Batman Beyond
What Could Have Been in this series.
Early design of (new) Batman for this show.
- Mr. Freeze's role was originally just a running gag, where Bruce would from time to time get something out of the Batcave's refrigerator and Freeze's head is there, in a jar. Freeze would utter empty death threats at Bruce, who would just sneer at him before closing the fridge door. This was discarded because it was an insulting and unfitting ending for his character.
- After Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, a second direct-to-DVD film was planned, this time involving the return of Catwoman. While it was ultimately dropped, several plot elements were recycled for the Fully Absorbed Finale in Justice League.
- Early on, in addition to the Jokerz, there was consideration for other gangs that paid homage to the classic Batman rogues gallery. This was nixed for fears of it seeming repetitive and gimmicky, although there are a few appearances by a Mr. Terrificnote -themed gang. This idea was possibly revisited for Batman: Arkham City, where it was pulled off successfully.
- The Terrific Trio from "Heroes" were slated to return in the early 2000's comic series, but Marvel Comics objected due to their resemblance to the Fantastic Four. However, Freon (the only member of the three whose parallels were not as explicit, instead being based on Vapor of the U-Foes rather than Invisible Woman) would later reappear as a oneshot antagonist in the 2016 series.
- The network began pressuring the production team to add another female character to the series, similar to Batgirl's increased role in The New Batman Adventures. Since Timm disliked the idea of having another Batgirl, he instead toyed with the idea of introducing a futuristic version of Huntress, who is the daughter of Batman and Catwoman in some continuities. While this never happened, the network's desire to have a stronger female presence on the show is likely what led to the introduction of Max in Season 2.
- Clayface was originally planned to make an appearance on the show, but was likely dropped in favor of Inque.
- Staff writer Stan Berkowitz wanted an episode where Killer Croc returned, pointing out his reptilian physiology would have given him a longer lifespan. In the end, Killer Croc only appeared as a robot in a training simulation in the episode "Terry's Friend Dates a Robot".
- Art by Glenn Wong posted on Instagram depicts Sinestro and is labeled as being for Batman Beyond. For whatever reason, this idea never bore fruit. Sinestro would later appear in Justice League.
- A fight scene
in "Ace In The Hole" showing the lengths Ace went through to survive before going to Bruce was storyboarded, but was deemed too brutal for network standards, and it was cut. - Early designs from Shane Glines that were posted on her now defunct Twitter account showed how Max was originally going to have longer hair, possibly black, before it was decided she should have short, purple hair.
- One of Paul Dini's early ideas for the show was that Bruce, refusing to take a life but recognizing the Cardboard Prison nature of Arkham, would have imprisoned the Joker in the Batcave for decades. Joker's laughter would still be heard echoing from the cell, reassuring Bruce that Gotham was safe. This was deemed too cruel by Batman's standards.
- According to Stan Berkowitz, "The Last Resort" was written in response to the Columbine tragedy and was originally meant to be a gritty prison story but WB execs thought it went too far so much of the grit had to be removed before censors approved it.
- Bruce Timm apparently wrote an episode where Dana breaks up with Terry and he starts dating Maxine, which would end with them getting back together and their relationship being stronger than ever. However, he scrapped it after Alan Burnett planned to use it to break up Dana & Terry permanently and have him be with Max which defeated the entire purpose. note
