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Not every Batman spinoff takes such a negative approach with the character, though. The best ones embrace him fully because they know it’s impossible to operate without him. Batman Beyond adopts that approach, having Bruce Wayne pass the torch to Terry McGinnis, who has that same fire that drives him to fight crime. In Season 3, McGinnis’ positive contributions put him on the radar of another major DC character, one who leads the most unique version of the Justice League in the last 25 years.
The Bat Flies Out of Gotham in “The Call”
Most episodes of Batman Beyond start in Gotham City, since that’s where the titular character hangs up his costume. A villain will start trouble, and Bruce will guide his protege as he works to take them down. However, “The Call” switches things up. The episode kicks off in Metropolis, where Justice League member Micron is training when he gets a distress call. Leaving his robot sparring partner behind, he rushes into action and stops a train operator from meeting a grim fate using his shrinking and enlarging abilities. As any hero would, Micron returns to the runaway train to stop it from doing any more damage, but he meets resistance in the form of a force field that keeps him inside the vehicle as it crashes.
With a member of his team down and foul play suspected, Superman travels to Gotham and offers Batman a spot on the Justice League. He also takes the time to reunite with Bruce, who, of course, was a founding member of the team. Terry can barely contain his excitement, but reality hits him fast when his new teammates, Big Barda, Warhawk, Green Lantern, and Aquagirl, take issue with his arrival. After all, they’re good friends with Micron and don’t want to see him replaced so soon. But Superman isn’t just bringing Terry into the fold as a warm body; he wants him to investigate the mole within the League.
