed up the bullet holes." Presumably, she gave up her Batgirl identity due to slowing reflexes due to age or perhaps, like Dick Grayson (the first Robin/Nightwing), simply got tired of Bruce's endless obsession with the criminal element and went her own way.<br/><br/>Alfred Pennyworth gains a mention at least twice.<br/><br/>There is a street gang called 'The Jokerz' who model themselves upon the original Batman's nemesis, however they are considered to be little more than nuisances by comparison to the psychotic murderer the original Joker was.<br/><br/>The original Joker himself is able to return for the feature film 'Return Of The Joker', despite having been dead for many years. In this feature, two twin Jokerz named Dee-Dee are strongly hinted to be the granddaughters of an elderly Harley Quinn, who had moved on from a life of crime. Also in the movie, Tim Drake, the second Robin from the Animated Series (and third from the comics) plays a major role. Dick Grayson, the first Robin who went on to become Nightwing, also gets a mention in the movie as well as once in the series (both times by Barbara Gordon). It is indicated that he is still alive and well in the Beyond timeline though he never makes an appearance.<br/><br/>Mr Freeze comes back as an opponent for a single episode, in which the character is rather tragically killed for good .<br/><br/>The Royal Flush Gang is stated to be an old adversary of Bruce Wayne (in fact the current 'King' of theirs was even personally bested by him when he was young). Bruce tells Terry the story of Selina Kyle (Catwoman) after an episode where Terry falls in love with Melanie Walker, who is revealed to be a member of the Royal Flush Gang.<br/><br/>Ra's Al Ghul and his daughter Talia both appear together in a rather twisted episode.<br/><br/>In one episode Terry is injected with a potent formula of Vampire Bat DNA which splices him into a creature similar to Kirk Langstrom as Man-Bat.<br/><br/>An elderly Bane appears in one episode, revealing that years with Venom in his bloodstream have deteriorated his body so that he must be under constant care and life-support and is practically next to comatose.<br/><br/>The high school that Terry attends is named the 'Hamilton Hill High School', named after the mayor who ran the city during the events of Batman: The Animated Series.<br/><br/>Several modern villains even seem to be vaguely similar to classic Batman villains: