A Batman Beyond Animated Movie Could Be DC’s Across The Spider-Verse

There’s no disputing the cultural and financial impact of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse as it crushes at the box office and dazzles the world over. At the same time, DC must be wondering how it, too, can get cut of this delectable cheddar, and the answer lies in the form of a Batman Beyond animated movie. Now isn’t that a schway idea? Imagine a Batman Beyond animated movie in the style of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

James Gunn Loves Into the Spider-Verse

With DC Studios co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran in charge of film as well as gaming and animation, there is an opportunity for them to look at the success of the Spider-Verse series and see how their own studio can replicate it.

Gunn is certainly well aware of this, as he listed Into the Spider-Verse as his favourite comic book movie of all time. “This movie works from start to finish. It does not have a bad beat in it,” he told GQ. “I just don’t think that there’s been a better superhero movie than Into the Spider-Verse.”

DC Has A History Of Making Great Animated Films

What DC and Warner Bros. have in their favour is a track record of producing terrific animated films in the past. From Batman: Mask of the Phantasm to Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, it’s banger after banger. In fact, it reached a point where many fans pleaded with the powers-that-be to let the people in charge of the animated universe take over the live-action slate and bring their storytelling abilities across.

With talented directors such as Jay Oliva and Sam Liu at the helm, there’s already a built-in expertise of how best to create these animated features that connect with the audience. Sure, most of these features have been released straight to video or streaming; however, there’s no disputing the quality of their efforts and the performances on display. If Oliva or Liu received a sweet $100 million budget for a Batman Beyond movie like the Spider-Verse films did, don’t bet against them producing something equally eye-catching and genre-defining.

The Curious Case Of The Batman Beyond Animated Movie

Here’s the funny thing: DC did have plans for a Spider-Verse-inspired Batman Beyond movie under the previous regime. On the Hot Mic podcast, scooper Jeff Sneider revealed that Walter Hamada had greenlit an animated feature film featuring Terry McGinnis, and the project had undergone several drafts penned by F9 screenwriter Daniel Casey. However, Sneider wasn’t confident the movie would go ahead, saying: “Do I have high hopes for it? No. I imagine that this is something that is not going to fit in with the new regime’s plan. Which I think that’s fair. Why would James Gunn want to use stuff that Walter Hamada was planning?”

Ever since the Batman Beyond animated series concluded in 2001, there have been talks about the Batman of the Future returning in live-action or even an animated revival. To date, this hasn’t happened, as Terry has only continued to show up in the comics. It’s become frustrating as it feels like every time fans get closer to seeing a comeback, it’s somehow halted in its tracks by some studio nonsense or the other.

Why A Batman Beyond Animated Movie Is Perfect

Without a shadow of a doubt, Batman Beyond forgoes the dark and gritty nature of traditional Dark Knight stories for a more sci-fi cyberpunk approach. To this day, the animated series still holds up with its instantly recognisable aesthetic of Neo-Gotham and the infectious score. It isn’t too hard to think about what could be possible with the improved technology of today.

Much like the Spider-Verse pushes the boundaries of different art and animated styles, so too could a Batman Beyond animated movie as it embraces every aspect of its roots and dives straight into William Gibson-levels of imagination. More importantly, since it is set in the future, there’s an opportunity to play outside of the regular sandbox and continuity. The story can be tweaked to include all sorts of DC characters, or to even include time-travel elements to bring others to Terry’s world. 

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners blew away audiences on Netflix with its cyberpunk-inspired anime visual style, and it didn’t even push every boundary it could. Now imagine what would be possible with Batman Beyond if it is backed by a corporate studio that is serious about challenging Sony and the Spider-Verse.

A Batman Beyond Movie Was Pitched By A Spider-Verse Artist

The good news is that Hollywood seems to be toying with the idea of an animated movie too. Just recently there was news that Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse visual developer Yuhki Demers and writer Patrick Harpin pitched a Batman Beyond animated movie project to Warner Bros. And as we can see from the footage shown by @Vehgeto on YouTube, the visuals were nothing short of stunning. The Spider-Verse style fits perfectly with the futuristic Neo-Gotham world of Batman Beyond.

Sadly, as Demers pointed out on X, the project is not being developed. “5 months ago Patrick Harpin walked into @wbpictures @DCofficial and pitched a Batman Beyond Animated Feature. Before we pitched, they warned us “there is absolutely no way we can do a 𝘉𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘥 movie”, but they loved our enthusiasm. We pitched the outline for the entire film, and what started as a ‘never’ turned into a ‘maybe’. In the time since, we’ve been pitching our way up the company hoping to get to @jamesgunn.”

5 months ago Patrick Harpin walked into @wbpictures @DCofficial and pitched a 𝘉𝘢𝘵𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘉𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘥 Animated Feature.

Before we pitched, they warned us "there is absolutely no way we can do a 𝘉𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘥 movie", but they loved our enthusiasm. We pitched the outline for the… pic.twitter.com/1mhFyu6NUp

— Yuhki Demers (@yuhkidemers) February 20, 2024

Let’s hope DC changes their minds soon.

Tell us, would you like to see a Batman Beyond movie in the style of Across the Spider-Verse?

Also, read up more on our other Spider-Verse content: Is Mayday An Anomaly?, The Spider-Verse Needs Venom and Across The Spider-Verse: The Missing Madame Web Cameo.