Batman Beyond: The Call

Batman Beyond: The Call
Director:	Butch Lukic
Producer:	Alan Burnett Paul Dini Glen Murakami Bruce Timm
Writer(s):	Alan Burnett Paul Dini
Release Date:	November 11, 2000
Running Time:	44mins
More Information
Full Credits	Trivia
Home Video	Awards
Soundtrack	Reviews
Merchandise	Characters

Batman Beyond: The Call is a 2000 TV movie that was originally released as two episodes. It is part of the 1999 Batman Beyond TV series.

Plot

In Metropolis, a commuter monorail loses control and starts speeding down the wrong track, on a collision course with another. Micron boards the train and manages to uncouple the passenger cars and evacuate the engineer to safety. However, as soon as Micron tries to exit the train, a force field pops over the door, making it impossible for him to escape. In the ensuing crash, Micron is badly wounded.

In Gotham City, Batman is chasing down Inque. Inque catches sight of a nearby civilian, and wraps herself around him to hold him hostage. However, the 'civilian' remarks "I'll take it from here, Batman" and spins at inhuman speed, splattering Inque in all directions, and revealing himself to be Superman — a bit older, a bit grayer, but still as strong and active as ever. Terry is awestruck. The two return to the Batcave. Bruce is not interested in reminiscing, and asks Superman point-blank what he wants. Superman, used to Bruce's style, responds that he wants to offer Terry membership in the JLU. Terry is taken aback, but accepts Superman's invitation to visit the Watchtower.

Terry's arrival is immediately greeted with hostility from Big Barda and Warhawk. Terry receives a civil but no less suspicious reception from Kai-Ro and Aquagirl. Superman insists that his decision in final. In private, he confides to Terry that he suspects one of the League of trying to sabotage and kill the others. He shows Terry Micron, who is recuperating in a stasis tank, explaining that he was trapped by a method that only an insider would know to use.

Terry is reluctant to suspect Earth's greatest heroes, but begins reviewing the files of each League member. Marina (Aquagirl) appears and apologizes for her initial coolness, and invites Terry to join her on her training swim. Terry politely declines.

Once she is inside the tank, it malfunctions and begins to overheat. Terry sees the camera focused on the tank has gone blank, rushes down, and sees her in trouble. When his initial attempts to break open the door fail, he rushes back to the training room, seizes Barda's Mega-Rod from her hand, then runs back and blasts the door open, flooding the antechamber with water and rescuing Marina. But she has been injured, and Barda berates Terry for acting without the others.

Just then, a distress call comes, saying that a large portion of the city is threatened by a series of explosions. The League, including Terry, helps save civilians and minimize the damage. Terry is accompanying Warhawk, who says that he is receiving another distress call. Terry, confused, says he is not receiving anything. Warhawk dismisses this and tells Terry to stay behind, while he flies up to meet the threat — an incoming ballistic missile. Terry ignores him and follows along in the Batmobile. Warhawk seals his armor and clamps onto the missile, pushing it off course.

Then the missile explodes, apparently taking Warhawk with it. The rest of the team is stricken.

In the Batcave, Bruce reviews the footage from the Batmobile's recorder. Terry speculates that the missile must have been on some kind of timer, and Warhawk was unlucky, but Bruce doesn't believe it. He applies a spectral analysis, which shows the missile being hit by a beam of some kind just before it exploded. He tracks the beam back to its source: Superman's heat vision. Terry cannot believe it.

Bruce goes to a hidden corner of the Batcave and unlocks an ultra-high-tech security system, giving Terry his only recourse: a container with a small sliver of Kryptonite. Bruce mentions that this isn't the first time Superman whent rogue, but even though Superman trusted Bruce enough for him to have the green mineral, he always hoped he would never have to use it. Even though the radiation might be fatal to Superman, Bruce orders Terry to do whatever necessary to stop him.

Terry shows the footage to the rest of the League, excluding Superman. Barda refuses to believe it, instead suspecting Terry of fabricating it, resulting in an argument which quickly escalates to physical violence. But then Warhawk appears, alive and well. He confides that he became suspicious, and what tackled the missile was an empty suit of armor, remotely controlled. He's also gained new respect for Terry, and believes his suspicions of Superman.

The team confronts Superman, caught in the act of tampering with Micron's stasis field. Superman denies their accusations. Marina steps forward to touch his chest, wanting to check him telepathically, then an alien eye peeks out of a hole in the chest of his tunic, and Superman attacks. The others are no match for him, and Terry is about to use the Kryptonite, but hesitates, and it is knocked out of his hand.

Micron, awakened from stasis, seizes hold of Superman. Superman breaks free and flies away. The others speculate that he has escaped to the Fortress of Solitude, but none of them know where it is. However, Bruce does.

The team boom-tubes to the Fortress, and find Superman waiting. After a brief fight, Terry manages to disable him with the Kryptonite. Pulling off his tunic, they see a starfish-like creature planted on his skin. Marina connects telepathically with it, and learns its story: Several centuries ago, it occupied an aquatic world, but was abducted from its home by the Preserver, who later tried to adopt Superman (and Lobo), but Superman broke free and sent the Preserver into space to his death. Later, Superman adopted the collection of creatures and housed them in the Fortress. One day, while Superman was feeding the star creature, it leaped onto his face and took control of his mind. It has been controlling him for years.

The others ask why then has it waited so long before trying to kill the rest of them. Marina opens a door to another chamber, and sees hundreds, maybe thousands of the star creatures nesting in an underground pool; under the creature's direction, Superman was breeding them. There are now enough of them to possess a large portion of the planet.

As they look closer, several other creatures jump out of the pool and attach themselves to the other Leaguers. Only Batman remains free, able to electrocute them off his suit. Superman is released, and the Kryptonite shard is flung away. The others attack Terry, who flees in the Batmobile, sent by Bruce. He suggests informing the military to ensure that the creatures don't escape. Superman pursues, while the others prepare to open an underwater door that will release the creatures into the ocean.

Superman catches up with the Batmobile and disables it with his heat vision. He confronts Terry, offering him a chance to "be one of us". Terry declines, luring Superman close enough to hit him with a grapple from the Batmobile that electrocutes the creature off his chest. Superman recovers, not remembering what he's been doing. Terry quickly fills him in as they fly back to the Fortress.

Superman attacks, freeing Warhawk, Barda, and Kai-Ro from the mind control, while Terry dives into the pool to stop Marina opening the door. He is too late. Superman starts tearing huge rocks free and dropping them down, saying they have to block the exit at any cost, even if it means killing Terry and Marina. The others reluctantly aid him. They succeed in blocking the entrance, knocking out Marina, but Terry narrowly saves both her and himself.

The League collects every last one of the creatures. Barda and Warhawk are all for exterminating them, but Superman refuses. Marina communicates with them, and discovers the location of their homeworld. Barda booms them back to their native ocean.

Terry has now earned the heartfelt respect of the other Leaguers, who are eager for him to join. But Terry can't overlook that the others almost sacrificed him and Marina. Barda reminds him that joining will put him one up on "the old man", to which Terry coolly replies that maybe he and Bruce have something in common after all.

As Terry walks away, Superman comments, "more than you think, son. More than you think."

Voice Cast

• Will Friedle as Terry McGinnis/Batman
• Kevin Conroy as Bruce Wayne
• Christopher McDonald as Superman
• Farrah Forke as Big Barda
• Peter Onorati as Warhawk
• Jodi Benson as Aquagirl
• Wayne Brady as Micron
• Lauren Tom as Kai-Ro/Green Lantern
• Shannon Kenny as Inque
• Tim Dang as The Driver
• Chad Einbinder as Father

Gallery

Batman

Bruce Wayne

Superman

Aquagirl

Barda

Warhawk

Green Lantern

Starro

Micron

Inque