Batman’s smile 

I still think JLU's Batman is the best version. He's got the same dark, serious attitude most modern versions have but it's tempered with little tidbits of humor, goodness, and trust. He sings. He actually smiles from time to time. This version of Batman is more than just the "Grah, I am the NIGHT!" stuff gritty interpretations love so much. He's an actual person.

The way I understand the transition from jlu to beyond is all in that movie Return of the Joker. That while batman was busy with league business, he trusted Batgirl, Nightwing and Robin to protect his city. That with his broader horizons, he started giving his bat family trust in the same way. And that's when it all went wrong. When Tim got captured and jokerized, and after Harley and Joker disappeared, Bruce had an emotional overcorrection. He felt that he was going too big, and that Gotham needed his attention again. So, he resigned his league position, pushed the bat family down and away, and began his loneliest years. It's possible this was a new Trauma for him that he couldn't process properly, and like an addict ruining all the best things in his life, it broke Bruce for years until Terry began fixing him again.

I really like how when Orion says "The city made a STATUE to this fool. I don't understand" and Batman says "No. You don't." he sounds actually kind of angry. Like he's upset with Orion for not seeing the value in Flash.

Special thanks to Kevin Conroy for providing the quintessential Batman for the last 30 years. His performance is what makes this journey through the years so powerful.

Batman's key trait is that he refuses to abandon anyone. That's why he would never kill. I don't buy the "we'd be no better than them" angle. When someone is at their darkest place, he's the one person who will always try to save them. But that's also why he can't bear the thought of sacrificing someone who needed help for his own happiness.

As a victim of violent trauma myself, I have to disagree with one of your ending interpretations on this one. I don't believe, for a moment, that Bruce could have been there for other traumatized people if he hadn't grown beyond 'the mission'. The thing I find so compelling about animated Bruce is that he clearly HAS grown far past that broken little boy, crying in a rain-soaked alley. And he tries to hide it - from himself most of all. There's this feeling, after trauma... that no one can be there for you like you need. That, ultimately, no matter how well intentioned everyone else may be... you're on your own. Only you can pull yourself out of the hell you've found yourself in. Like Bruce's outlook, it's a paradox that's both completely true and absolutely false: No one CAN be there like you need, but you're NOT alone. Many of us CAN'T pull ourselves out of that hell alone - but when you're down there, no matter how many people are there for you, they can't pull you out unless you pull your hardest. Bruce denies that he's moved on - that he CAN move on - because I think he believes that it's only within that feeling - only from within that hell - that he can be what no one could be for him: either a savior to prevent the trauma, or that one last way out of hell. And if he ever took Clark or Dick or Alfred or Wally or Diana's hand, if he ever climbed out his hell... who would be in that hell, a heaven-sent nightmare against all the horrors of the night, to help the next little boy, crying over his dead parents in a rain-soaked alley? In a twisted, and 100% relatable way, I think Bruce feels that, as long as his spot in hell is filled... there's, quite simply, less room in hell for others to suffer. He's wrong, he's heroic, and he's beautiful: the moments that stand out to most of us are those moments when Bruce MUST risk that vulnerability of being out in the world. When he shows how deeply he cares for others - even his own villains. Maybe ESPECIALLY his villains, most of whom are in the same hell he is, existentially trapped by the wrongs done to them. Batman could never exist, if Bruce was trapped in his trauma. And Batman could never exist if Bruce dealt with his trauma. So Bruce isn't trapped: he chooses to stay, and I doubt he really understands why, except that it's for the sake of a better world. All of which makes me wonder... who could Batman really be, if Bruce was able to accept himself as one whole person?

I never considered that JLU’s Batman’s run in with Beyond Bruce would have opened his eyes and altered his trajectory later in life. Definitely how I’m gonna look at it from now on

Rest in piece Kevin Conroy, the man who made this brilliant character who he was

I know it's not the same universe, but Flash giving Bruce his father's message in Flashpoint still gets me sometimes. Your connection between Wally and Bruce reminded me of it in a way.

Static Shock's season 4 opening episode, Future Shock, shows that Batman never lost his connection to the superhero world. He even planned to leave that area of the Bat-Cave clear, so Static's time travel would go smoothly. It's a retcon, since it's a story from after Batman Beyond's final episode, but it helps bridge the gap between Batman's personality change. Showing that he's not actually disconnected, just a grumpy old man. Which gets even the best of the best, of real humans, in the public eye. Bob Barker and Alex Trebek are still beloved game show hosts, yet when they stopped, they were grumpy old men, but no one would believe that either of them were completely cut off from others.

Such a great analysis! Batman's regression from JLU to Beyond always bothered me. In fact the tendency to actively ruin Bruce's happiness in comic stories is almost as bad as my frustration with pointless character deaths!

I believe in the DCAU timeline, what the Joker did to Tim Drake happened after the events of Justice League, being the key event that really started driving everyone away and making Bruce regress and push others away. The Bat Embargo made showing anyone Bat related in Justice League after a point, but they were always active, and while they never knew they were gonna make a Justice League series when they did Batman Beyond, hence little details like the costumes, accepting that Tim was broken by the Joker after all that explains the transition perfectly.

A moment that will also always stick with me about "Epilogue" is Terry finally getting the Batman theme music. He never has it in Batman Beyond or in his appearances in the time-travel episodes of JLU. It wasn't until "Epilogue" that his transformation from angry teen looking for redemption and a father figure to Dark Knight is finished.

Never get tired of these introspectives, i learn so much and really get to thinking. And then a joke comes along when i least expect it. It's part of the experience really.

Let’s not forget that the death of Alfred also probably played a roll in the shift. Alfred was like a second father, servant, confidant, and friend all in one. He had a connection and relationship with him different from anyone else in the League or in the Bat Family. Once Alfred died, he really was well and truly alone whenever he returned home, and it’s possible he suffered from a bit of depression after it. It’s crazy that the Timmverse gave us both the most underrated and the most cursed Batman ships, i.e. Bruce x WW and Bruce x Batgirl. It’s infuriating to no end that he went farther with the latter than the former and I think the relationship should be explored more in comics.

That final episode probably explains why he became so bitter as an old man. He would have had a falling out with some of the league as they pressured him to continue as Batman since they know from previous episodes that he's one of the best and they'd have plenty of other ways to give him a second chance like the Lazarus pit, time travel, magic, experimental and alien technology, and he'd just be done the moment he had to pick up that gun and he'd definitely have had a falling out with anyone who thought he had used the device or thought that he risked too much by refusing to. Several league members even tried to follow him into the opening ace had made to go fight a traumatized little girl. This is only bolstered further by the fact that when he finds a dog that needs to be saved years later he's still thinking about that same little girl and gives the dog her name to symbolically have been able to save someone or something in her place. It clearly still weighs on him. When he says, "They all left because when it came down to it they didn't have the heart for the mission." He's talking about the one thing that he has above anyone else. Heart. The same heart Waller talks about. The heart to stop fighting and just comfort a child who needed it, to fight to save them, or to die if that's what it took and to give up everything else, friendships, love, money, status, and even Batman just to keep 1 child safe, comforted, and happy. He doesn't want anyone to suffer, but especially a child. He's willing to be a dictator when Walley is killed, but no children were harmed in the making of this dystopian dictatorship.

I think that a key element of Bruce's inability to show love for those around him is that Batman is the hero Bruce needed as a child. He created a selfless paragon of justice and cold rational problem-solving who was entirely unafraid and untainted by the darkness it inhabits. Regardless of the attachments he begins to form, in the DCAU at least, he can never reveal the screaming, crying child still living inside. That child needs years of living in a secure environment and formed attachments before he can ever grow into an adult, but there is absolutely no place for a man of 30-40 to be able to address that combined with the countless complications that have come from being Batman. Put another way, Batman can form alliances and even partnerships, but that part of Bruce's psyche only has elements of what the child found useful in making himself feel safe, so Batman cannot have intimacy because there's nothing deeper there - it's like if young John Connor and the Terminator shared a body; the Terminator might be able to laugh and joke because John taught him how, but his primary purpose is to protect John, so he is functionally incapable of letting others connect with John. Being friends with the Terminator does not make you friends with John Connor nor vice versa; their needs and person are different. This is exactly why I _hate_ the stories that pair Bruce with Selina Kyle citing that they are both broken; they -are- both broken, and that's exactly why they cannot help one another. Two children don't fall in love just because their caretakers do, and caretakers like Batman and Catwoman who are constructed guardians without any core values beyond protection of the inner child are incapable of being happy because their purpose for existing forbids it. Catwoman might see and care for the child in Bruce, but the moment that the child's needs conflict with the child within Selina, she has to treat it as an existential threat and cut ties. Likewise for Batman and the child within Selina, and that kind of unpredictable instability makes meaningful trust impossible.

Kevin fucking Conroy. Immortal in our hearts.

Gotham Knights came out recently 👀 If you need a homie to help save Gotham with, I got u 🤣

Nolan’s Batman is the only one who got a Happy Ending.

Bruce Wayne reminds me a lot of my dad, I didn't have a family father figure, my old man was traumatized as a kid, when he was taken advantage by a female family member an aunt or something, and had his sexual awakening at too much of an early age, and because of that he never truly grew up, which is why he was sort of a playboy and did not take women seriously, as he never mentally matured to be a true man, since he still did all the same things he enjoyed doing when he was young even when he got to his 70s, but even though he was a workaholic and was never a family man, I still feel proud to call him my dad, because he did help a lot of people in all his communities, and even though I never truly bonded with the man because of how he was, he did instill values in me even after his passing, because I learned from his mistakes and I am still learning now, I guess that is why I relate so much to Terry.

RIP Kevin Conroy, he gave us the best Batman ever.

Watching this for the first time on the day Kevin Conroy passed…. Hits different. RIP Kevin Conroy.

For a moment, I thought you were going to use Batman's laugh in "Mad Love" to demonstrate his loneliness. But this gracefully connects his life through his smiles and scowls.

This is so god damn good. Lots of people don't get why I love batman so much, this essay helps illustrate some of the best reasons! I hope you blow up, man, subbed.

The DCAS is a beautiful peace of art. Your videos just add depth to its beauty

It’s so perfect that Joker gives us the interpretive key to understanding Batman as an orphan child who can’t move on

Love this video. I always thought about the ending of JLU and how Bruce ends up in Beyond. It made me think of the Batman of TAS and TNBA. He ditches the smiles, witty banter, and yellow bat. He has become hardened and cynical with his never ending war on crime. Of all the heroes, I think Batman feels the hurt and loss of normal people more, and Gotham is not a nice place to normal people. He probably deals with the most gruesome murders, and instances of abuse possible. The JLU is built to save the world, not stop humans from being the worst versions of themselves. When Bruce can no longer fight that war, he falls hard, it's not ego, it's empathy for all the people he can't save. BTW: Do the Bruce and Barbara video already!

With Kevin Conroy's passing this was a good documentary about this Batman

I miss the DCAU, when the writers actually cared about good writing. Also... RIP Kevin Conroy

My theory is the events of the "apocalypse of 09" mentioned in passing had something to do with his refusal to work with the jlu maybe he was put in a scenario where he needed to choose between a team mate (maybe wonder woman) and the mission (saving the planet) so he picked the needs of the many over his own and that solidified he doesn't want to be a team mate anymore because ultimate dcau batman has one weakness:he cares too much. He cares about every person and so he stresses about doing the most good for the most people ignoring he is part of the people he has to do good for. So in the end he chose to shed his weakness showing compassion and wears a stone mask by receding fully into the inky blackness of being batman and ONLY batman

Beautiful video. Only one thing I have to say, Bruce is NOT trapped. He chooses to be frozen. It's the necessity of the mission. He opens the wounds by choice to continue to remain connected to the pain around him. He has grown past it and overcame it, but knows in order to empower others, he must continually travel back to the abyss with them as a vulnerable child. Batman and Bruce are symbiotic to a degree. If Bruce were to live a happy life, he is so rich he will be disconnected from the reality, hence no Batman. If Bruce did not grow out of his trauma, then his anger and depression would push him too far and never empower others nor have mercy for those that stray, hence also no Batman. Batman anchors Bruce to continue to choose the mission and stay connected to his community. And maybe I am wrong. Maybe this is just the interpretation of a child who grew up in so much trauma but was inspired by BTAS, JLU, and my faith to start our nonprofit to empower our community. But anyway, that's how I see it. Regardless, this was a beautiful video.

When you defeat your demons, don't set yourself up for a fall thinking they'll stay beaten forever

i loved how in dewth of the family in the case where batman dies saving jason everyone comes to jason to tell him how good a friend batman was wich surprises him how these superhumans would talk so big about a person with no powers

Your videos are personal (and inexpensive) therapies. Can't wait for more.

On the topic of frozen child. I thought you would mention that in the epsiode with superman and the black mercy. While superman had a new life and future. Batman was literally unable to see past that night. His happy future was his dad just beating the guy and saving his family for eternity. He can never see past that moment.

I like to think that the JLU timeline is separate, and Batman does grow into that complete, compassionate man with friends and family, and he doesn't regress into what we saw in Batman Beyond.

“We must imagine Sisyphus happy” becomes “We must imagine a Bruce Wayne who is both emotionally healed and yet still Batman”

It would be cool if you did a video on Bruce's progression in The Batman (2004). I think it has a similar arc but overall different because he's a lighter Batman at the start

Wait....what about Young Justice? Batman's presence in it is absolutely critical. Especially everything in Season 2 and 3 is critical to Bat Family discussions. Good vide, just surprised no young justice included. The line about Batman helping Robin where Wonder Woman accuses Batman of making sure Robin would turn out like him and he responds "So that he wouldn't"--just honestly the most powerful and demonstrative of the DCAU Batman.

I love how you have jingle bells as the background music given the parody associated to Batman

He could've made babies with an Amazon so beautiful she made the gods themselves jealous..but he was too obsessed with catching bad guys, and got Talia for a baby mama as a result...and not even with his consent...I WANT AMAZONIAN NINJA BABIES, DAMN IT! 😠

I like the theory of 2 separate timelines. Wayne of Batman TAS and Wayne of JLU.

The suggestion that Beyond was the original timeline but it was altered by Bruce's (and John's) experience of it is one I can't believe I've never heard before and a really good point. The DCAU doesn't seem to follow closed time loop rules, so in theory it could actually work. I want Watchtower Database to get on that. That being said, the Epilogue flash forward seems to be consistent with the Beyond from the show, so maybe that's all a bit too good to be true #keepepilogueasecret Edit: On second thought, Epilogue doesn't necessarily throw this theory out the window, and now I'm excited again

I haven’t read too many comics, but this I believe is the best version of Batman ever written

I also always assumed that what happened to Tim was what made Bruce withdraw from the League and return to the "part-time" status Superman references in Beyond. I also assumed that it was this time, with his League connections minimized, Tim and Dick out of the picture, and perhaps Jim and Alfred both having died, that Bruce and Barbara had their fling. I just can't see it happening unless Barbara's literally the only one Bruce has left to lean on.

Your essays are always a gift, man. 👏

Love your work dude, you crush it everytime

These DCAU videos will never get old.

Between you and hi top films, you guysput some of the best video essays on superhero media and I love it all. Keep it up

Dude I legit made a comment on a previous DCAU video of of yours exactly about this! This is SO COOL! This is an amazing analysis and honestly my favorite one. Exactly what I saw, the difference between justice league and batman the animated series and batman beyond. This comparison with Bruce being a child frozen in time, but having that side of him nurtured by Wally and Clark is such a cool concept. Thanks for sharing!

I thought it was very clear BB Bruce was pushing Terry to go away, knowing that stress was usually enough to make people leave eventually.

It could be the time travel episode but regardless I think there are two timelines. Both start with BTAS and TNBA but then split between the justice league and Batman beyond stories. It just doesn’t make sense that he would regress so far after justice league

This channel has become one of my favorites

I think the reason Bruce became so cynical in Batman Beyond is because of the events in "The Once and Future Thing". When young Batman asks what happened to the watch tower, Terry says it's gone and that they "lost a lot of good people that day". I think losing the last few people he had left, who were always a constant before (Flash, Superman, etc) was enough to reverse the growth from JLU.

The top tier content never stops

Okay, your videos are amazing, don't stop.

Wow I gotta say I’m in love with this channel and you’re understanding of comic’s and the characters is amazing

I just interpreted it as, and I'm sure Bruce or Terry or someone in the show mentioned this, that when he hanged up the mantle, he cut off all ties because those ppl where apart of his life as Batman. He created and grew those bonds. So maybe he felt like if he was around them, then he would be tempted to put the suit back on to help and maybe even feel a need to be with them, but Bruce valued his moral codes even more. And this new descent into loneliness started with what Joker did to Tim in Return of the Joker. Or maybe this is just my interpretation 😅

I was actually thinking about this exact thing like a month ago. Really considering how the mantle of Batman is shown. You've summerized my own thoughts pretty well.

Man your videos are insane keep it up man

The man lived for the mission, he's only happy as long as things are related to the mission, not being able to continue the mission is what broke him (and being able to keep the mission alive through Terry brought him back somewhat)

Your vids are so well made, love it bro! Keep it up❤️

One of the best videos you made.

Love the Christmas music in the back! Also i love your videos!!

I've learned alot of things, that I don't even notice or know of and it's pretty entertaining, we need more of this dcau videos.

I think "Return of the Joker" shows the change in timeline... It shows Bruce reconnecting with the Bat Family, and it would explain the inconsistency. I think "Epilogue" is the pre change.

Batman doesn't get heaven or hell, for him there is no happily ever after He fights until he falls, and sooner or later he will fall. To a death trap, heroic sacrifice, or a random thug. He gets a few short years of true happiness and then he starts fighting again The only reward Batman gets, is to be THE BATMAN.

Stumbled across ur Chanel and I'm in love, and you're titles are creative af

I love these videos glad I found your Channel 😁

I always connected the end JLU to the dark knight returns series. To me that feels more plausible.

Batman sings too! I love Am I Blue.

love your videos man

As for why he regressed in Beyond back to being a lonely coot Maybe it's not the most satisfying way to write him But it's definitely real enough I know first hand that even though you had full and loving relationship and a bunch of very warm relationships with multiple people... You can just drift away from that happy person you were then and sink back into your old sad but comfortable lonelyness And it doesn't even have to be a singular, huge incident or accident that lead you back down there, it can happen gradually, even though you don't lose those people you can lose contact with those people and then the less of them you have left the less you become. Until there's just you left... And even though you try to reach out to them sometimes, or to new people it's difficult because maybe that job, or common goal isn't there anymore and you have no idea how else to connect without that common ground because you're just a lonely coot who never learned how to or that he even can externalise feelings and emotions, thus you never openly let those people know how they make you feel and how much they mean to you and they get more and they might turn reluctant because they start suspecting that you just don't care or like them anymore...

Another DC vid by Implicitly Pretentious? LETS GOOOOOOO

I like to believe Beyond was the original timeline, but they fixed it so he’s happy now 😊

This is wonderful

Please keep these coming

Thank you for making me want to watch the cartoons again. Again.

I like the way you tell stories

Bro I genuinely dont know how you have such a little amount of subscribers. Your channels quality is that of a giant production studio. Your videos are sooo good I love them Im going to start diving into all of your videos!!! :)))))

I like the idea where when Tim Drake was capture and turn into Joker Jr, his life turn and his social connection collapse, then enforce his to focus on the mission more then his family and his friends.

this is the only video I've seen that truly understands batman

I forgot which interview it was but at a comic convention the creators for beyond didn't want to see it end but because it was being cancelled they helped end it with epilogue, the one key thing is they wanted Terry to end up with 10 considering this little catwoman batman dynamic again BUT it wasn't for completely selfish reasons and 10 managed to change her life around to an honest one alongside her brother.

That guy at the end of the show with a smile on his face is my Batman and REFUSE to belive that JLU and Batman Byonde is the same timeline!

That picture with him holding a microphone I find it funny because thats when he is singing the blues

Love the DCAU videos!

I'm the geek kinda person in everything, when I was five I thought "the mission always comes first" is the key for getting whatever you WANT in life. Idk but do we really know what we really want? (Great vid btw)

Damn, right in the feels. Excellently said.

thanks again

This was beautiful. I love all the ways you connected the different series and contrasted Batman in his different relationships. I think you brought to the surface the emotional reasons why Batman in the DCAU was so captivating and why he was my favorite as a kid (besides him just being a badass). I'd be curious to hear your take on Batman in the HBO Max Harley Quinn series. There was a recent episode where Harley goes into his mind and befriends a young bruce and tries to help him with his trauma. It was hilarious and brilliant and connects to a lot of the themes you talk about with Batman in the DCAU.

*I feel like Bruce Wayne reminds me of myself, not because of money or anything. It was his heart that I can relate. Time makes me forget that feeling of warmth to be belong to others.*

Man me and my daughter have been watching the Tim verse and we’ve started over at the beginning and have gotten to season 4 of btas and the episode growing pains has to have had the most impact of any cinema i have ever seen on multiple generations of fans you should cover that gem

Why is someone always cutting onions when I see these videos?

Why are ur uploads so gooooood

SOMETHING SOMETHING SOMETHING CHANGING YOUR MIND

I think one of the comics had a wonderful answer to the story of Batman. The reward for being Batman, is that you get to be Bruce Wayne.

I see the unseen years as being Bruce resigning himself to the fear he had back in the original series that this truly was a war without end. That for all his efforts, he would never change people - that he would never win. There’s much to be said for how different characterisations of Bruce would view that as a win - that Bruce loves being the goddamn Batman because it frees him from his trauma as he realises the power fantasy he had when he was a child - but DCAU Bruce is also a decent person who does “care for his fellow man” and wishes to leave the world a better place. And it’s in this frustration with the world that he retreats from it when he can no longer go out every night and change things. I think Tim’s tragic end has a lot to do with it, but Bruce’s desperate need to follow through on a decade’s old promise he may no longer have the heart for sees him trudge onward, building the Beyond suit when his body fails him, until finally Bruce Wayne chooses himself over the mission by picking up a gun, betraying his oath, no longer being worthy of the mission and finally being able to let it go. Terry’s arrival teaches him that Batman doesn’t belong to Bruce, and it shouldn’t live and die with one man’s frustrated obsession - that the good he’s done and can still do isn’t invalidated by the way things are - so long as he doesn’t surrender

Being surrounded by other people with the same goals brought out the best with Bruce. Secluding himself brings out his worse.

Barbara cradling the joker robin is still heart breaking to see