The Weekly Planet - Batman Beyond Return Of The Joker - Caravan Of Garbage

Episode Date: August 23, 2019

Batman Beyond: Return Of The Joker was the third animated Batman series acting as a continuation of Batman The Animated Series in addition to Batman Beyond. Terry McGuiness and Bruce Wayne return (again played by Kevin Conroy) in addition to Mark Hamill as The Joker. Presumed to have died to death decades earlier his return has people all...wait what? It didn't do very well at the time, that being sad, it's pretty good. This is our review.Video Version ► http://bit.ly/31NZMjWJames' Twitter ► http://twitter.com/mrsundaymoviesMaso's Twitter ► http://twitter.com/wikipediabrownTWP Itunes ► https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-weekly-planet/id718158767?mt=2&ign-mpt=uo%3D4TWP Direct Download ► https://play.acast.com/s/theweeklyplanetTWP YouTube Channel ► https://goo.gl/1ZQFGHPatreon ► https://patreon.com/mrsundaymoviesBuy Return Of The Joker Amazon ► https://amzn.to/2oTfxaTT-Shirts/Merch ► https://www.teepublic.com/stores/mr-sunday-movies Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Visit planetbroadcasting.com for more podcasts from our great mates Welcome to Caravan of Garbage everybody Guess what? We're getting the return of the Joker in the Joker movie Joker But did you know there was already a movie called Return of the Joker? Yep Well we're talking about it aren't we? Yep

It's a Batman directed video movie, animated the year 2000. There were two prior. One was Batman Mask of the Phantasm. Yes. Very well regarded. We'll probably get to that one day. No doubt. The follow-up being Batman Sub-Zero. Ah, Mr. Freeze. No, where he fights Sub-Zero. Sick. Mortal Kombat versus DC, baby. I remember Mortal Kombat versus

DC Universe. I remember it. We caravaned a garbage that also, didn't we? Yeah, for sure. But this one, so this is the Batman Beyond Universe. Yes. So this is many decades in the future of the DC Universe. I remember it. We caravaned a garbage that also, didn't we? But this one, so this is the Batman Beyond Universe. Yes. So this is many decades in the future of the DC Universe. Gotham has become

Neo-Gotham. Yes. It's pretty much the same but it's neon-y. It looks much different, It looks a lot different. Too many buildings. It's supposed to be

like 2039. Yeah. So much infrastructure. I agree. Infrastructure? There's so much interesting infrastructure. Yes, exactly.

Precisely. So this is set in a potential future of the DC universe where Batman decided to retire after he got a bit long in the tooth for crime fighting. He thought about using a gun and just killing criminals. And he's like, well, I can't do that. I'm going to retire. But not before he designed a super advanced Batman suit. It can fly. I feel it's cheating. Yeah, I feel. But here's the thing. I feel regular Batman, modern-day continuity flying, is cheating. Yeah.

In the future, everybody's flying. Everybody's flying. Everyone's flying. Everyone's a clone. Everyone's a weird cross between an animal monster. Exactly. Yeah, you're not wrong. Then he meets a young man named Terry McGinnis, who basically steals the Batsuit to avenge

the death of his father. Or so he believes, but it's sizzled. We'll get to that. That's right. And then he convinces Bruce Wayne to let him continue on as the Batman of his father. Or so he believes, but it's sizzled. That's right. And then he convinces Bruce Wayne to let him continue on as the Batman in the future. And we get, Terra Migas kind of gets his own rogues gallery. Yeah.

A lot of them are callback villains as well. Yeah. So we got the Jokers. Yeah, we get the Jokers, the gang. It's like a homage. We get the return of classic villains like Mr. Freeze shows up. Yes. Raz Al Ghul comes back.

Anybody who can kind of survive into the future pretty much shows up in this series. I really like this series in general. I think it's a fun kind of future to the Batman the Animated Series universe. I like all the callbacks and most of the cast returns, like Kevin Conroy again plays Bruce Wayne. We get the great Frank Welker as Ace of the Bat House. Absolutely, we do.

And the Batman Beyond suit, iconic, I think. It's one of my favorites. And it's surprising. Anytime they do a spinoff from an iconic character, I think the inclination is to be like, this sucks and that doesn't work. That design sucks. Yeah.

But it's really good. I agree. It holds up, I think. It's simple and it definitely works for this kind of animation style. I would love to see it in proper live action at some point. Me too. Well, there's been talk of doing that at some point. There's been rumours for years.

I think there was one even developed maybe in the mid-2000s, maybe. Maybe even before that, actually. Well, that's ages ago. That's ages ago. But the thing is, the series was eventually cancelled. It did kind of get a follow-up, which we'll talk about, and there are follow-up comics that continue to this day. There are, that's true, yeah.

But this movie, the third movie, was actually going to originally be something called Batman Arkham, which was a third Batman the Animated Series movie, which would have followed directly on from Batman Sub-Zero and the Animated Universe. But they scrapped all that for this. Ooh. Yeah. So the story basically is the Joker's gang. Yes.

Called the Jokers. Yes. They're not led by the Joker normally, but in this- They're led by Henry Rollins. Are they really? Yeah, but Henry Rollins is the voice of Bonk. I did not know that. That gang, there's a lot of nods to previous Batman rogues gallery people.

There's the Dee Dee's, which are Harley Quinn homages, and also, spoiler alert, the granddaughters of Harley Quinn. That's correct, yes. Who showed up in this. The Christopher Walken Scarecrow. Yes, that's right. He's voiced by Michael Rosenbaum. Lex Luthor.

Yeah, Lex Luthor, exactly. But the main crux of this story is that somebody claiming to be the Joker has returned to Gotham. But he's young and he's strong and vibrant. And there's this whole ambiguity around, is this the original Joker? Because he is dead. Is he a clone? For a fact. Yeah, he's definitively dead.

Because Batman saw him die. Yes. And Batman cannot lie. Is he a clone? For a fact. Yeah, he's definitively dead. Because Batman saw him die and Batman cannot lie. Yes, that's right. He's like whichever one of the presidents that was. None of them. Yeah, they're all big liars. I like the redesign of the Joker in this. Yeah, he's very... Apparently it's based off Hannibal Lecter.

Oh, okay. He's a bit of that. He's very slick and he's very... He's more physically imposing, I think. Because, well, we'll talk about it, I guess, in spoilers. We're spoiling? Yeah, we're spoiling the whole thing. Okay, then, right.

Well, if you haven't watched Batman Beyond, The Return of the Joker, maybe watch it now. Yep. We'll pause for two minutes. No. We'll pause for two minutes in studio. Yes. But it'll seem instantaneous to you, the viewer.

Instant. You can just pause, I guess. That's right but we do get flashbacks to sort out what actually happened with the joker he kidnapped tim drake robin brainwashed him mind controlled him like broke him completely until he thought he was the son of the joker and then in a final put him in short pants the ultimate indignity why would he do it yeah and in a final effort effort to save himself he ends up shooting the original Joker

and killing him. The only people that know this are Bruce Wayne Batgirl Batgirl Barbara Gordon who's now the new Commissioner Gordon

and original Commissioner Gordon who's dead. You've been promoted to new Commissioner Gordon. The little Joker boy is creepy right? Oh yeah.

Yeah very spooky. This whole Batman Beyond I think was darker than the original Batman TV series and I think this movie is darker still. Well, the thing is, that series was pitched as they wanted a young Batman adventure that kids could get into. Right.

And I remember listening to a podcast on it from Fat Man or Batman that Kevin Smith did with the creators. And they were looking for a way to keep the universe going. But they wanted, you know, kid superheroes. And that's how they came up with this Batman Beyond. But it's very dark, I would say, comparatively even to the previous series. But there's actually another cut of this movie, not the one we watched, which is much more toned down. Like the way the Joker is murdered is not in it.

They take out a lot of the grimmer stuff from one of the cuts of the movie. Now it doesn't, you know, being 19 years old, people don't care as much. But at the time there was a bit of like, this is a bit much for a kid's show about teenage batman for sure yeah yeah so the idea is that the joker when he captured tim drake he put a microchip on him which has all the memories and the dna microchips microchips and everything that that is him he was ahead of his time joker in many, which would transform over a period of time through Tim Drake's subconscious, who'd now be 50-ish, into the Joker. Yes.

And this personality is slowly taking over. Tim Drake is completely unaware of this. There's a red herring in this because there's like a CEO of the Wayne Foundation who's also voiced by Mark Hamill, who returns as the Joker. And he looks very Joker-ish. So you're like, well, that's clearly the guy who's taken on the persona of the joker but that's what the joker would want you to think but it's actually it is the original joker who's returned yes it's it's a copy but it's essentially all the memories and the abilities of the original joker this microchip that he just has on the back of his

neck real vulnerable position and there's a point where he's like do you know why i'm back because i've got this microchip on the back of my neck as clear as day yeah and of course that is his undoing because he electrifies it and kills this version of the joker which actually kills him pretty much in universe for good that's true there's parallel dimensions where different versions show up and whatever but in this main continuity this pretty much kills that original series version that's true yeah i really like the dynamic between terry and bruce yes and and barbara and all the Joker. That's true, yeah. I really like the dynamic between Terry and Bruce and Barbara and all the supporting characters. That's the biggest letdown, I think, of this movie

is the fact that he does have the chip on the back of his... Right. Like, again, if you're writing this as the darker, more grim, more intelligent version of a cartoon show for kids, give us something other than, here's my vulnerable spot, it's right where you can get at it. I mean, my understanding would probably be the Joker maybe put it on at the last minute when he was alive. Oh, I see.

Right, right, right. But you still wouldn't point that out to people, would you? Yeah. It's like the Dr. Octopus chip on the back of his neck situation. It's also weird that nobody noticed it. Yeah. In the last 40 years. Well, I guess it's like a mole, isn't it?

I guess it's like a mole. Also, did that guy not have a shower for 40 years? I guess he didn't. Guess he didn't. You know? Hey, what's this? I'm a trained medical doctor. This is kind of like a mole. Also, did that guy not have a shower for 40 years? I guess he didn't. Guess he didn't. You know? Hey, what's this? I'm a trained medical doctor. This is kind of like a mole.

I guess I'll just leave it. Yeah. I guess they used police psychologists and not a dermatologist. Well, that's probably true, isn't it? Yeah. That's how he got away with it. The Batman suit, this new one also, which again I like, can go invisible. Yeah.

Why do you use it all the time? You would never not put that on. You'd always be invisible. Do you think, though, you'd get lazy in doing that? You'd just be worse at your job if you could. Because the original Batman didn't have invisibility close to him. He's just sitting on it. You can't see Batman, but you know he's there

because you can just hear him chomping on a cheeseburger. Just sitting out in the front waiting for crime to happen. There's a nice little nod, or there's a lot of little nods to the original series, one being Bruce Wayne's car, the one that he fangs around in, because he's returning to be CEO of Wayne Enterprises. He's like, I'm back. I may be old, but I'll bloody run this company into the ground.

Don't you worry about it. I'm back. But his car is actually an upside-down version of the Batmobile. You flip that, it's the original series Batmobile in design. It's not the actual car just grinding on its roof. Oh, I see, right. Through the street. Oh, because they're flying cars in the future flying oh or are they sometimes not sometimes there's a bit where like a giant space laser is coming after the new batmobile spazer

a spazer and it's tearing up all the road but i don't understand why anybody's even on a road in this because you can't just go anywhere you can't fly it should be a real fifth element situation yeah yeah i do like though bruce wayne is like i I'm retiring you, Terry McGinnis, because the Joker is back and you are not equipped to handle this and you shouldn't be doing this. Obviously, he's just doing it because he doesn't want him to get hurt like Tim Drake did. But I like the way that Terry McGinnis figures out how to beat the Joker and that is just to berate him senselessly.

I mean, the only way to beat a comedian is a heckler. That's right, exactly, yeah. That's how you do it. And that's what he ends up doing. So because the Joker, he's not initially fussed by this new Batman. He's like, you're not even Batman. I'm not even going to bother with any of this. But then when he's getting under his skin, because he's like, well, I have a skill that Batman doesn't.

For one, I'll kick someone in the nuts or whatever. Oh, absolutely, yeah. Does he do that? Or is it a headbutt? You know, there's always a moment where he's like, you didn't expect that. You don't know everything about Batman because I'm the new Batman or whatever. I'm not Kicker Batman. Also, I can go invisible and fly.

Yeah, that's right. Didn't say that coming, did you? Because I'm literally invisible. Yeah, so I like that way that they get rid of the Joker in this universe. There's a deleted scene from this. The storyboards exist where Bruce Wayne actually goes back to Arkham to confirm that the Joker is dead because he talks about how they buried him. Oh, yeah, okay.

So there's an exhuming scene. They dig his body up. Well, the thing is when he gets there, the Joker's body, it's hanging from the ceiling with a note written on it that says, I know. So the Joker, the new Joker, had exhumed the body and had it up there and be like, don't even worry about it. I'm ready for you.

Whatever, yeah. Well, that's pretty grim. Yeah, I think so too. We're all in agreement. Yes. That's too grim for a kids' show, and it's probably the reason they took it out. This, though, was going to get a sequel, but the thing is, this series, it was popular with fans, and it did okay.

Yeah. It wasn't as popular as the original series, and this movie didn't sell enough to warrant the sequel, which they were going to make. Yeah, it's interesting, because Mask of the Phantasm didn't do well either. And I think it's under-marketed. Well, that was also a theatrical release and everyone subsequently is not a theatrical release. So this didn't shift enough VHS slash early DVD units. Oh my God.

To make it. Not enough alternate angles on the DVD. You know us. That's it. So what the story of the second movie was going to be is Catwoman was going to be the leading villain. The original Catwoman. Okay. And she was going to reveal that she'd cloned Bruce Wayne to create Terry.

And that was going to be the surprise, right? That was going to be the twist. If it's called Batman, I've got a surprise for you. She comes down from a rooftop on a walker. Yeah. But this was actually rolled over into a Justice League Unlimited episode. Yeah, I remember this one. Yeah.

So Batman Beyond was cancelled, ceased, whatever you want to call it for this new Justice League, which was a more traditional DC animated series. Yeah, right. And this particular episode is called Epilogue and it's set 15 years after this. And it's a 31-year-old Terry McGinnis who tracks down Amanda Waller. And she tells him all about this project called Batman Beyond. It's actually called Project Batman Beyond. You know, like the show you were on, she says. Yeah. Side note, in Australia and some other places in the world, it was called Batman

of the Future. Was it really? Yeah, in Australia it was called Batman of the Future. I don't even remember that. Embarrassing. Why would you change it? Makes more sense to me. It's probably, there was probably some sort of fast food restaurant in like the Northern Territory called Batman Beyond and they're like, oh, well now we're going to change it. It's a real Burger King, Hungry Jack situation. Absolutely it is. So the idea is that Amanda Waller had collected, unbeknownst to him, the DNA of Bruce Wayne and injected it into Warren McGuinness, Terry McGuinness's father. Which altered him genetically to the point where basically he's shooting Bruce Wayne sperm.

Yeah, absolutely. I was wondering how you were going to euphemise that. He's going to lay it out, Mason. That's the way it is. Yeah, there we go. He's got Batman in his balls. And then Warren McGuinness was going to lay it out, if you get my drift.

I know what you're saying. So technically, Terry McGuinness is the son of Mary McGuinness and Bruce Wayne. Yes, and Warren McGuinness. No, because he's got three parents. Yeah, but Warren McGuinness is not a genetic match for Bruce Wayne. I see, right. The other No because he's got three parents. Yeah but Warren McGuinness is not a genetic match for Bruce. The other hint that he's Bruce Wayne's son is they're both redheads and Terry McGuinness has black hair like Bruce Wayne. Okay right. And then the idea was. And so

instead of him just being a frail ginge who can't go outside. He's great at karate. I mean that would explain why he's a creature of the night because he just can't go out in the daytime. You're probably right. So Amanda Waller then hires the original phantasm from Mask of the Phantasm to kill Terry McGuinness' parents when he's eight. To replicate the death of Bruce Wayne's parents. Exactly. But then she's like, maybe I am taking this too far. Yeah. But then by coincidence, Terry McGuinness loses his father anyway.

In a shopping centre. In a shopping centre. That's right. Never recovered. And then he ends up, by coincidence, meeting Bruce Wayne, or you could call it destiny, Mason. I'm going to call it destiny. You're going to call it destiny? And becoming the Batman

regardless. Of the future. Of the future. Or as we call it, now, he would say. That's right, yeah. So yeah, that's Batman Return of the Joker and its subsequent sequels. There's still comics, like I said, that are continuing this universe. Yeah, and he's sort of been, he's another character,

Terry McGinnis is another character who has been integrated into the DC universe as a whole. Yeah, from the animated series. To comic books. It's him, it's Harley Quinn. It's a good version of Mr. Freeze. Yeah, that's true. His origin is slightly different, I think, but, you know,

the suit's the same and that's the important thing. In some of the Arkham games as well, it's a skin. You can get the suit. That's true, yeah. I don't believe it does any of the Batman Beyond stuff, though. It does not. Correct, yes. Which is like, what's even the point then of this? If you can't just put on the jet boots and fly over every obstacle in the game.

Whilst you're invisible. That's correct, yes. Yeah. All in all, though, I would say this is worth checking out. I think so, too. Especially if you're a fan of the original series. I don't think I like it as much as the original series, but I love that it is a continuation of the universe

and all the callbacks and the returning characters and cast. It's a really clever idea for a follow-up to that series. It is, yeah. What do you give it out of 100,000 points? Bat points. Boints. I'm going to give it 85,000 points. That's a good amount of points.

I think so too. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, again, it's losing points, obviously, for the, that he never turns, stays invisible. You know what I mean? Yeah, absolutely. And he's losing points. It's losing points for the chip.

Yes. On the very visible vulnerable point on his neck. Yeah. And it's losing points because don't give a character a million powers and then he forgets how to use them. Obviously, it also gains points for this version's universe of Ace the Bat-Hound. That's true. Yeah.

Yeah. I love it. Who we are going to see, I believe, in the Crisis on Infinite Earths CW crossover. Kevin Conroy is going to be old Batman in live action. Yeah. Cannot wait. I can't wait. Is that out by the time this is?

Who knows? Who's to say? Anyway, this has been Caravan of Garbage. We do this every Tuesday, but there's also videos here other days, like Sunday and Thursday. Please subscribe if you would like to see any of these every week. Please do. And click that little bell icon. That does a thing, doesn't it?

Who's to say? Okay. We also have a podcast, though, called The Weekly Planet, where we talk movies and comics and TV shows. That comes out every Monday. We do the News of the Week and a topic. We're definitely doing one on that Joker movie, which will either be... I honestly have no idea.

What's it going to be? I want it to be great. What's it going to be? Early buzz is excellent, perfecto, people are loving it, but some of the change to the universe people might not like at all. The fact that it's only vaguely related to the Batman universe at all? Exactly. That's what I hear.

It's just basically an insane man running around with clown makeup. Yeah. And if you have a suggestion for a Caravan of Garbage, you want us to talk about Mask of the Phantasm, you want us to talk about Batman 89, you want us to talk about your dumb dad, we'll talk about him. Sure, yeah.

We'll give him a bloody rinsing, mate. Absolutely we will. Send us a photo of your dumb dad. We'll pick apart his weaknesses. Don't even worry about it. He'll want to be able to turn invisible. I'll tell you what. Anyway, I'm at MrSundayMovies on Twitter.

I'm at WikipediaBrown on Twitter. Shoot us a recommendation. And thanks for watching this video. Absolutely. Grab that gem, you guys. We'll see you next week. Goodbye. This podcast is part of the Planet Broadcasting Network.

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