Batman Beyond was the fourth show set in the DC Animated Universe. Running from 1999-2001, the show was set in a futuristic Gotham, with a retired Bruce Wayne (still voiced by the great Kevin Conroy) mentoring a new Batman: high schooler Terry McGinnis (voiced by Will Friedle, who most will recognize from either Boy Meets World or Kim Possible). Despite a mixed reception when first announced, the show became a critical success. Batman Beyond also explored some seriously dark territory, with some of the places it went to leading to some of the show’s very best episodes. Today, let’s take a look at some of those episodes. Here are some of the best episodes of Batman Beyond.

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

8 The Call

     Distributed by Warner Bros. Television Distribution

This two-part episode sees an older, but still active Superman (he ages slowly thanks to his Kryptonian DNA) recruit Batman into the Justice League and give him a special assignment: find out which member of the League is trying to kill the others. The other members of the League are rather chilly to Batman, with the possible exception of Aquagirl, though Batman does save her life after it seems like she’s the next target. The investigation reveals a disturbing revelation: Superman is the one trying to kill the League, and Part 1 ends with Bruce handing Terry a shard of Kryptonite. Part II reveals that Superman is under the control of the alien, Starro, and has been for years.

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

Once the League realizes this, they team up to thwart Superman, a difficult task since Starro has been breeding and begins infecting the other members of the League except Batman. It’s a wonderful episode that ends with Batmn rejecting full-time status in the League, saying that he might have more in common with Bruce Wayne than he thought. Superman can only reply “More than you think, son. More than you think.” An episode of Justice League Unlimited would later show precisely what Superman meant.

7 Out of the Past

The episode opens on Bruce Wayne’s birthday, with Terry taking him to see a musical based on Batman. Bruce hates the musical and retreats to the Batcave, where a more welcome gift is waiting: Talia al Ghul, still youthful thanks to her immersion in the Lazarus Pits. She offers to let him take a dip in the pits, saying that advances in science have made the process much safer. Bruce hesitates, but after an incident in which he’s too slow to save a girl in the middle of the road (luckily, Batman saves both), he agrees and goes to Talia’s estate in New Cuba to undergo the treatment.

Of course, it’s all a scheme, and Talia is hiding a terrifying and disturbing secret of her own. There’s a wonderful moment where a now younger Bruce and Terry team up to beat up some thugs while an electronic riff on the Batman: The Animated Series theme plays, and a sadder, more poignant moment at the end where Bruce looks through pictures of his old flames. A fantastic episode.

6 The Eggbaby

One of the more humorous episodes of the show, “The Eggbaby” nonetheless, is still a great episode. It even won an Emmy! Terry McGinnis is failing his Family Studies class, but luckily for him, there’s a special project that can save him if he gets a good grade on it. He and his fellow classmates have to take care of computerized “Eggbabies,” which simulate actual babies. If the egg drops and hits the ground, it’s an automatic fail. Instead of pairing Terry with his girlfriend, Dana, or confidant, Max, he’s paired with Blade Sommer, who keeps dumping the baby on Terry, forcing him to bring it along as he performs his Batman duties.

There’s a good amount of humor in this episode, especially Bruce’s reaction when he initially thinks Terry has an actual baby in the Batmobile. The twist at the end is absolutely hilarious. Most of the kids barely scraped by because they didn’t provide their babies with enough stimulation, with one exception: Terry and Blade’s baby. The look Dana gives Terry after he gets the only passing grade is priceless, as is the implication the being Batman makes you good father material.

5 Dead Man’s Hand

The Royal Flush Gang, an aristocratic family of criminals, starts causing havoc in Gotham. At the same time, Batman duties are straining Terry’s relationship with his girlfriend, Dana. However, another girl named Melanie seems to understand Terry’s problem. It’s no surprise that she does. She’s Ten, a member of the Royal Flush Gang. This episode is great for the dynamic between Terry and Melanie, whose affections for Terry are genuine, as are his for her. Of course, being a hero comes first, and Batman must take Melanie and her family down. The episode ends with Terry seeing the police lead Melanie and her family away, with both Terry and Melanie looking heartbroken. On the plus side, it ends in a very heartwarming moment between Bruce and Terry, who tells him all about a woman named Selina Kyle.

4 Rebirth

The two-part series debut opens with Bruce Wayne’s final night as Batman, where a heart condition forces him to use a gun on a criminal. He declares “Never again,” and hangs up the cowl for good. 20 years later, Terry McGinnis’ father is killed after a friend gives him some damaging information on Derek Powers, the corrupt CEO of Wayne-Powers: Powers is making nerve gas and selling it to a nation under a weapons embargo. Terry takes the information to Bruce and accidentally discovers Bruce is Batman in the process. Wanting revenge against Powers for ordering the death of his father, Terry steals the Batsuit and The Dark Knight is reborn!

There are a few rough patches. Bruce is understandably livid about Terry stealing the suit, but allows him to continue when Terry relates that he lost his father the same way Bruce lost his. There’s even a humorous moment at the end with Bruce visiting Terry’s mother and putting on a kindly old man act as he offers Terry a part-time job as his assistant… and as the new Batman.

3 Meltdown

Derek Powers is struggling to hide the radioactive skeletal monster he’s become. A doctor named Stephanie Lake (voiced by Terminator actress Linda Hamilton) offers to build a new body and transfer Powers’ mind into it, but she wants to test it on another person first. Luckily, there’s a willing volunteer: Mr. Freeze, who is still just a head in a jar. At first, the new body seems to work, but Bruce suspects Freeze will revert to being a criminal, something Terry disagrees with after seeing Freeze trying to make a genuine effort to atone for his criminal past. Unfortunately, Freeze’s new body starts to break down, and Powers and Lake want to biopsy his organs to find out why.

The betrayal is enough to bring back the criminal Mr. Freeze, now with an updated suit. It also sees Powers debut his supervillain persona, Blight, for the first time. It’s a dark episode, with Freeze committing an onscreen murder and his ultimate plan being to blow up a laboratory with him in it. It’s a wonderful episode, providing closure to one of Batman: The Animated Series’ most tragic villains.

2 Ascension

The season finale for the first season of the show sees Derek Powers bring in his son Paxton, who is just as awful as his father, to be the acting CEO of Wayne-Powers. At a board meeting announcing the change, several protestors storm in and shout complaints at Paxton, irritating Derek and revealing to the world that he is in fact the supervillain, Blight. It’s an episode filled with some great moments, such as the revelation that some of the protestors were on Paxton’s payroll and the exchange between Batman and Blight onboard Blight’s hideout: a nuclear submarine.

Blight demands to know why Batman wants him so badly, with Batman replying “You killed my father.” Blight’s response? “Do you have any idea how little that narrows it down?” That’s an all-time villain quote right there. The episode ends with Paxton succeeding his father after his apparent death, but Batman’s not so convinced of it. Unfortunately, this is the last appearance of Blight on the show, so at least he got a fantastic final episode to go out with.

1 Eyewitness

Commissioner Barbara Gordon is upset with Batman after he interferes with a sting operation. She’s even more upset when Mad Stan crashes an event for her husband and sees the unthinkable: Batman murdering Mad Stan in cold blood. Thus, a manhunt begins led by someone who knows all of Batman’s tricks. However, it becomes apparent rather quickly that something’s not right. Mad Stan’s body isn’t in a morgue, for instance, so why is Gordon convinced Batman is a killer? It turns out, it was all an illusion by the criminal Spellbinder, who played upon Gordon’s biases to make her believe the worst in Batman. It’s a magnificent episode, really putting Batman in one heck of a pickle. Definitely a must-see episode.