10 Disturbing Scenes Cut From Comic Book Movies

Batman Beyond: Return Of The Joker is a great DTV animated spin-off of the show, and like the title indicates it features the comeback of Mark Hamill’s Joker. How and why The Joker is still active in the future forms part of the mystery, but a key flashback sequence had to be softened before release.

The movie came out after the Columbine shootings, so there was pressure on Warner Bros to remove violent content. The intensity of the fight scenes was dialled down, any references to death or killing were snipped and blood splashes were taken out completely. However, the key alteration was a sequence showing Joker brainwashing Tim Drake.

Batman watches a grainy video of Tim being tortured, and The Joker eventually tries to force the boy to shoot Batman. Tim kills The Joker instead, which is harrowing stuff for an animated movie. In the censored version the brainwashing scene is cut short, and The Joker dies in an accident instead of being shot.

Thankfully, the superior original cut was released a few years later.