Batman Beyond remains one of the most-loved, and so-far un-filmed properties in the DC universe. The future version of the Batman story, where an aged Bruce Wayne trains new Batman Terry McGinnis, is reportedly being eyed by Warner Bros. as a feature film, having previously been represented by an animated series and movie, and various comic book series. A UK artist has now further stoked our enthusiasm for a Batman Beyond film though by imagining it as a sequel to Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy.
Thomas du Crest’s version of Batman Beyond is one that picks up on the characters and the aesthetic of Nolan’s movies, showing the future Batman in body armor similar to Christian Bale’s as Bruce Wayne. Other images, which you can check out down below, show off some gadgets and the wingsuit from the original animated series. Intriguingly, du Crest has swapped out McGinnis for Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s John Blake, who was teased as the new Batman at the end of The Dark Knight Rises.
While it’s unlikely that we’ll see Gordon-Levitt’s Blake as the Dark Knight, a Batman Beyond film could do worse than emulate the gritty style of Nolan’s Gotham City, with du Crest’s artwork showing a natural progression from that world. And from what we’ve heard, a movie based on the series is certainly one idea being discussed at WB after the success of Joker. Standalone films for other Batman villains are also reportedly in-development, including turns for the likes of Two-Face and Mr. Freeze.
If a Batman Beyond movie does happen, though, it seems that Michael Keaton is the first choice for playing the older version of the character. Whether this means there’ll be a connection to the Tim Burton Batman series is less clear, although from the concept art we’ve seen from both du Crest and images of Keaton, there’ll be no shortage of creative ideas for bringing Neo-Gotham to life.
