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Legacies are meant to be passed on as time goes on. In comics, heroes and villains will often have their titles given to a new generation. Terry McGinnis is the latest in the line to be called Batman, decades have passed since Bruce Wayne last stood against crime. Thanks to Wayne’s advancement in technology, while Terry may be using the last suit Wayne wore, it’s still light years ahead of the rest of the world. So how does a former teenage delinquent become the Future Knight? Let’s find out!

Terrence “Terry” McGinnis was born to Warren and Mary McGinnis but his actual bloodline is far more complicated than that. Amanda Waller, a government agent who dealt with heroes for the United States realized the importance of the hero, Batman. Figuring that there would always need to be a Batman and that Bruce Wayne, Batman’s secret identity, would push away anyone he loved, she set about using science to ensure a new Batman could be born. Using some illegal technology, she would have Wayne’s DNA replace Warren McGinnis’ own so that his own child would share the genetic make up of Bruce Wayne instead. She had seen that the McGinnis’ could provide a similar upbringing to Wayne’s own, even willing to hire an assassin to kill a young Terry’s parents in front of him, just like Bruce Wayne had experienced to spur him into becoming Batman. The killer refused at the last moment and Waller also realized the dark path she was walking down and called off the rest of her plan.

Terry would grow up to become a trouble maker and his parent’s divorce didn’t help with matters and Terry would end up in juvenile hall at fourteen. Growing up in Gotham meant that more and more crime was occurring, new gangs popping up all the time, some even taking on the gimmicks of old villains. By the time Terry was sixteen, Batman hadn’t been seen in 20 years and most people had forgotten about him. Terry, trying to be reformed from his criminal ways, would end up dealing with one of the more dangerous gangs in Gotham, the Jokers, because he would defend his girlfriend, Dana, who they were harassing. They would chase Terry down as he ended up at Wayne Manor, being helped by the old man himself. The strain of the fight caused Wayne to need Terry’s assistance to his medications. While leaving, Terry would stumble upon the Batcave, realizing that Bruce Wayne was once the Batman he had heard stories about.

When Terry returned home from his wild night, he would find that the police were there and his father had been murdered in what looked like an attack from the Jokers. Terry had fought with his dad before he had left that night and believed the Jokers might have been the same ones who had chased him and felt immense guilt for his father’s death. Trying to figure out the true cause for his father’s murder, it would lead him to his dad’s work, for Wayne-Powers, Bruce Wayne’s company. Returning to Wayne Manor, he would plea with Wayne to help him figure out what his dad was working on and if it was worth killing for.

Together, the two would learn that Wayne’s co-owner of Wayne-Powers, Derek Powers was using the company to build biological weapons that were illegal. While Terry wanted Wayne to help him with Batman, Bruce told him to go to Commissioner Barbara Gordon with the data they had found. Disappointed, but with no way of getting access to the Batsuit while Wayne was present, Terry would try, only to have Derek Powers steal his information. Frustrated, Terry would go and steal the Batsuit to stop the weapon from being shipped out. Powers would be affected by the weapon and become the radioactive villain, Blight, a continuous threat to Terry and Bruce.

Bruce Wayne would hire Terry as an assistant so as to explain their continued work together as Terry would take on the mantle of Batman with Wayne guiding him through a comm device in the suit. Terry would now have to balance his life as a high schooler along with his new career of crime fighter. Threats, new and old to Batman would find the challenge of the famed vigilante to become a calling. Old villains, like Mister Freeze, Bane, the Royal Flush Gang, Ra’s al Ghul, and even the Joker himself, would find ways to come back now that Batman was around. New dangers like the shapeshifting Inque, the deafening Shriek, the illusionary Spellbinder, and more would become new members of Batman’s rogues gallery.

While Terry tended to work alone in the field he did sometimes get aide from Bruce’s dog, Ace, a former fighting dog Wayne had rescued. His secret would be discovered by his friend, Max who would provide him assistance where she could and let him vent about the trials and tribulations of being a teen Batman. Terry would even get invited to join the Justice League but found that he preferred being a part-time member due to his responsibilities already being spread out so thin. Terry would spend at least fifteen years of his life dedicated to being Batman before he and Bruce would learn the truth of Amanda Waller’s plan and their familial relationship. This news would end up reinvigorating Terry’s desire to not only be Batman but to propose to his long-time girlfriend, Dana.

There you have it! Batman Beyond was a cartoon that basically asked “What if Spider-Man was Batman and it was the future?” it turned out, the answer was pretty fun. Terry was introduced in animation and eventually found himself on the printed page where he now resides as his cartoon series has long ended. Will we ever see an another animated or live-action take on Terry McGinnis and the world of Batman Beyond? Who knows! See you next time!

Suggested Reading/Viewing
Batman Beyond
Batman Beyond Return of the Joker
Justice League Unlimited
Batman Beyond Rebirth
Batman Beyond Unlimited

Dr. Bustos
drbustos@comicattack.net