"Totally Schway" Re-Watch: "Rebirth" Parts 1 & 2 & "Black Out"

 Batman Beyond

As we continue through the DCAU or the "Timmverse," we are going bat to the future. We are back in the world of Batman, but this time we are going to the year 2039 where Bruce Wayne has hung up the cape and cowl. The mantle of the bat is taken up by young Terry McGinnis with Bruce in a support role. He's kind of the Alfred to Terry's Batman. "Batman Beyond" is a modern classic. It has lived on in comics form and I'm always hopeful that we will see a live-action version.  I'm excited to revisit this classic series with you all.

I have to mention the recent passing of Arleen Sorkin, the original voice and model for Harley Quinn. Her passing make me extremely sad especially since it comes relatively soon after the passing of Kevin Conroy. They will live on forever and they will definitely be missed. As long as I read "Batman" comics, I will always hear their voices in my head.

Bruce Wayne: [his dog barks at Terry] "Down, Ace. He's OK."

Terry McGinnis: "Nice dog."

Bruce Wayne: "Not really."

In the year 2019, Batman is rescuing a kidnapped socialite when chest pains resort to him almost using a gun. This is the ultimate sin and causes him to hang up the cape and cowl seemingly forever. 20 years later in 2039, Bruce is in seclusion and his company is now WaynePowers, ran by the unscrupulous, Derek Powers. When Warren McGinnis, an employee, is approached by a fellow employee who seems to be infected with a strange disease, he gets caught up in a web of corporate intrigue that gets him killed. Warren's troubled son, Terry, receives a shock when a chase by the Jokerz gang leads him to Wayne Manor, where her learns Bruce's secret. Once he learns of his father's death, Terry begins down a path that will change his life forever.

Eep.

"Batman Beyond" has pretty big shoes to fill. It is basically a continuation of "Batman: The Animated Series" maybe one of the best animated series of all time. It takes place about 50 years after that show ended. There is a lot it has to do. It has to introduce a completely new protagonist that has to take the place of Batman. They have to establish new Rogues since the originals are either dead or too old to continue on. Does this premiere succeed in all those things. I'd say for the most part... yes.

The episode begins in 2019 with an aging Batman attempting to rescue Veronica Vreeland's daughter from kidnappers. Things initially play out just like you'd expect. Batman shows up and starts busting skulls in his sleek new black suit with the red bat symbol emblazoned across the chest. I have to say that Batsuit is dope. It's very simple, but extremely impactful. In the midst of the fighting, Batman starts to have chest pains and gets his ass handed to him by these low level thugs. It's really disconcerting and not something that we are used to seeing. It's unsettling anytime Batman is losing a fight but even more so when its to guys like these. In a desperate move, Batman grabs one of the thugs guns and points it at him. The thug freaks out and Batman is immediately disgusted with himself. It is this decision that leads to him shuttering the Batcave and giving up the cape and cowl. 

I think this is such a great and impactful way to give a reason why Bruce would give up being Batman. I think we all think of Bruce remaining Batman until he keeled over or was killed by one of his psychotic foes. And this is a great reason for him to give it up. Batman never uses guns because of what happened to his parents. For him to be so desperate to grab that gun and look like he is going to use it, he's fallen. He's lot sight of his mission. It's a completely plausible reason for him to give it up and I appreciated it because every time I see Batman brandishing that gun, it really gets to me.

After the flash forward, we meet Terrence "Terry" McGinnis on a train fighting with a member of the Jokerz gang. More on the Jokerz later. I think that the show does a good job of establishing who Terry is pretty quickly. He immediately stands up for the women on the train when everyone else is looking away. He's brave. He's a little stupid. He's brash. He's impulsive. He's angry. He has a chip on his shoulder. He's ready to lash out at the drop of a hat. I like that are making Terry kind of the antithesis of Bruce. I definitely don't see Terry as the World's Greatest Detective. It definitely lends itself to him growing throughout the series, but he is a little two-dimensional. Right now, his defining characteristic is that he's mad. So, he can come off a little one-note.

The Jokerz are a gang that idolize the Joker. And I kind of love them. I love the idea that these idiot kids would idolize this psychopath. They have no real frame of reference for the things he's done. It kind of reminds me of the modern day fascination with true crime and real life serial killers. I'm not saying true crime aficionados are ready to copy cat these serial killers that they are super into, but I think its easy to disassociate like these gang members are doing because a lot of these crimes happened so long ago. The Jokerz are goofy and menacing and the high point of the episode is the Terry/Jokerz motorcycle chase that ends at Wayne Manor. I love how an 80 year old Bruce Wayne is just standing outside his mansion and he lays the smack down, but pays for it after they flee.

The origin story of Terry McGinnis as Batman involves the death of one of his parents by violent crime. Look, you can't be Batman and have two not dead parents. Those are the rules. Warren McGinnis catches wind of his company doing some not great stuff that may have caused the death of a co-worker. As soon as he gets that disc, you know his days are numbered. And the deal is sealed when Terry lashes out at his dad, is a complete prick and leaves the house. It's clear that Derek Powers, CEO of WaynePowers, is responsible even though he frames the Jokerz. 

Speaking of Derek Powers, I'm not sure how to feel about him in this pilot. He's giving like less menacing Lex Luthor vibes. He sort of has the same issue as Terry in this premiere. Powers is kind of only lightly sketched out. He gets the job done. And I'm hoping that as the series progresses that we will get more from Powers. 

All-in-all, this is a good first episode of "Batman Beyond." You're definitely ready to move on to part 2 as soon as part 1 ends so we can see Terry truly become Batman.

Grade: B+

Mr. Fixx: "You're pretty strong, for some clown who thinks he's Batman."

Batman: "I AM Batman."

Terry goes to Bruce with the disc he found with his dead father's things. Bruce learns that Powers is making a nerve gas. Terry is ready to go after him to get revenge but Bruce wants to go to the police. After being stopped and threatened by Powers and his top goon, Mr. Fixx, Terry heads back to Wayne Manor and lifts the Batsuit, going after Powers who is in the midst of trying to sell the virus to a foreign power. Though Bruce is unhappy with Terry and tries to force him to return with the suit, he eventually gives in and helps guide this new Batman.

Sleek.

There's one thing that I always think at whenever I watch this episode. How in the hell did Terry sneak in to the Batcave and steal the suit without Bruce knowing? Is Bruce supposed to that senile and doddering that he wouldn't realize that this jumoke would be be in his home and in his secret cave stealing his stuff? It's a pretty small thing, but I definitely wish that they had elaborated on it. It could have just been a brief scene, but I don't like that it makes Bruce look dumb. Because it doesn't matter how old Bruce Wayne is, there's no way that he would not realize that a teenager is breaking into his super, secret underground lair.

That being said this is a solid conclusion to this series premiere. We finally get to see the new Batman in action. This new Batsuit is cool. I love that it allows Batman to fly or glide, whichever you prefer. Batman is known for his gadgets and this suit is the ultimate gadget. 

Of course, Bruce has failsafes built in, but its here that I kind of question things a little bit. I get that Bruce is peeved that Terry took off with the Batsuit. But he's in the middle of fleeing from thugs and that is when Bruce decides to activate the remote electrocution failsafe? I know that Bruce is trying to show that he's in control, but would he really do this at the expense of some kid's life? It's not as if he can't get the Batsuit back. He knows who has it. He knows who Terry is and where he lives? I mean, he's getting pummeled and Bruce is just standing idly by and doesn't reactivate it until he almost gets shot. It's just odd. I get what they are doing. They want Terry to use his father's death to get Bruce to allow him to continue on and go after Powers, manipulating him with memories of his own parents death. I just think there is a better way they could have done this that didn't seem so out of character for Bruce.

We learn a little more about Powers as he tries to sell the nerve toxin to the head of Kaznia. He's still coming off a lot like a low rent Lex Luthor. I think that is the problem with making a shady CEO a villain. They all come off kind of the same. "Batman: The Animated Series" kind of had the same issue. They had a lot of shady businessmen and it was tough to differentiate them. Powers is exposed to the nerve toxin and even though his life is saved by a heavy dose of radiation it turns him into an irradiated skeleton like creature that goes by Blight.

It might seem like I didn't love this episode, but I actually did like it quite a lot. I think that Terry really comes alive in the Batsuit and becomes a much more compelling character which I think is great. The action here is great and it moves swiftly. The pacing is great. We had more of a methodical first part and this one is basically wall to wall action which I think serves it well. Batman confronts Mr. Fixx on the hovercraft and gets his very own "I AM BATMAN" moment which I think works really well. We see the hovercraft go into the drink but I'm positive that we haven't seen the last of him.

Bruce shows up at Terry's home to offer him a position as his assistant and as Batman, the latter unsaid. And a new partnership is born.

Grade: B

Commissioner Barbara Gordon: "I hear you wrangled yourself a new errand boy."

Bruce Wayne: "I never wrangled anyone. Every one of you came to me."

Commissioner Barbara Gordon: "Maybe for once you should try to talk someone out of it."

Bruce Wayne: "Would it have worked for you?"

Derek Powers is using the metahuman assassin, Inque, to sabotage Foxteca in order to get a weapons contract. When Bruce and the new Batman get involved, Powers changes his target from Foxteca to the new Batman.

Disgusting

If there is one thing that you can count on when it comes to an Timmverse DCAU show, its that the voice talent will be tremendous and "Batman Beyond" is no exception. Andrea Romano, the casting director, is a genius and she knows just the right people to bring these characters to life. We of course have the iconic Kevin Conroy as Bruce Wayne, but we also get Will Friedle as Terry McGinnis. Up until this point, Friedle was most well known as Eric Matthews on "Boy Meets World," but he really kills it as Terry. George Takei is the voice of Mr. Fixx, which I have to say I wouldn't expect but he totally kills it. And Stockard Channing as Barbara Gordon who is now followed in her footsteps becoming Neo-Gotham's police commissioner. Channing is such a great choice here. We just get a brief taste of her as Barbara but the appetite is whetted. This brief exchange between Bruce and Barbara is maybe my favorite moment from this first three episodes, because I think it really shows us what "Batman Beyond" can be. This amalgamation of the present and the past and the future.

We get out first original "Batman Beyond" villain, Inque. She's a metahuman assassin that Powers seems to employ regularly. I think she's pretty cool. I love her design. The fluidness of her when she's in her more liquid form. And her more humanoid design which kind of feels like a futuristic, super sexy Betty Boop. I loved her final confrontation with Batman in the Batcave. it was so disgusting when she like forced herself into his mouth and then he vomited her back out. Disgusting, but super cool. I loved her using the Batcave against Bruce and Batman. She used Bruce's trophies against him and we've seen that before, but it still works here. I liked Batman using Mr. Freeze's freeze gun to take her out. If I had one complaint, is that we don't learn a lot about who Inque really is. She's just a cool looking villain and that is fine for now, but what made the OG Batman's villains so compelling was their tragic backstories, so I'm going to need more of that.

We get our first look at the "Batman Beyond" Batmobile and it is "unbearably cool" to quote Terry. It hovers because that is what all the cars do in Neo-Gotham. If there is one thing a Batman animated series is going to give us it is a cool Batmobile and "Batman Beyond" doesn't let us down. I will say that I kind of wanted more for the design of Neo-Gotham. It doesn't necessarily feel like the Gotham City of the future. It's kind of giving Metropolis from "Superman: The Animated Series" vibes. And I'll be honest, I'm not sure I would have made that connection if I hadn't just finished watching that show.

The corporate espionage subplot is just kind of meh. It doesn't really go anywhere and seems kind of superfluous. Like, it's just a carrier to get Inque to go after Batman. That is fine, but I wish they would have came up with something a little more original or at least tied them together a little bit better. We could have at least learned more about the current Foxteca leadership. Though I did enjoy the Bruce/Powers showdown.

There are some fun moments in this episode that definitely kept me engaged. I love the nods to the original like Bruce wearing the Grey Ghost hat and goggles to protect his identity from Inque when she attacks the Batcave. "Batman Beyond" is finding its footing in these first three episodes, but its still delivering a solid Batman of the future animated series.

Grade: B

Next up, a teen bonds to a robot when he tries to take down his bully and we get a visit from Victor Fries.

What do you all think of "Batman Beyond?" Are you a fan in general? What did you think of these first three episodes? Let me know in the comments.