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

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.