Not so fast. No sooner did word emerge that Warner Brothers was cooking up a ‘Batman Beyond’ animated movie in hopes of emulating the success of Sony’s ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’, than that rumor has been shot down. As confirmed by Heroic Hollywood’s Umberto Gonzalez, none of Warner Brothers’ animation divisions are working on a ‘Batman Beyond’ feature, not even the direct-to-video wing.
No, there is NO BATMAN BEYOND movie in development! Their official word is “Not true. We are not working on an animated Batman Beyond movie.” In fact, to be extra sure, it was checked & shot down at Warner Animation Group on feature side, DC FILMS, & WB Animation on TV side. pic.twitter.com/fei3bczq0F
— Umberto Gonzalez (@elmayimbe) February 1, 2019
Yep, their official response is “Not true. We are not working on an animated Batman Beyond movie.”
‘Batman Beyond’ was a futuristic animated series that aired from 1999-2001, and was set in Neo-Gotham in the year 2039, where Bruce Wayne had retired from crime fighting and lived in seclusion. High schooler Terry McGinnis took up the mantle as the new Batman, donning a nanotech suit that allowed him to fly, granted him super strength and other abilities to tackle a new generation of crime.
In 2002, in between ‘Batman’ cinematic franchises, Warner Brothers began developing a ‘Batman Beyond’ live-action movie, but that never came to fruition. That same year, Warner Brothers Animation created the animated direct-to-video movie ‘Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker’, which was released in both rated and unrated versions.
Released in December, ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ focused on Miles Morales, an alternate dimension version of Spider-Man, who learns the ropes from another alternate dimension Spider-Man, Peter B. Parker. With its innovative art style, the film was a huge hit with both critics and audiences, and Sony already has two more movies in the works, a sequel and a spin-off featuring Gwen Stacy. Sony is also reportedly looking into crafting additional spin-offs for TV. ‘Into the Spider-Verse’ was the best reviewed animated movie of 2018, earning it Rotten Tomatoes’ Golden Tomato Award. It has also won the Golden Globe for Best Animated Picture, the Producers Guild of America Award, and the Critics Choice Award, and is up for the Academy Award, with many betting that it will claim that honor as well.
It would be no surprise if Warner Brothers wanted to tap into the same market, but for the time being, that doesn’t seem to be the case.
Are you disappointed that a ‘Batman Beyond’ animated movie isn’t on the way?
