Rumour: Batman Beyond animated feature film in development

Following yesterday’s news about Ben Affleck officially tapping out of Matt Reeves’ Batman solo film, Warner Bros is currently on the hunt for a new Caped Crusader. Well, it seems they actually need two as a new rumour has surfaced that made Darryn do proverbial back flips in the office: We’re getting a Batman Beyond animated feature film.

Debuting in 1999 as a spinoff of the legendary Batman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond is set in 2039 and follows Terry McGinnis, an athletic teenager who stumbles across a reclusive 70-year old Bruce Wayne who has long since hung up the cape. As Bruce reluctantly aids Terry to fight off some local thugs that have chased him onto Wayne Manor grounds, the retired Dark Knight suffers a heart attack. When Terry helps Bruce to his manor he discovers the old superhero’s secret. Realising that the world still needs a Batman, the gruff Bruce gives Terry a hi-tech Bat suit and gadgets and trains him to take up his old mantle.

The show ran for three seasons until 2001 and all of it was awesome (as Darryn reminded us just last week as the show turned 20 years old). Terry’s Batman became a huge hit with fans, with the character reappearing in several other DC Comics animated series as well being introduced into the DC Comics comic book universe properly with a number of long-running series. That’s the only place we’ve seen Terry over the last few years, with no further on-screen presence.

However, according to a report from GeeksWorldwide that could all change as Warner Bros has seen the massively positive acclaim (and recent Oscar nomination) received by the brilliant Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and want to respond to that with an offering of their own in 2022. SuperBroMovies’ Daniel Richtman pointed out in a tweet that a scooped release schedule for the Warner Animation Group actually had a mysteriously untitled DC movie slotted to start production late next year which totally lines up with the rumour. That schedule isn’t available any more though as Richtman was seemingly asked to remove it by WB… which kind of just validates it.

On top of that, some mysterious concept art has popped up on Reddit (here and here) for something titled “Project: Wing”. The artwork, stamped with the WAG logo, seemingly depicts what is a new design for Terry McGinnis, including a new Batsuit, as well (presumably) Terry looking at a row of costumes for the older Bat-family.

Will Friedle, who voiced Terry throughout Batman Beyond’s tenure, has already thrown his hat into the ring, saying that he would want to return to the gig for an animated feature film. However, reports are that WB is looking to cast an Asian-American voice actor to match Terry’s ethnicity.

Personally, I’m not too concerned about who voices Terry, instead I want to know he – and his world – will look. If WB really want this to be their answer to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, they need to up their visual creativity exponentially as the Spider-Verse’s completely unique, almost mixed-medium visual approach mimicking comic books is easily one of its biggest drawcards. WB can’t copy that approach, but they’ll need something of their own, equally as brilliant, if they want to stand out in the crowd.

Last Updated: February 1, 2019