DC movies are dropping like flies, these days, and one of the more disappointing victims of Warner Bros. purge saw Batman Beyond get the ax. The film joined a slew of abandoned projects that, like Batgirl and Batman Beyond, were highly anticipated by fans but never made it to theaters.
Batman Beyond wasn’t nearly so far into development as Batgirl when it was canceled, but it was one of only a few DCEU projects that still had some hype behind it. News of its cancelation was disappointing, if not surprising, and promptly lead some DC fans to wonder just why so many exciting projects are being scrubbed from WB’s upcoming slate.
Why was Batman Beyond canceled?
Batman Beyond is by no means the only victim of Warner Bros.’ big DC purge, but it is among the most discouraging. The film was set to once again star Michael Keaton as the man behind the mask, and — following his presence as the one and only good thing about The Flash — fans were very much behind the idea. Keaton is a talent, and his joy at returning to the role was palpable in his other DCEU appearances.
Add to that Batman’s general presence as catnip to comics fans, and canceling a sure-fire moneymaker like Batman Beyond feels harebrained. There’s actually a good reason behind WB’s decision, however, and it may save Batman Beyond from a disappointing fate.
See, Batman Beyond always had a very specific purpose, and not a good one. It, alongside a slew of other greenlit DC projects, were really only attempted as a means to fix the many, many mistakes made by Justice League. The 2017 flop caused reverberations across the entire DCEU, some of them so negative as to ultimately require a full reset to undo.
Now we’re eyeing down the revamped DCU, and it has different aims than the DCEU. It doesn’t have nearly so much to make up for — though it does have some sky-high expectations to meet — and, in the end, that’s all Batman Beyond was ever intended to be. A patch to try and fill a Justice League-sized hole in the DCEU. Which, I must note, is a truly impossible task for any movie to accomplish, but it is what WB intended the film to do.
With James Gunn and Peter Safran’s new direction, Batman Beyond is an unnecessary effort. It’s no longer required, since Justice League is blessedly erased with the rise of the new DCU, and thus serves as nothing but a harsh reminder of those bleak pre-Gunn days.
Had it been made, we must face the very likely possibility that those same aims that saw Batman Beyond get the green light likely would have been its undoing. The film would have floundered, prepped as it was to provide the shoddy framework for an entire sinking franchise, and it almost certainly would have failed. That could have seen Keaton give up on the role permanently, and it would have disappointed DC fans even further.
So, while I’m just as disappointed as anyone to say goodbye to the concept, Batman Beyond’s cancelation is a good thing. It wipes the slate clean for Gunn to revitalize the comics universe in new form, and no longer lingers as a painful reminder of how dirty they did DC.