Shark Bytes

I liked the few episodes of B:B that I watched.

I thought that the animation was a little, umm... strange, but all in all it was an excellent take on what Batman will become. Let's get real here, most comic book characters would be at least retirement age if you didn't willingly suspend disbelief that people don't age over the last 50 years.

Good work on this one DC. Jumped the shark? Not likely: it's a fresh idea.

Batman Beyond jumped the shark right from the start of the first season. Anybody who has ever seen a batman episode knows that there is only one Batman. The original Batman has original villains, original crimes and the arch rival is never different always the same crazy Joker. However, in Batman Beyond it has a few of the same characters only older. Bruce Wayne is almost 70 and the woman who played Batgirl is like 60. It is just ridiculous that they can take the original man and turn him into an old geezer. In the original Batman the Joker was always the archrival and that never changed. In Batman Beyond the archrival is some punk kid that is all dressed up in a costume. To keep a good show and advance it you at least need some of the same people as bad guys. Since they changed so much from the original Batman you cannot expect to have a good show from a bunch of makeup crap. None of the same villains or evil henchmen only some of the same people, it is just wrong and stupid to try and remake something like Batman.

Batman Beyond jumped the shark right from the start of the first season. Anybody who has ever seen a batman episode knows that there is only one Batman. The original Batman has original villains, original crimes and the arch rival is never different always the same crazy Joker. However, in Batman Beyond it has a few of the same characters only older. Bruce Wayne is almost 70 and the woman who played Batgirl is like 60. It is just ridiculous that they can take the original man and turn him into an old geezer. In the original Batman the Joker was always the archrival and that never changed. In Batman Beyond the archrival is some punk kid that is all dressed up in a costume. To keep a good show and advance it you at least need some of the same people as bad guys. Since they changed so much from the original Batman you cannot expect to have a good show from a bunch of makeup crap. None of the same villains or evil henchmen only some of the same people, it is just wrong and stupid to try and remake something like Batman.

I have to agree with season two. Season one had a decent story arc going which built up to the season finale where Derek Powers is revealed as the new Batman's arch nemesis: Blight!

Except we never see Blight again after that. The story arc was dropped in favour of stand alone plots like, "Terry stands up Dana to fight crime and has to set things right with her".

I think Powers' son, Paxton, had an episode in season three that sort of tied him off, but it was strictly as an afterthought.

Return of the Joker was decent enough, but after the first season BB was merely "good" instead of great.

Nothing wrong with Batman Beyond it's better then "The Batman" thats for sure.

However i feel that it should have explored making episodes that show his action figure gadgets. Laser Batman would have been cool to see in a episode or 2. And some more games would have been nice.

good show, a joy to watch, never jumped.

The show jumped in the second. The first and third seasons were masterpeices, no doubt, they contained some of the most ground-breaking, dynamic, and original Batman episodes ever dared attempted whilst carving out a definitive future mythology for the DCAU Franchise.

You had the conflicted Terry, the cryptic and often troubled and angered Bruce, the tension between Batman and Barbera Gordon, and the machinations of Derik Powers/Blight....

Following the first season, the show never recovered. The story arcs and character conflict were disposed of in favour of stand-alone junk that wasnt even "daring" in the same context of Batman: TAS. Creating a new future seemed to be more difficult now than ir was easier to do. Villains like the one in "Earth Mover" were the best of an inconsistent bunch.

Season two's strengths were the character-driven episodes like "Ace in the Hole" and the almost Bogart-style "April Moon".

The third season, with a shorter episode number, attempted to tie up loose ends left open for too long, but it was too late. For those who think low ratings killed Batman Beyond, you're right, but it was WB's insistence on toning the show down and taking away what drove it as an expansion of the Batman universe was what cancelled it. Look at JL and JLU, that went longer because they DIDNT mess with the serialized arcs.

This show never jumped. I was curious as to how Bruce would handle being old. Being Batman was Bruce's whole life and seeing him depressed and feeling useless after retiring as Batman made sense.

For those that complain about Return of the Joker being made, go back and rewatch the first few episodes of Batman Beyond and look carefully at all the trophy cases in the Batcave, you will never see either Two-Face's costume or the Joker's in a case. In ROTJ it was even revealed that Terry studied all his other foes but not the Joker since all files on Joker were sealed by Bruce. Now we know why as well as why Tim Drake never became the next Batman. Dick Grayson not being Batman made sense as he wanted out of Bruce's shadow.

As to Terry himself, the JLU Episode titled EPILOGUE gives closure to him and the Batman Beyond universe. A not-too-startling revelation about Terry is revealed in this episode that forces him to take a long hard look at things and evaluate his future.

Here's a hint about the revelation about Terry: go back to the Batman Beyond series first episode and look at Warren McGinnis and Mrs. McGinnis....both have red hair....yet Terry and his brother really dont resemble their parents appearance at all in terms of facial structure or hair color......

I will say one thing to all of you that think, Terry just happened to fall into being Batman. JLU Epilogue. The Episode that is actually the true Series Finally of Batman Beyond. I will not say much more then that because well it would be huge spoilers. Let just say there is no coincidence of Terry becoming Batman. As for the Serie itself. It never jumped the shark, it just didn't have the fan base from the begining to keep it running which is a shame because it was a rather well done series even if it was more child focused. Then again it is a cartoon so for the most part that is a given. If you want to look at bad Batman Series look no further then the current. "The Batman" It is not only pourly animated but the storylines are just as kid friendly in many cases as was Batman Beyond, but Return of the Joker, and Epilogue explain all you need to know about ther series, as well as to why. Dick Grayson, and Tim Drake never took over the position of Batman himself, and why Terry did. So before you start spouting off on why it didn't happen look in the ways the story actually wraps that all up.

i loved this show and every other dc show that bruce timm and paul dini produced, but i think when this show jumped the shark was when they listened to the network and tried making it more of a kid show so they started focusing only on high school related crimes. it lost its seriousness. but it did redeem itself with episodes like the call and out of the past and had the one of the best animated movies with return of the joker

This one's easy: Max. What a horrible addition to the show. Nobody needed her, and by that time the show seems to be running out of ideas. Shame really, it had some good stuff, Inque, the DNA splicers. The older Superman was also a nice touch. And also they could have done a much better job at keeping the future real. Terry often flies around for ages, those boost shoes, the cloak, why wouldn't he always use the cloak in each episode then. Maybe this is just too much for kids.

The show jumped before it aired. The idea of the show is a good one, it was just executed badly. The character design is absolutely terrible. It represents everything that's wrong with modern television animation in America. Every character's body is disproportioned beyond belief, have a block-like, flat look, and contain little detail. The lead character, Terry McGinnis, is unconvincing and a complete insult as the new Batman. Bruce Wayne required years of training before dawning the mask. I don't care what that suit can do, and without Bruce's detective skills, he's nothing. He's just a high school kid for crying out loud. Speaking of high school, it seems half of the villians originate from the school's staff or the students themselves. The supporting cast is laughable. Like his Mom and brother aren't concerned about all the late nights. He gets help from his friend Max, who's a tech head and hacker, and she KNOWS he's Batman. A couple of kids are foiling all these "super" villians? The villians themselves are lacking: while some show promise others look like Marvel-rejects who don't fit in the Batman universe at all. The stories take a back seat to the action, which unfortunately seems to be the style these days. Any drama is rubbed out by the apathetic techno music (Shirley Walker, who did Batman:TAS; what happened?). All this extends to the movie, "Return of the Joker", as well. There are some good elements to the show, such as touching on parts of Bruce's past and the "where are they now?" aspect. I also have a fondness for the Mr. Freeze episode, which harkens back to some of the emotions felt in B:TAS ep' "Heart of Ice". Aside from that, this is a poor attempt at putting a cool spin on "Batman". So much for the good ol' days of the early nineties.

Wow, what a great cartoon show. A bunch of the enemies are completely unbelievable, but man, the wailing guitar soundtrack plus the incredibly sweet new Batman just did it for me. I can't say I watched a ton of this, but when it was on, I watched. I think what did it for me is simple - the rocket shoes. Finally, Batman is taking advantage of technological advances instead of swinging around on ropes - which was cool, yet impractical.

When i first heard that there was a new Batman cartoon, i was a little confused on how i should feel. the first BTAS was GREAT, but it seemed to fall with everything after that. But, Batman Beyond is that and so much more. First off, I think they made the right choice in making a 'nobody' as Batman, they have the chance to develop a whole new style of Bat. And Bruce is closer to 80, so him being Batman?... uhhh yeah... I think this is a great continuation of the original series. They explained Barbara and Tim, i only hope they do another movie or something to explain about Dick.

Probably about the time when Max joined the series. Not that she's uniquely irritating. Kinda hot. That Hallie Berry with shocking pink hair look. However, her inclusion tremendously shifted the dynamic of the series. The Bruce and Terry Show became The Max and Terry Show. Max, a high school genius, tagging along as the occasional brain/damsel-in-peril served to dumb-down Terry and make episodes take longer than necessary to resolve. She had potential, but quickly devolved to classic plucky sidekick status. A Scrappy Doo.