DC’s Batman has undoubtedly been one of the most adaptable characters in the history of pop culture, so much so that the character got its own rendition in live-action as well as animated projects. From Tim Burton’s blockbuster films to the 1992 show Batman: The Animated Series, the Caped Crusader witnessed several curves to its character and storyline.
Following the success of the two above-mentioned projects, Batman Beyond hit the television with great reviews. The show featured the return of a retired Bruce Wayne, who passes on the mantle to a teenage hero named Terry McGinnis. Meanwhile, despite the show’s success, the producer of the classic Batman: The Animated Series, Bruce Timm, actually despised the original pitch for Batman Beyond.
Producer Bruce Timm Despised the Original Pitch for Batman Beyond
Following the success of Tim Burton’s Batman films and the smash hit television show Batman: The Animated Series, several spin-offs were eventually made, like Superman: The Animated Series, Static Shock, and more. Thereafter, realizing the potential of Batman’s character, the WB television network wanted another Batman series, only this time Bruce Wayne would be a teenager.
Suggesting a pitch for Batman Beyond, head of WB television, Jamie Kellner shared the idea with producers Bruce Timm, Alan Burnett, and Paul Dini. But right then and there, Timm expressed his disappointment in the storyline. Disinterested in the teenage Batman pitch, the producer made a fuss about it. Speaking with IGN, Timm revealed,
“I’m not sure I can adequately describe [my feelings] at that moment. It was surreal and disappointing, shocking, and dream-like. Like this can’t be happening. It was not the words I expected to hear, let’s just say that […] We were in the middle of doing our second iteration of Batman, ‘The New Batman Adventures.’ We’d found our groove, we were digging the look of the show, we were digging the scripts and stuff, we were on fire.”
According to the outlet, Bruce Timm was thoroughly unimpressed with Jamie Kellner’s pitch for Batman Beyond because he was afraid that Kellner’s pitch wouldn’t add to the continuity of the character. Over the years, Timm and his team had been building the character with Batman: The Animated Series and Superman: The Animated Series. But he believed that if they went according to Kellner’s plan, it would overwrite Batman’s continuity completely.
Bruce Timm Eventually Realized the Potential for Batman Beyond
Unwilling to lose his years of hard work, Bruce Timm came up with a plan that would go beyond Jamie Kellner’s pitch but simultaneously serve the network’s demands as well. Therefore, instead of focusing completely on a teenage Batman, Timm and Alan Burnett developed the idea of introducing young Terry McGinnis who would be working with an elderly Bruce Wayne.
“I said, ‘So if there was some way that we could come up with a teenage Batman show that was still in continuity, that’s still built off of the shows that we had already done, the only way really to do that is to go forward into the future and introduce a new character, a new Batman.’” Timm stated.
Bruce Timm believed that this idea would serve two purposes at once – it would not only help de-aging Batman but also simultaneously incorporate the network’s suggestion for Batman in the future. “If the network wanted a future show, this was how they wanted to do it.” storyboard artist James Tucker told the outlet.
Despite Timm’s strategic planning, Kellner liked the idea and asked Timm to make the show. But then appeared the issue where the producer of the series still lacked confidence in his own idea. Getting a green light over his new pitch and being pushed for the show to release by fall, Bruce Timm faced a sense of insecurity and rush, all altogether.
Nagging about it and not being very enthusiastic about the project, Bruce Timm went to speak with producer Glen Murakami. That’s when Timm finally acknowledged the potential of the show, as Murakami explained how a teenage Batman would serve as a futuristic show and open new opportunities for the character. The rest is history, for Timm suddenly got a lot more interested in the futuristic version of Gotham.
Batman Beyond is available on Max.