On my Above and Batman Beyond podcast, the topic of a live action Batman Beyond movie comes up frequently. For our most recent 50th episode special, I felt it was the perfect place to hit the topic again.
CLICK HERE and the link below for our newest EPISODE 50 of Above and Batman Beyond.
https://soundcloud.com/benjamin-david-288828851/ep-50-special-toy-fair-live-dc-superhero-girl-kat-hudson-bcb-10-2019-dc-animated-movies-beyond
It’s a hot topic, because Beyond in live action is something we’ve still yet to see. We’ve seen the futuristic Bat only in animation, i.e., the Batman Beyond animated series (’99- ’01), later in the controversial Epilogue episode of Justice League Unlimited, and then the 2014 Batman Beyond animated short for Batman’s 75th.
Still, no live action Beyond.
I covered last month’s New York Toy Fair 2019 for C506. As a podcaster, I attended the event, not only for my DC Collecticast show, but also the Beyond pod. Proudly wearing my Above and Batman Beyond shirt, as always, I received a compliment on my gear (literally, every time I wear something Beyond related, someone stops me with a compliment, and begins talking about the franchise). This particular compliment came from Sean Tucker, video editor and writer for otakusandgeeks.com.
After a short time talking about our mutual love for Beyond, Sean agreed to a brief pod interview for ABB. One of the inevitable subjects covered was Beyond in live action. Of all the pitches and ideas I hear for such a movie, I thought Sean’s proposed strategy for bringing it to life was exceptionally clever.
Make a live action short first, and see what people think!
Before getting into the idea of short-first/feature-second, Tucker explains why a Batman Beyond movie would work particularly well in today’s pop-culture.
I think they need to step away from what they’ve been doing with Batman.
From my talk with Sean Tucker at otakusandgeeks.com:
ST: Well, I’m really hoping that they do come out with a movie for Batman Beyond, because I think they need to step away from what they’ve been doing with Batman. The whole thing with Ben Affleck, and they’re trying to find a new Batman. I think one of the things they can capitalize on right now: If you’re going to do a standalone Batman movie, why do it on the current Batman?
Let’s fast forward to the future, and do it on Batman Beyond. Let’s do it on Terry McGinnis. Let’s do it on something that everybody can get into. Something that young fans and older fans can do, because it’s new. You don’t have to do the whole back story. You could do a new story. It’s something new for the fans right now, so I think this is a great thing.
BD: Yea, people often say: “How many times are we going to see Bruce Wayne’s parents get killed?” So, that’s a good point.
ST: It’s true. Ya know, how many times are we going to have to go back and have to retell the story of Batman just to introduce people to the same thing all over again? Let’s start something new. Let’s do Batman Beyond, and let’s carry the movies from there. I mean, we have the technology, the suits they make are great. So, let’s do something that younger fans and older fans can come to.
The next part of our live action Beyond talk really caught my ear.
Film a short, drop it out on YouTube, see how it goes.
ST: Let’s do something like Ryan Reynolds did with Deadpool. Let’s do a test shot of something showing Batman Beyond and work it from there. I mean, they have it to do it. You don’t even have to show Terry McGinnis. Just show the suit. Let’s just show the capabilities that it has. Just have everybody come out and say, “Hey, let’s do the show.”
Here’s the thing. One of the best things that I think they could have done is, YouTube is a great platform for them to do that. Film a short, drop it out on YouTube, see how it goes. I mean, look what happened with the–even though it never came to fruition and it was just something that they showed–the Power Rangers short.
BD: Yea, with James Van Der Beek!
ST: Yea! It was crazy, people got so hyped for it, and guess what? They dropped the movie. Everybody went to go see it. So, let’s drop a YouTube video. Look, they started petitions for everything. Let’s start a petition to get a Batman Beyond short, and let’s see where it goes from there. Maybe we could convince DC to actually put something out.
Petition Beyond
BD: A petition is what started Young Justice back, right?
ST: That’s true. Because, YJ was cut and I think it was one of Cartoon Network’s biggest shows. Couldn’t understand why they cut it, but everybody did a petition to bring it back, and guess what? Now, we got the DC app, and we have a brand new season.
I mean, we could do it for both: We could either petition for a movie or brand new episodes of Batman Beyond. Either one is going to be something we all want to see.
Don’t forget to check out the work of today’s guest, Sean Tucker, video editor and writer for otakusandgeeks.com.
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