New ‘Batman Beyond’ Short Debuts At Wondercon

Batman Beyond hasn’t had a new episode in quite some time, but it has had quite the cult following. At this year’s Wondercon, DC Comics rolled out a brand new short that showed the two stars of Batman Beyond taking on some rather familiar foes.

The story behind Batman Beyond is set in the future, where technology reigns supreme and Bruce Wayne is an old man. In order to keep Gotham City safe, Wayne hands the mantle of Batman to a younger man, Terry McGinnis.

The story became popular in part because its fans got to see the Dark Knight take on some original problems, such as being a full time student while also being a part time crime fighter.

Batman Beyond also saw McGinnis take on brand new enemies who weren’t featured in the original series, since those foes were also older or had died as the years rolled on.

As iO9 reports, the short was rolled out featuring the voices of Kevin Conroy and Will Friedle. These two actors have been well known to have been playing their own versions of Batman and was just another nod to fans of the show to have them back in those roles.

The unveiling of this new Batman Beyond short at Wondercon is part of DC celebrating the 75th anniversary of the caped crusader. Screenrant points out this short will actually air on Cartoon Network after an episode of Teen Titans but it hit the web first.

The interesting thing about the popularity of Batman Beyond is that it wasn’t on the air that long at all. The first episode, helmed by comic book artist Darwyn Cooke aired in 1999. The show was taken off the airwaves in 2001 but the futuristic Dark Knight has appeared as a “special guest” in a number of animated series’ since.

The confusing part of this short is that it leaves the viewers with a cliffhanger. That is especially frustrating considering this is an apparent one-off that won’t be featuring any kind of continuation.

That is unless of course, this Batman Beyond short is actually a way for DC to test the waters and see if it might be able to make a comeback. It should be said Cartoon Network didn’t quite have the following it does now when the show first aired. Could it gain some traction 13 years after it was first canceled?

Batman Beyond could see a revival in popularity if it were to return to the small screen.