DCAU

There was indeed. And an Ultraverse (remember them?) animated series too. Neither were particularly good.

https://geektyrant.com/news/batman-the-animated-series-sequel-series-reportedly-in-the-works-at-hbo-max?fbclid=IwAR0lyp2E7OkRB-PI0AuSZx8n-6F2gr-32-HPl4CqBBxRX1ad7s-mXXWZgyQ

Reportedly, a sequel series for Batman: The Animated Series is in development for HBO Max. There's nothing else yet.

Hrm...

See, as much as I adore the DCAU, I don't think post-BTAS / Justice League Gotham is a particularly fun place to play around with, simply due to how much TNBA and Beyond turned that period into a very unpleasant place, headed by a Batman who was in a very unpleasant mindset.

They would have to Broad Strokes a lot - which I'm not against (it worked for the tie-comics way back in the day, and the comic last year kind of did it) but it's a toss up on whether they would be willing to do that.

Edited by KnownUnknown on Jan 4th 2021 at 3:44:34 AM

Oooof this could be brutal.

So THAT's the source? Okay, there's some validity to it rather than just the usual clickbait sites.

Yeah, I'm not enthusiastic. I don't know how they'd recreate the B:TAS atmosphere since a lot of that technology (like black paper) just doesn't exist anymore, so it'll basically look like TNBA, or I guess, Batman and Harley Quinn. Also, I think the very mixed bag that was Batman: The Adventure Continues kind of killed my enthusiasm on revisiting that world.

Edited by GamerSlyRatchet on Jan 4th 2021 at 3:57:23 AM

I'd be fine if they just finally animated all the scripts Standards and Practices rejected during the original run. Like the Nocturna story, or the Black Canary/Catwoman team up, or the Sandman episode.

They'd also need new actors for many characters, like Gordon and Mad Hatter, and Harley'd be a thorny issue for the fandom— Sorkin can't do the voice anymore and all of the replacements have been divisive to some degree.

Edited by AmazingSpiderHam on Jan 4th 2021 at 4:24:01 AM

The problem with making a sequel series to BTAS is that the Bat-mythology has evolved quite substantially in past decades, and there are new expectations that quite frankly wouldn't fit with the DCAU lore unless they heavily retcon the events to pave way for the new stories.

Like, the Red Hood and Jason Todd have become an essential story in the Batman mythos but it requires Batman to have Jason Todd to be Robin in order to work. Likewise, Harley Quinn has evolved from the lovestruck henchwoman of the Joker into her own independent supervillain who choose to be a supervillain (rather than being implied that if Joker wasn't around, Harley would become a good person). Then you have other superheroes like Stephanie Brown (the Spoiler), Damian Wayne (Robin and Batman's son), etc. And that's not going to the mythos of other superheroes in the DCAU that would be affected by new material. I mean, you now have the idea that Diana has been a superheroine fighting since World War I thanks to the movies, Captain Marvel being now referred as Shazam, Aquaman being fun and badass, etc.

Quite frankly, the only way to make a sequel to BTAS, in my opinion, is to make Batman Beyond an Alternate Timeline which open a lot of potential stories... but by that point, it'll be just a new continuity altogether.

That would be a good compromise. A mini-series that adapts all the episodes they wanted to do, but couldn't. I'm honestly surprised Nocturna never showed up in any cartoon. They used Dala instead of her in Brave and the Bold. She was planned for Beware the Batman but that didn't happen either.

That's more or less what The Adventures Continue did by integrating characters like Jason Todd, Deathstroke, and Azrael, and again, the results were mixed. Some fit perfectly while others required a lot of contrivance and retcons. And this was done by Dini and Burnett, of all people.

I honestly think they shouldn't have to integrate literally everything that came after B:TAS and just stick to what they want to do and what they want to add. The DC universe changed after Young Justice did, but they also didn't feel the need to change EVERYTHING to fit today's DC. Tracy Thirteen was still dating Jaime Reyes, they still avoided calling Billy Batson's alter-ego Shazam, Kaldur'ahm is still closer to how the show conceived him than how the comics currently do, etc.

I wouldn't say Jason is necessary to the Batman mythos, especially since Tim already was pretty much Jason in the series, and The Adventures Continue only made clear how redundant it was to put another Jason who was harmed by the Joker.

As for Harley, perhaps a White Knight situation is the best for her— make Harleen move on while a new henchwoman takes her place. Maybe an animated version of Punchline.

The fact Tim is basically Jason is a sign of the times back when the Robins weren't made to be distinct from each other, especially in adaptations.

Dick is important but Jason and Tim are interchangeable.

At least in the DCAU.

They could have adapted Tim to be more faithful to his concept and thus very distinct from Jason, but they chose not to.

I agree. There are too many characters that are now considered integral for a BTAS continuation to really fit in, especially since their Babs can't become Oracle to make way for Cass and Steph.

Well, technically they do have an out for Babs: after Tim's sanity got completely wrecked by Joker, Babs either quit or was compelled to quit by Bruce, and she went on to be very anti-vigilante for several decades hence.

The downside to that is, in that time period Bruce was very anti-partners, so Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown being bat-family members would still be a problem.

That's what I meant by them needing to take broad strokes. There's a lot of little stuff like that in the state of Batman's DCAU mythos post the latter parts of the universe that makes it very "new installment" unfriendly.

Edited by KnownUnknown on Jan 4th 2021 at 5:20:56 AM

I'm just thinking potential villains.

I don't know maybe Nobody can show up or the Court of Owls.

Hush immediately comes to mind.

He would've made a better antagonist for BTAS Bruce than TNBA Bruce, but still.

Fuck Hush could really work fantastic in the original shows aesthetic.

The only way to break the constraint that the DCAU has been clamped on is for someone to prevent Return of the Joker from happening at all. That's the major reason we don't have extra Robins or Bat Family members. That's when Bruce no longer accepts any partners... as well as the fact the Joker is Killed Off for Real.

Stirk, I'd reimagine by dropping the cannibal angle and just making him an illusion master; instead of using it to scare people like Scarecrow he uses his illusions to enthrall and confuse others for his own goals, and to pass himself for others without being an actual shapeshifter like Clayface.

Film Freak could be fun; at least one episode full of movie references of all kinds, I'd like that.

Gearhead I've always thought is an interesting concept that hasn't ever been treated well.

Orca could be tied to Professor Dorian's experiments.

It'd be nice to see Mr. Nice, the Perfesser and Mastermind at least once, it's just sad it never was done while Goodwin and O'Neil were alive.

The Adventures Continue did a fine job fitting in Azrael and Deathstroke into the DCAU, so I wouldn't mind if they brought them in like that. Just avoid Jason, because their take on him was...ugh. I also liked Joker and Penguin's new second-in-commands (Straightman and Mr. Wing, respectively).

The Tally Man would be cool to see, and so would The General. The Wonderland Gang would be a neat addition to Mad Hatter, as long as they avoid giving Carpenter too much attention. And hey, maybe Timm and co. FINALLY thought of a good way to bring in Killer Moth after nearly 30 years.

Edited by GamerSlyRatchet on Jan 4th 2021 at 6:03:22 AM

Mark your calendars because we're due for another batch of DC cartoons coming to HBO Max!

February 1:

• Batman: The Brave and The Bold
• Justice League
• Justice League Unlimited

February 15:

• The Batman
• Static Shock

It was a lot more pleasant at the end of Return of the Joker when Bruce, Barbara and Tim reconciled.

I mean, was Gotham ever a particularly fun place in any sense?

At least the other cities were pretty good to live in. Metropolis wasn't bad at all. Central City was pretty fantastic to live in, it seems. Dakota was weird, but once Static showed up, everyone seemed to manage well. Themyscira just kept on trucking. I guess life always sucked in Kasnia.

I don't think the frequent alien invasions and metahuman attacks made Metropolis much fun.

Instead of tornado warnings, they have "Superman is fighting something dangerous, so go to your safe place now" warnings.

What about 'Superman is fighting a tornado' warnings?

Edited by kkhohoho on Jan 28th 2021 at 2:01:05 PM