Batman Beyond: Rebirth

Batman Beyond: Rebirth
Director:	Curt Geda
Writer(s):	Alan Burnett Paul Dini Stan Berkowitz
Release Date:	January 10, 1999
Running Time:	41 mins
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Batman Beyond: Rebirth is the origin story of Terry McGinnis as he becomes the new Batman in the future which served as the 1990's series premire.

Plot

Prologue

In an airplane hangar just outside of Gotham City, a group of kidnappers watch a news report about a failed attempt by Derek Powers to take over Wayne Enterprises. The news also states that the kidnappers have failed to release their hostage Bunny Vreeland in spite of being paid five million dollars in ransom. As it turns out, they plan to execute Bunny and make a getaway with the money. Fortunately for her, Batman arrives, wearing a new suit that lacks a cape but features increased strength, flexibility, propulsion, agility and other abilities. Batman manages to subdue most of the kidnappers with limited effort. However, just as he is about to engage the last thug, he is suddenly struck by crippling chest pain which brings him to the floor. The last kidnapper, wielding an oversized wrench, unleashes a savage attack. As he continues his vicious battering, he smugly comments how Batman had been getting in the way of people like him since he was a kid. Unable to defend himself and in serious danger, Batman snatches up a weapon dropped by one of the other kidnappers in desperation... a handgun. As surprised as Batman is to see what he has done, his attacker runs off fearfully, before being intercepted by the arriving police.

Injured, Batman limps outside the hangar. He removes his mask and reveals a gray-haired, older Bruce Wayne. Upon realizing he was wielding a handgun, something he had sworn he would never do, Batman is enveloped in absolute horror and revulsion; it was that very class of weapon that violently ended the lives of Bruce Wayne's parents, and that drove him to become Batman.

Back at the Batcave, Bruce Wayne puts the Batsuit in the costume display gallery alongside the other crime fighter costumes.

"Never again", he vows.

He then takes one last look at the Batcave, shuts off the lights, and leaves his past in the darkness.

Part I

Twenty years pass and Gotham has changed much in this time, according to a current newscast. Derek Powers has managed to take control of Wayne-Powers, and has been increasing his power and wealth by gobbling up smaller businesses. A teenager dressed as a clown climbs onto a public elevator and starts making trouble. Just then, Terry McGinnis deals with the clown and grumbles, "Jokerz".

Back at Terry's house, his father Warren gets a desperate message from his co-worker Harry Tully. He meets with Tully, who has several dark patches on his skin. Tully gives Warren a disk and is dragged off by a large man who works for Derek Powers.

Powers summons Warren to "clear up" any misunderstanding. He explains that Tully simply had an accident, but he's going to be fine. Powers also asks if Warren has anything Tully gave to him, which Warren denies.

Upon returning home, Warren reviews the data on the disk and becomes distressed. Terry tells him that he's leaving but Warren forbids it. After a brief argument Terry leaves in anger. As he leaves, Powers's hit man watches and grins, seeing that Warren is now alone.

Terry heads out to a nightclub and meets up with his girlfriend Dana. While he talks to her, his rival Nelson arrives but before any trouble can start, a whole gang of clowns calling themselves "the Jokerz" arrive and start wreaking havoc. Terry starts fighting them but more come and he is forced to flee on one of their motorcycles.

The gang chases Terry down a seldom-used road and Terry swerves to avoid hitting an old man, which causes him to fall. The Jokerz catch up with him. Just then, the old man reveals himself as Bruce Wayne, and demands that the Jokerz leave. The Jokerz attack. Together, Wayne and Terry manage to fight off the gang but Bruce suffers from his weak heart. Terry takes him inside and gives him his medicine but the old man falls asleep and his dog Ace prevents Terry from leaving. While trying to call his father, Terry notices a bat trapped in Wayne's clock and frees it. However, as he does so, he discovers a secret passage that leads into the Batcave. Upon seeing the costumes, Terry learns Bruce's secret but Bruce attacks him from behind and throws him out. Terry leaves in anger.

Upon returning home, Terry finds his house in shambles and the words "ha, ha, ha" written in graffiti all over the house. The police are there as is his mother. They inform Terry that Warren has been killed, and the Jokerz are apparently responsible.

After the funeral, a grief-stricken Terry moves into his mother's house and tearfully expresses his regret for not being there to help his father, especially since he had grounded Terry in the first place. However, Terry discovers the disk among his stuff, and after reviewing the data, he begins to suspect that the Jokerz may not have been responsible, and runs off, but Powers' people are watching and see that they have found the disk they're looking for. Terry goes to Wayne Manor and tells Wayne what's happening over the gate intercom. Bruce pretends to ignore him, but eventually lets Terry in to investigate.

Part II

Bruce reviews the data on the disk and discovers that Wayne-Powers is making a nerve gas that can completely destroy healthy cells. As he fumes over this information Terry assesses Bruce's last Batsuit: "synaptic controls, flight capability, and neural muscular strength amplification". Bruce insists that Terry leave the suit alone and tells him to take the disk to Commissioner Barbara Gordon. Terry wants Bruce to do something about it but he refuses, saying that Batman is no more, and Terry angrily leaves. As Terry walks away, Powers and his henchman nearly run him down with their limo and demand the disk back. Terry gives back the disk and manages to escape with his life, knowing now that Powers will be looking for him.

Later that day, Kaznian Minister of Commerce Vilmos Egans arrives in Gotham and is greeted by Powers. At Wayne Manor, Bruce is watching this on TV, when he hears Ace barking and finds that he's been tied up. Bruce releases Ace, then follows him to the Batcave, revealing that the power suit has been stolen.

Terry clumsily flies towards the Wayne-Powers tower and eavesdrops on a conversation between Powers and Egans. As evidence of the gas's lethality, Powers shows Egans footage of the gas being tested on plants, then on a calf, and then photographs of Tully after his accident. Egans is impressed, and Powers assures him that the gas will be shipped out that very night; his assistant Mr. Fixx will personally see to it. After Egans leaves, however, Derek is concerned that Terry is still alive. Mr. Fixx tells him not to worry, revealing that he is the one who killed Warren.

Security guards discover Terry and attack. With the power of the suit, Terry is able to evade them with ease but he receives a call from Bruce. Bruce demands the suit to be returned but Terry refuses. Angered, Bruce activates a kill switch on the suit, paralyzing Terry. The guards now find that he can no longer fight back and pummel him. One of them then aims a gun. Bruce shows mercy on Terry and reactivates the suit. With his power back, Terry manages to fight off and evade the guards again.

Bruce tells Terry of an escape route he had built into the building, allowing him to evade the guards. But Bruce still demands the return of his suit, while Terry wants to go to the transport pad to stop the shipment. Bruce threatens to shut off the suit again, this time, permanently. Terry pleads, reminding Bruce of his parents' death, and saying that this is his one chance to catch his father's killer. Bruce gives in realizing that he's not alone with such a painful loss.

Terry makes his way to the hover docks and discovers Powers and Fixx supervising the loading of the gas. He is attacked by more security guards. On Powers's orders, Fixx gets into the hovercraft and takes off, while Powers stays behind to deal with Batman. Terry throws a Batarang, and Powers shoots it out of the air with ease. Terry throws a gas canister, which Powers shoots without thinking, exposing himself to the gas. Terry flies after the hovercraft.

Boarding the hovercraft, Terry confronts the pilot, only to find the vehicle is on autopilot, and is ambushed by Mr. Fixx, armed with electrified knuckle dusters. Terry manages to fight him off and knocks him into the ships controls. The hovercraft falls into the ocean, burying its cargo and Mr. Fixx together.

That morning, Terry's mother wakes him and tells him that Bruce is there to see him. Bruce offers Terry a job as a part-time assistant, which Terry accepts, knowing that the offer is really to become the new Batman.

Back at Wayne-Powers, Powers is exposed to intense radiation to eliminate the gas. The radiation did succeed in saving his life. However, the radiation therapy, combined with the gas's mutagenic properties, radically altered Powers's body. He is now emitting radiation so powerful that his skin is now translucent, and he appears as a glowing green skeleton. Seeing himself in the mirror, Powers begins laughing maniacally.

Voice Cast

• Will Friedle as Terry McGinnis/Batman II
• Kevin Conroy as Bruce Wayne/Batman
• Teri Garr as Mary McGinnis
• Seth Green as Nelson Nash
• Michael Gross as Warren McGinnis
• Sherman Howard as Derek Powers
• Clyde Kusatsu as Coach
• Lauren Tom as Dana Tan
• Yvette Lowenthal as Chelsea Cunningham
• Sam McMurray as Harry Tully
• Ryan O'Donohue as Matthew 'Matt' McGinnis
• C. C. H. Pounder as Anchor Woman
• Rino Romano as Kidnapper
• Jack Roth as Virtual Newsman
• George Takei as Mr. Fixx
• Marc Worden as Scab
• Bruce Timm as Jokerz Leader
• Corey Burton as Vilmos Egan
• Frank Welker as Ace
• Bunny Vreeland

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