Article by Chris Foti
Alan Burnett, one of the writers on Batman: The Animated Series and its various DC Animated Universe spin-offs, has rejected a major plot point. He’s not crazy about Terry McGinnis sharing DNA with Bruce Wayne, as revealed in the Justice League: Unlimited episode “Epilogue.”
Burnett appeared on the Above and Beyond Batman podcast and explained:
I never wanted (Terry) on Batman Beyond to have Bruce’s DNA… and so I don’t accept it. Bruce (Timm) and I are friendly about this.
Burnett goes on to reiterate that it’s not the bloodline that makes Terry Batman.
They don’t have to have the same DNA. It’s your own willpower that makes you the superhero.
In a way, this is the philosophy that Christopher Nolan has in The Dark Knight Rises when Bruce explains to John Blake that “Batman could be anybody”, and until the “Epilogue” episode, it was the same in Batman Beyond. As far as we knew, Terry was just a kid with the will to do the right thing, but who wasn’t related to Bruce.
Catwoman As A Mother?
Last summer, Bruce Timm, co-creator of Batman Beyond, revealed that Catwoman was originally going to be Terry McGinnis’ mother. This would’ve been revealed in a sequel movie to Return of the Joker that was never made. So while Alan Burnett clearly wanted nothing to do with Terry and Bruce being related, Bruce Timm was going to make it happen one way or the other.
Burnett has returned to the world of Batman: The Animated Series as a writer on Batman: The Adventures Continue. The new mini-series, set in The Animated Series continuity
… is going back to cover certain gaps in the original series, events that didn’t have a bearing on the series at the time, but now do.
says Burnett.
Burnett teases a character never before seen in TAS timeline that will be in the new comic series.
Perhaps the most intriguing character in the run will be a young man whose story threads through most of the issues. He’s a smart, super-elusive loner who knows way too much about the Dark Knight. How this mystery man fits into the world of Batman Adventures and what he means to accomplish should, I hope, be a jolt for old fans.
We now know that the “mystery man” is none other than Jason Todd!
What are you thoughts of Alan Burnett disagreeing with Terry’s relation to Bruce Wayne? Do you agree or disagree? Perhaps this can be Burnett’s chance to re-re-retcon Terry’s origin story.
Hey, why not, it’s comics right? It could happen!
