The Big Picture
- DC's Crisis trilogy of animated films includes fan-favorite character Terry McGinnis as Batman Beyond — a beloved figure in DC's animated history.
- Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker reveals a tragic storyline involving Tim Drake's transformation into the Joker, resulting in his role as the new Joker in the film.
- Return of the Joker was originally censored to reduce violence, but an uncut version was later released, featuring more graphic scenes and a PG-13 rating. Both versions are considered among DC's darkest films.
At this point, viewers are likely to expect superhero films and television shows that deal with the multiverse to feature some kind of connection to previous properties. Recent projects from both Marvel and DC that feature explorations of the multiverse use the concept to include fan-service that appeals to nostalgia from earlier projects, often by having actors from past films and series reprise their iconic roles. DC is currently in the midst of releasing a trilogy of animated films based on the iconic, multiverse-altering comic book event Crisis on Infinite Earths, and it looks like these films will be no exception to the unspoken rule.
When a brief teaser for the second part of the Crisis trilogy was recently released, viewers were delighted to see a shot featuring who appears to be fan-favorite character Terry McGinnis, also known as Batman Beyond. Although there’s a small chance it could be another character wearing Terry’s usual costume, it would make the most sense for Crisis, which marks the end of an era in DC animation before the start of James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DC Universe, to feature Terry himself as he is a beloved figure in the company’s animated history. While he is mostly known for leading the Batman Beyond TV show, Crisis wouldn’t be the first film Terry has appeared in; he was also the protagonist of one of DC’s darkest animated features, the acclaimed Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker.
Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker
PG-13AnimationActionCrimeFamily Sci-FiThrillerThe Joker is back with a vengeance, and Gotham's newest Dark Knight needs answers as he stands alone to face Gotham's most infamous Clown Prince of Crime.
- Release Date
- December 12, 2000
- Director
- Curt Geda
- Cast
- Will Friedle , Kevin Conroy , Mark Hamill , Angie Harmon , dean stockwell , Teri Garr
- Runtime
- 74
What Is 'Batman Beyond' in the DC Multiverse?
The fourth series in the interconnected DC Animated Universe franchise, Batman Beyond, which premiered in 1999, served as a continuation of Batman: The Animated Series and The New Batman Adventures. It was set decades after its predecessors and featured Kevin Conroy reprising his iconic voice role of Bruce Wayne/Batman as a supporting character. Before the start of the series, Bruce retired from crime fighting as Batman after his declining physical condition nearly forced him to break his self-imposed rules against using firearms and lethal force during a mission to rescue a kidnapped heiress. 20 years later, troubled teenager Terry (Will Friedle) has a chance encounter with Bruce and accidentally discovers the Batcave after helping him back into Wayne Manor to take medication.
When Terry’s father is murdered by corrupt elements within Wayne Enterprises, he steals Bruce’s most recent, high-tech Batsuit to bring the killers to justice. Although initially outraged, Bruce is eventually impressed by Terry’s performance and agrees to allow him to operate as the new Batman, while serving as his advisor and mentor. Although fans were initially hesitant to accept Batman Beyond, which was not based on a specific preexisting comic book series or arc, as the continuation of the beloved DCAU Batman story, the series eventually became a significant success and is now considered an essential piece of DC media. Like other characters created for the DCAU such as Harley Quinn and Renee Montoya, Terry became so popular that he became a fixture in DC Comics, which has regularly published Batman Beyond comics set in the series’ continuity and in slightly modified worlds, since the premiere.
After the initial success of the series, a Batman Beyond direct-to-video feature was ordered as the third DCAU film after Batman: Mask of the Phantasm and Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero. Return of the Joker premiered in 2000 and featured Conroy and Friedle reprising their roles, alongside Mark Hamill as the Joker. Although Terry regularly battled members of a Joker-inspired street gang called the Jokerz in the series, it had not been previously revealed what became of the actual Clown Prince of Crime between The New Batman Adventures and Batman Beyond.
In the film, Terry and Bruce are investigating a specific faction of Jokerz that have been stealing advanced computer equipment. The gang attacks a Wayne Enterprises event at which Bruce publicly announces his return to the company. The criminals are led by their boss, who appears to be the original Joker, shocking Bruce and Police Commissioner Barbara Gordon (Angie Harmon), the former Batgirl, who both believed he was dead. Even more disturbing, this Joker knows Bruce’s secret identity and later breaks into the Batcave to attack him with one of his trademark toxins, leaving him in a coma.
Tim Drake's Storyline in 'Return of the Joker' Is a Haunting Tragedy
Terry subsequently works with Barbara to stop Joker, with her explaining the circumstances around his supposed death. Decades earlier, when Bruce and Barbara were still operating as Batman and Batgirl, their other partner, Tim Drake (Matthew Valencia), who was initially presented as the DCAU’s second Robin, was abducted by Joker and Harley (Arleen Sorkin). As part of their perverse plan to create a “family” of their own, the criminal couple subjected Tim to tortuous experiments that turned him into an adolescent version of the Joker, complete with the same unnaturally white skin, green hair, and eerie, permanent smile.
As Tim’s mind began to be warped by the process, he revealed Bruce’s secret identity to Joker. When Bruce and Barbara find him, they are horrified at his transformation, and Tim initially aids Joker and Harley in battle against his friends. When Joker gets the upper hand on Bruce during their fight, he passes one of his specially-designed spearguns to Tim and tells him to shoot his mentor. Tim begins laughing maniacally, similar to how Joker often does, but eventually attacks Joker instead, killing him, after which Tim’s laughter turns to tears. Back in the film’s main time period, Barbara concludes the story by revealing that they buried Joker beneath Arkham Asylum and that the only other person who knows what truly happened to him was her father.
She also explains that Bruce forced Tim to retire from being Robin after his recovery and that the latter is now a regular family man. Although he feels sympathy for him, Terry becomes suspicious after meeting with the older Tim, who still holds a grudge against Bruce and mocks the idea of superheroes. His suspicions are justified when he discovers that Tim is the new Joker. During his captivity, the original had copied his DNA and consciousness onto a microchip that he attached to Tim’s brain, allowing him to take control of his mind and body, which morphs into a physical copy of Joker’s. After outsmarting him by provoking his ego, Terry defeats Joker and destroys the microchip, freeing Tim from his control. While recovering in the hospital, Tim makes peace with Bruce and they both commend Terry for his heroism.
'Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker' Was Censored to Reduce Its Violence
Return of the Joker was originally supposed to be released around Halloween in 2000 but ultimately did not come out until December the same year. The delay is attributed to changes the filmmakers were forced to make in post-production, which were mostly motivated by the Columbine High School massacre. The tragedy led to widespread reevaluation of depictions of violence in media marketed toward young viewers, given evidence that the Columbine shooters were partially motivated by violent video games. Return of the Joker was required to disguise or cut content that could be considered disturbing and harmful to young viewers. However, this decision was itself criticized and two years later, an “uncut” version of the film featuring the unaltered content was released. The uncut version received a PG-13 rating, which at the time was unusual for a mainstream animated film, specifically in the superhero genre.
The biggest difference between the two cuts is the manner of the original Joker’s death. In the uncut version, Tim shoots Joker with the speargun, with the projectile shown sticking out of his chest and the moment he actually dies being shown onscreen. In the censored cut, Tim drops the gun and physically tackles Joker, shoving him into some of the liquid vials and tubes in his lab, which break, drenching him. After the two briefly separate, Joker slips in the resulting puddle and accidentally pulls an electrical switch while trying to steady himself. The film cuts to a shot of Barbara outside the room while the sounds of an electric surge and Joker’s screams can be heard. In addition to not directly showing Joker being impaled, this change reduces Tim’s responsibility for the death, making the scene a bit less disturbing and tragic.
Similarly, the manner in which Joker kills an underling who talks back to him was changed from shooting him with the speargun to gassing him with toxin. Most of the other changes were also intended to reduce onscreen violence. Bruce and Joker’s respective uses of a knife are replaced by fisticuffs, and the censored version often cuts to flashes of a white screen to convey the sensation of punches and kicks without actually showing the blows land. The latter trick should be familiar to viewers of many children’s animation projects of the era, such as Spider-Man: The Animated Series, which famously was not allowed to show characters land any punches. One change did have to deal with a different kind of adult content, however. In the uncut version, during the search for the abducted Tim, Barbara is shown interviewing two scantily clad young women, heavily implied to be sex workers. The censored version instead shows her talking to a more conservatively dressed man and woman.
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The new Build-A-Figure wave also includes Psycho Pirate, The Spectre, and The Monitor.Both Cuts of 'Return of the Joker' Are Among DC's Darkest Films
While certainly tamer than its counterpart, even the censored version of Return of the Joker is quite dark for an animated superhero film. Tim’s torture is disturbing even for adult viewers and his transformation into the Joker likely terrified more than a few members of the film’s child audience. However, the dark content in the film is much more tastefully depicted and necessary to its story in comparison with that of more recent, R-rated DC animated films, which often put a lot of gore and sexual content onscreen simply because they're allowed too. A major theme in the film is the idea that the Joker is significantly more dangerous than any of the opponents Terry has yet faced, leading the viewer to doubt whether he can actually defeat him, or even survive. The more brutal depictions of the character’s cruel violence in the uncut version make this idea resonate more strongly.
Despite the continued popularity of Batman Beyond and Terry’s regular presence in comics, it’s actually been quite awhile since the character last appeared in animated film or TV. Since the DCAU concluded with Justice League Unlimited, Terry has only appeared in a brief cameo in an episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold and a short film produced for Batman’s 75th anniversary. Multiple attempts have been made to develop a live-action film adaptation of the series, with the most recent being a prospective DCEU film featuring Michael Keaton as old Bruce that was intended to spin off from his appearance in The Flash. It’s unclear what, if any, future multimedia plans for the character there may be as the era of Gunn and Safran’s DC tenure approaches, but hopefully, Crisis on Infinite Earths can raise Batman Beyond’s profile a bit and lead the property to a bright future.
'Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker' is available to stream on Max in the U.S.
