Batman Beyond: Year One Short Film Offers Futuristic Take on the Bat

Batman Is an icon that’s captured man people’s attention since his introduction, and fans have expressed a love for the character not only by seeing the official films and movies but creating their own fan projects. 

On November 16, Lumis Entertainment published a ten-minute short Batman film called ‘Batman Beyond: Year One, exploring a futuristic Gotham City with new heroes and villains. 

The film stars Ryan Potter as high schooler Terry McGinnis, as he works to balance crime fighting with budding new relationships under the supervision of a now retired Bruce Wayne. 

The suit McGinnis wears is far more futuristic than the usual cape and cowl Batman is known for, taking cues from Iron Man with its light up HUD and rocket boosters. 

Potter has previously had roles in the 2014 film ‘Big Hero 6’ and has appeared in the DC TV series ‘Titans’ as Gar Logan in season one, back in 2018.

It’s set in a futuristic version set in 2059, where Gotham is called Neo Gotham. 

The voice for Wayne is uncredited, but fans speculate the role is is performed by Roger Craig Smith, the voice actor for Batman in the video game ‘Batman: Arkham Origins’. 

Michaale Yu wrote and directed the film. Other actors include Isabelle Hahn, Justin Vancho, Fiona Dorn, D.Y. Sao, Koki Tomlinson, Tony Vittorioso, Bruce Inaba & Dayna Huor.

An animated ‘Batman Beyond’ was pitched to Warner Bros. Discovery by Yuhki Demers (the visual development artist for Sony’s animated Spider-Verse movies), but the studio rejected it. 

The story is originally from a 1999 animated series of the same name, with Will Friedle voicing Terry McGinnis and Kevin Conroy voicing Bruce Wayne.