A Perfect Ending for Bruce Wayne: Batman Beyond

When discussing Batman and his various adaptations, there is one adaptation that soars high over everything ever done and has rightfully cemented itself as quite possibly the most quintessential and iconic adaptation of the character. Batman The Animated Series rode the coat tales of success created by 1989 hit Batman directed by Tim Burton, starring Jack Nicholson and Michael Keaton. This series would introduce probably the most iconic creative team in DC history in Paul Dini and Bruce Timm and together with the rest of the writers and animators of this show, they created something truly special that would eventually lead to several animated series such as Justice League and Justice League Unlimited. However, one of the most overlooked shows was none other than Batman Beyond. A show about a Future Batman for a future Gotham. The series focused on Terry McGinnis, a high school/college-aged teenager who has inherited the mantle of the Bat after the tragic murder of his father. Bruce allows Terry to use his "Beyond" suit that had once been designed to keep Bruce in the game despite his body giving out on him. With Bruce in Terry's ear and Terry in the suit, the duo brings Batman back from the dead and strike fear into the criminal underbelly of Gotham. However, what is really special about this series isn't just the story of Terry (which is definitely great), but instead is the conclusion and end of Bruce Wayne.

The Beginning of the End: "Never Again"

When concluding the story of Bruce Wayne, it's beginning needs to make an impression and needs to break the character down so that they can ready themselves for that journey toward the finish line. Batman Beyond starts the "Reborn" story with the moment that Bruce realized he couldn't be Batman anymore, and frankly, you could not have asked for a truer ending to Bruce as Batman than what was delivered. The Beyond suit was meant to make up for all his physical failings that came with age, but his heart physically cannot take the strain it puts on the body. While rescuing a wealthy heiress from a bunch of street grade thugs, Batman's heart starts to give out on him, making him helpless to the beatings he is receiving from a low-level criminal. Things look dire as Brue continues to get beaten until Bruce makes the only play left by using the gun of one of the crooks he's taken down already. With this revelation sinking in, Bruce is mortified. The very thing he had vowed never to use was the only thing that could save him. Batman was no more, or at least as far as Bruce could tell. However, this is only the beginning of Bruce near the end. The full cycle of this journey becomes the acceptance that Bruce is no longer Batman, and so began the mourning Bruce's mourning process, starting with guilt and anger. 

Passing the Torch & Inability to Let Go

While Batman Beyond is about Terry McGinnis' rise to Batman, it is about something else too, the end of Bruce being Batman, and it's something he struggles with throughout the entire show. As much as this crusade against crime has been taken on by Terry, Bruce has finally found a way to continue being Batman. Terry may be the man in the suit, but Batman is so much more than brawn. He's the world's greatest Detective, so Terry gets to take on the part of Batman that his body can no longer handle, while Bruce still gets to solve and fight crime vicariously. By being Terry's "man in the chair," and seeing what Terry sees, he's able to direct Terry how best to handle certain situations and effectively be Batman. However, as Terry continues his journey, his reliance on Bruce lessen and so once again Bruce has to let go... or does he? 

During the show's third season in an episode called "Out of the Past" Bruce is approached by Talia Al Ghul, daughter of his late rival Rhas Al Ghul. It's very clear that Talia has spent the time since we last saw her in the animated series to undo a lot of the evils that Rhas had accomplished in his life, and it's all because of Bruce Wayne. As a way to show her appreciation for all that Bruce has done, Talia claims to have perfected the rejuvenation of the Lazarus pit.  Bruce agrees, and after the first session in the pit, Terry sees Bruce even just 15 years prior and just how much Terry pales in comparison. Bruce can be Batman again, but as tempting as this option is, Bruce rejects it. Now at face value, this is Bruce rejecting Rhas' methods and cheating death, but it's so much more than that. Bruce knows himself, he knows that if he were young the crusade would become his again. However, there is a problem with that, Batman is no longer his anymore. It's been redefined. The rejection of this youth is Bruce coming full circle in his closure with the end of his journey as Batman. He rejected living on as Batman in order to die out as Bruce Wayne. However, while Bruce may have been ready to pass on this mantle, it seemed that his ghosts were not.

The True End 

A lot of people consider the end of Batman Beyond to be an episode of Justice League: Unlimited called "Epilogue." This episode is fantastic and reveals Terry to actually have been the biological son of Bruce Wayne via mechanations of Amanda Waller, who despite years of rivalry had decided the world would always need a Batman (although the real show-stealing moment from this episode is watching Batman showcase some of the greatest compassion ever and hold a scared girl's hand as she dies from a brain aneurism that she knows is coming). That being said, those people are wrong. The end of Batman Beyond is the moment where Terry becomes Batman by stopping and defeating the one villain that practically defined the Dark Knight's career. The end of Batman Beyond is when Batman beats the Joker for the last time. 

Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker serves as a perfect ending for a lot of things, it also serves as the perfect true beginning for Terry McGinnis as Batman. That being said, we are here to talk about the specific way that Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker serves as the perfect ending to Bruce Wayne. By this point in our narrative, Bruce has (as previously stated) relinquished Batman to Terry and has decided to finally be Bruce Wayne. He is making his return to public life, retaking his company back from the Wayne Powers merger that the show led with, but just as they were cutting the red tape to celebrate Bruce and his retention of his family's company and legacy, the party gets crashed by someone who was supposed to be dead. The Joker is back, and all of a sudden, all the security Bruce had felt in Terry being his successor, embracing being the man Bruce Wayne disappears. However, what's even more interesting is the fact that while Bruce appears to fall into old habits: pushing people away, keeping secrets, going out on his own, at face value, Bruce is becoming Batman again. However, what's interesting is that Bruce cannot become Batman, and I don't even mean physically. The fact of the matter is that Bruce is reverting to these habits not to establish control, but out of fear for losing everything he has gained since Beyond began. He's afraid he didn't train Terry to handle this kind of a foe, he's afraid of seeing Barbara and Tim get hurt again, he's afraid of this monster coming out from the grave. Bruce, the man who manipulated the criminal element with fear becomes manipulated. As a result, he is taken out and incapacitated by the Joker. Terry must now face Bruce's greatest foe more or less alone.  In the end, Terry defeats the Joker, but he does it in his own way, making the mantle of Batman truly his own. But Bruce finds his ending on the other end of a hospital door. 

After a conversation with Terry, Bruce accepts his ending. After years of fighting, Bruce finds the very thing he lost in crime alley all those years ago: family. Tim and Barbara are there to accept him, and frankly, the only way this ending could have been more perfect would have been the addition of Dick Grayson in this reunion. Batman Beyond starts with Bruce broken by the crusade he had been waging his entire life and ends with Bruce leaving that behind to embrace family. It provides the perfect end to the character of Bruce Wayne.