10 Insane Movie Moments You Couldn't Believe Directors Actually Went There

3. The Twisted Torture Of Tim Drake In Batman Beyond: Return Of The Joker

Moonfall Twist
Warner Bros.

While Batman: The Animated Series was a revolutionary show that holds up as a magnificent depiction of the Caped Crusader and his world, one thing the series couldn't do was have any of its nefarious schemes ever come off.

Like such shows before and since, the restrictions placed on this series meant that the rogues of the piece could make all kinds of threats, but the Dark Knight would always find a way to triumph.

As such, fans of BTAS had seen the Joker promise to do all kinds of heinous things to Gotham City, yet the Clown Prince of Crime would always be foiled before anything truly terrifying could happen. Then, there came 2000's Batman: Return of the Joker movie.

Tied to the future-set Batman Beyond cartoon, this feature film saw the Harlequin of Hate reappear in the 2039 landscape of Neo-Gotham. As the tale unravels, we get a flashback detailing the death of the Joker years prior, and we also find out why Tim Drake - the former Robin - decided to get out of the superhero game.

To this day, this flashback remains utterly chilling and absolutely unsettling. Director Curt Geda's Paul Dini-penned movie releases the shackles from the Joker and has him in genuinely disturbing form.

Here, we see the captured Robin tortured by the Jester of Genocide and eventually groomed into Joker Jr., but the real anguish comes when the corrupted Tim suffers a breakdown after murdering Mr J in cold blood.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.