Batman Beyond

RELEASED 10 Jan 199917h 56m · 52 episodes★ 8.2 TMDB

As new villains overrun Gotham City of the future, the aging Bruce Wayne hangs up the cape of the once invincible Batman. But when troubled teenager Terry McGinnis stumbles upon the Dark Knight's secret, a new alliance is forged. And a triumphant new Batman is born.

WATCH NOTE

Batman Beyond: The Movie (1999) compiles this series' opening story, Rebirth, Parts 1–2. Watch those episodes or the compilation to avoid repeating the same adventure, then continue with the remaining episodes in series order. The compilation adds no episodes and is not required separately. Its DVD also packages The Winning Edge, Golem, Dead Man's Hand and Meltdown, which are already included in this series. Batman Beyond (2014) is a separate, approximately 90-second anniversary short written and directed by Darwyn Cooke, featuring Will Friedle and Kevin Conroy. It revisits this series' world and aired under the DC Nation banner on April 23, 2014; it is excluded from this entry's regular episode count.

Why it matters in DC

Terry McGinnis inherits Batman's role while an older Bruce Wayne remains part of his life. This future Gotham makes legacy a continuing relationship between two people, asking which parts of Batman belong to the symbol and which depended on the original man.

Watch these first

5 titles to watch before Batman Beyond — 60h 52m in total.

Batman: The Animated SeriesRecommended31h 10m★ 8.6
Features Batman earlier in DC Animated Universe, providing character context before Batman Beyond.
Batman: Mask of the PhantasmRecommended1h 17m★ 7.5
Features Batman earlier in DC Animated Universe, providing character context before Batman Beyond.
Superman: The Animated SeriesRecommended18h 54m★ 7.7
Features Batman earlier in DC Animated Universe, providing character context before Batman Beyond.
The New Batman AdventuresRecommended8h 24m★ 8.1
Features Batman earlier in DC Animated Universe, providing character context before Batman Beyond.
Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZeroRecommended1h 7m★ 6.9
Features Batman earlier in DC Animated Universe, providing character context before Batman Beyond.

Opens the planner with just these titles, so you can set your own pace.

How these titles are selected

Story prerequisites are curated. Likely prerequisites are inferred from sequel numbering or explicit synopsis references. Recommendations are earlier stories in the same continuity; background picks are separate adaptations. Series lists cover whole shows, not an episode-by-episode watch order.

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Where it fits in the DC universe

Batman Beyond is title 14 of 16 in our DC Animated Universe viewing sequence. Batman Beyond moves the animated Gotham story into a later generation, with Terry McGinnis taking on Batman's role alongside an older Bruce. Earlier Batman animation supplies the legacy behind that partnership. Return of the Joker is best approached with this series' setting understood, rather than as a direct follow-up to a live-action Batman film.

Explore this viewing sequence