Batman Beyond

Batman Beyond is a American superhero animated television series based on the DC Comics superhero Batman. Created and developed by Paul Dini, Bruce Timm, and Alan Burnett and produced by Warner Bros. Animation, the series began airing on January 10, 1999 on Kids' WB, and ended on December 18, 2001. In the United Kingdom, it began airing on September 4, 2000. After 52 episodes spanning three seasons and one direct-to-video feature film, the series was brought to an end in favor of the Justice League animated series. Depicting a teenaged Batman (Terry McGinnis) in a futuristic Gotham City under the tutelage of an elderly Batman, Batman Beyond is the third series (chronologically the final series) of the DC Animated Universe, and serves as the sequel to both Batman: The Animated Series and The New Batman Adventures. Though the initial announcement of the series drew mixed reactions, Batman Beyond was well-received and gained a cult following. Despite being conceived as a kid-friendly Batman cartoon by Warner Brothers Animation, it ended up being darker than its predecessor Batman: The Animated Series. Plot The story begins in the-then distant year of 2019 (20 years following Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated Series and The New Batman Adventures, and about 16 years following Justice League and Justice League Unlimited). An aging Bruce Wayne, despite being in his 50s, continues to fight crime as Batman in a new high-tech Batsuit, although he has increased difficulty in handling criminals he could once subdue with finese and they are not afraid of him anymore as he has lost his mystique. In what was supposed to be a routine mission, the rescue of a kidnapped heiress and daughter of an old socialite friend of his, he suffers a mild heart attack and, at risk of being beaten to death by one of the kidnappers, is forced to betray a lifelong principle and his paramount rule by threatening the criminals at gunpoint, mirroring the actions of the mugger who killed his parents. Bruce is ashamed and, knowing his frailty and fearing that he eventually will surrender to his murderous temptation if continuing crime-fighting, decides to retire from being Batman for good. By this point in his life, his butler, father figure and close confidant Alfred Pennyworth has died and his close allies Commissioner James Gordon, Dr.