10 Mind-Blowing Facts You Didn't Know About Batman Beyond

10. The Show Broke Ground In How It Depicted Gun Violence

In the late 1990s, politicians were emphasising that violence in cartoons had gone too far, which caused heavy censorship in the animated shows of the time. This was a serious problem when Batman Beyond was green-lit since, y'know, there was a gun in the opening scene.

In the pilot episode, Bruce Wayne is patrolling the city as Batman when he has a heart attack. As a group of thugs are about to kill him, he grabs a gun and points it at the criminals, scaring them away. Bruce swore he would never hold a gun after one took his parents life so, in this moment, he feels like he failed himself. This is the reason why he decides to retire as Batman.

Although the Censor Board were very strict with gun violence, the Batman Beyond team were able to convince them to keep this scene in as it was integral to set the entire story in motion.

As a result, Batman Beyond became the first Saturday morning cartoon to show a gun pointing towards a camera. Not only was this depicted multiple times, one of these scenes was shown in an advertisement to promote the series.