I sat in on the Batman Beyond 20th anniversary celebration at Comic-Con today, and it was quite a delight. Stars Kevin Conroy and Will Friedle were there, along with legendary voice director Andrea Romano, writers Alan Berkowitz and Bob Goodman, director James Tucker, and Bruce Timm. They told a bunch of stories about the series, like The incredibly easy pitch for the show, their personal favorite episodes, and all of the incredible vocal talent they were able to perform with.
In Hall H for the #BatmanBeyond 20th anniversary panel. Big cheers for #AndreaRomano, @willfriedle, and @RealKevinConroy in particular. @Comic_Con #SDCC19 #SDCC #SDCC50 pic.twitter.com/gYArHLyWLW
— Jay Yaws (@JaYaws) July 18, 2019
Bruce Timm told a funny story about the initial pitch for #BatmanBeyond: they said “how about teenage Batman?” and were told “great.” When they started talking about spec scripts and outlines they were told “oh no, it’s greenlit. Production starts this fall.”
— Jay Yaws (@JaYaws) July 18, 2019
It was never in the cards to recast Bruce for #BatmanBeyond, so @RealKevinConroy was the only choice.
— Jay Yaws (@JaYaws) July 18, 2019
Writer Bob Goodman’s wife and Hilary Bader came up with the term “schway.”
— Jay Yaws (@JaYaws) July 18, 2019
Shirley walker and the @DynMusPartners crew provided their own ideas for the opening credits.
Timm is talking about how the #DarwynCooke designed title sequence came about. Timm himself made a #BatmanBeyond figure out of a #Nightwing action figure for the sequence.
— Jay Yaws (@JaYaws) July 18, 2019
Includes new featurettes, every episode, and #ReturnoftheJoker.
41 episodes are fully remastered, while some were too worn from time and received a digital polish. pic.twitter.com/H501HLexXz
— Jay Yaws (@JaYaws) July 18, 2019
Surprising no-one, but exciting everyone, they also announced that Batman Beyond will be available on Blu-ray this October. The set will feature an exclusive Funko Pop!, brand new featurettes, the Return of the Joker film, and every single episode of the series. 41 of the episodes have been completely remastered, while the remaining batch have received digital upgrades. I saw some footage and, friends, both processes look great.
The series will be available digitally on October 15, followed by Blu-ray on October 29. Head to Comics Now for more specs and details as well.
