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The Knights of Tomorrow!
Original Airdate - November 19th, 2010
A glimpse into the future reveals Dick Grayson has assumed the Batman mantle after the Caped Crusader retired and fathered a son, Damian, with Catwoman. Despite his parents wishes, Damian does not want to follow their legacy, but when Joker returns, he may have no choice!

Written by Michael Chang
Directed by Jake Black, Todd Casey
Review by Andrew, klammed
Media by Warner Bros. Animation
Cast
Diedrich Bader as Batman / Bruce Wayne / Adult Damian
Sebastian Bader as Damian's Son / Future Robin
Jeff Bennett as Joker / Joker Jr.
Patrick Cavanaugh as Damian Wayne / New Robin
Nika Futterman as Selina Kyle
James Garrett as Alfred Pennyworth
Nicholas Guest as Question
Lex Lang as Dick Grayson / Batman II
Michael-Leon Wooley as Kalibak
Marc Worden as New Joker

Music
Theme Written and Performed by Andy Strumer
Music by Michael McCuisition, Lolita Ritmanis, Kristopher Carter
Media



Video Clip

 


Review (by Andrew)
Since about season 1 the only involvement with Jack Kirby’s New Gods characters had been with brief appearances by Mr. Miracle and beloved Big Barda, this teaser somewhat builds off of the previous episode’s teaser which introduced Mantis fighting Stargirl. Instead of a random suburban neighborhood, however, our continued foray into the New Gods involves The Question taking a romp on Darkseid’s chaotic homeworld of Apokolips. It’s a rather simple teaser focusing pretty much on just The Question being a bad ass, as fans have been yearning to see him, and taking on several Parademons and ultimately leading to an ambiguous (escape?). The only problem present with this was that Question seemed a bit overpowered given that he’s more brain than brawn, but it was still a pleasant teaser.

Surprisingly, the teaser has nothing to do with the main episode. While that’s not unexpected for a usual Brave and the Bold episode, it is unusual for episodes dealing with the Bat legacy. Fortunately, though, the lack of use of the teaser doesn’t impede the story-telling ability of the rest of the episode. It starts off with chronicling Batman’s career from the first days, to Robin’s arrival and departure as Nightwing, and unexpectedly onto his relationship with Catwoman. This came off as a major jump into huh-worthy territory given that, so far, Catwoman and Batman have only moderately flirted throughout the show. Soon enough it even goes on to give them a son, marking Damian Wayne’s first animated appearance.

Despite the major jumps in the timeline and the attempts to chronicle Batman’s history, the main story manages to tell a well rounded story revolving around Bruce Wayne’s ultimate fate and Dick Grayson’s rise to the Batman mantle. It’s nearly endlessly surprising what they managed to fit into this episode without any of it feeling rushed or improperly represented. Although it ultimately doesn’t serve any actual canon purpose to the show itself, it does serve as a gateway for viewers to learn the modern day canon of the comics - as askew as it may be. The only disappointment that really came from this chronological look was the lack of reference to Batman Beyond, but it’s a minor nit-pick.

Overall, I was concerned that this episode would fall under the cliché of “jumping the shark” and simply come off as an overzealous attempt to represent the comics’ current take on Batman. This was slightly exacerbated by the lack of mention of Tim Drake and Jason Todd, but telling the story from the viewpoint of Alfred - in the present-day timeline of the show - as something along the lines of fanfiction was incredibly clever. This is definitely not an episode to miss.

Review (by Klammed)
Not going too much into the teaser for this. To sum up, it’s a continuation of the previous teaser, this time taking place far away from earth on the world of Apokolips. While they stuck to designs very much in the style of what we’ve seen in animation of the Parademons, they made them huge. Huge. Really huge. Which makes for cool -but maybe incongruous- action from the Question.

Straight into the actual episode. Many references to Morrison’s current run throughout the episode, though that would be expected, considering that they intended to feature a ‘Damian Wayne’. This Damian Wayne however, is not the spoilt, socially homicidal little freak that was trained by assassins from an early age with major daddy issues over his claim to the legacy of the Bat. Damian Wayne here, the son of Selina and Bruce, doesn’t want to continue his father’s legacy. It was interesting here how Bruce was portrayed as someone who actively enjoyed the idea of continuity for Batman, rather than viewing it as a curse and so on as he is as Mister Moody in most current portrayals. That this may be out of character even for the Batman of ‘Brave and the Bold’ does fit in with the whole episode, as we’ll later see.

On a side note, this episode was filled with unspoken cameos, most notably of Clark Kent and a rapidly ageing Oliver Queen. Nice to see if you can spot them through the scenes. I thought it interesting that Bruce Wayne on hanging up the cape and cowl would gravitate towards a look that was more the traditional depiction of Thomas Wayne. It did help to mature the look, certainly.

Jeff Bennet turns in an awesome performance both as the Joker and Joker Jr., Joker Jr. himself a possible nod to the Nolan interpretation of the character, hair and all. Some great lines from this, my favourite being ‘Hey, new Me, get him’. With the excellent scripting and equally excellent acting, I think Bennet’s Joker is going to rise up there among the greats in no time. More Morrison tribute through the last Joker(s) encounter, including the whole ‘Batman is an ideal, not a person’ spiel which Morrison’s been trying to achieve in more ways than one with his various arcs. A nice nod to the comic fans, as I doubt any average eight year old would recognise the references.

Our music team being the same who did both Justice League and more importantly for this episode, Batman Beyond, seemed to manage to bring in strains which were reminiscent of a previous series of a Batman of the Future. Maybe it was just me, but I couldn’t help thinking that as the fight between Damian and Joker Jr. played out, and we had a reminiscent of an even earlier series in the last scene. Perhaps in keeping with a nod to Elseworlds, and Elseworld futures, we got another nice cameo of Rob and Don (from Dark Knight Returns) in a mirrored enactment of the opening of Batman the Animated series. Nice little bit with the music there too. And we get Batman 3! With Robin 3, who played by Sebastian Bader is adorable with his ‘Holy Hammers of Justice Dad- I mean, Batman’.

The designs as well for the future Dynamic Duo were decent, and different. No all black sleek Batsuit here, but it works, and at least here he manages a family of his own. The grand reveal of the mysterious narrator, which had set an initial fable like tone to the episode, goes further into the realm of Elseworld, or, ahem, fanfiction. The author? The Butler. So it seems Alfred himself has a penchant for conjuring happy endings to the continuance of Batman’s legacy, though Bruce himself isn’t so entertained by the notion of eventual settling with Selina Kyle. Why Alfred thinks she would make a good partner for Bruce, and the actual possibility of it, remains to be seen. If this is a hint to the development in their relationship for the third season, bring it on. If not, well, there’s always fanfiction.

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