Ranking Every DC Animated TV Series From Worst To Best
7. Batman Beyond
Batman Beyond may not look like it now, but back in the January of 1999, it certainly seemed ambitious.
Indeed, making a Batman show without Bruce Wayne in the lead role was, at the time, a totally unprecedented move. The Caped Crusader did, of course, have his sidekicks to compliment his various series'. But to omit him from the costume entirely, and to send him decades into a neo-noir cyberpunk future? That was a massive leap for the character, even for the comics.
The series saw Terry McGinnis, a young high-schooler whose father is tragically murdered, embark on a journey to become the future's Dark Knight in a vastly different way to the Batman of old. Kevin Conroy returned as Bruce Wayne, this time an old recluse who shunned his responsibilities as Batman after one close call too many, and its among his finest performances as the character. Ace the Bat-Hound is also a main character, and there's even some Jurassic Bark-level shenanigans that occur that elevates the dog's relationship with Bruce all the more.
The series is perhaps most famous for its animated feature film, Return of The Joker - a film that produced just about the best fifteen minutes of comic book animation that you will ever, ever see. The film was genuinely haunting and, much like the show itself, typified the true storytelling talent of Timm, Dini, and Alan Burnett.