Batman: Beyond the White Knight

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Batman: Beyond the White Knight
Batman-BTWK.jpeg
Cover of Batman: Beyond the White Knight #1 (March 2022). Art by Sean Murphy.
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
ScheduleMonthly
FormatLimited series
GenreCyberpunk
Science fiction
Superhero
Publication dateMarch – October 2022
No. of issues8
Main character(s)Batman
Bruce Wayne
Red Hood
Harley Quinn
Barbara Gordon
Dick Grayson
Derek Powers
Creative team
Written bySean Murphy
Artist(s)Sean Murphy
Colorist(s)Dave Stewart

Batman: Beyond the White Knight is an upcoming American comic book published by DC Comics under its Black Label imprint. The eight-issue limited series, written and illustrated by Sean Murphy, is scheduled to begin publication on March 29, 2022 and conclude in October of the same year. It is the sequel to Batman: White Knight (2017–18) and Batman: Curse of the White Knight (2019–20), and is the fifth installment in the Murphyverse, which is set within a self-contained alternate reality that is different from and unrelated to the main DC Universe. It is also based on the animated television series Batman Beyond (1999–2001).

Batman: Beyond the White Knight takes place 10 years succeeding the events of the previous volume Batman: Curse of the White Knight, which ended with Bruce Wayne exposed as Batman to the general public and donating his entire fortune to the people of Gotham City, and then turning himself in to the police. Since that, the city has evolved into a futuristic megalopolis known as "Neo-Gotham". Following his father's murder involving corrupt CEO Derek Powers, young Terry McGinnis steals a technologically advanced Batsuit to become Bruce's successor as the new Batman and avenge his father's death, while a middle-aged Bruce escapes from prison in an attempt to stop Terry and rid Neo-Gotham of Batman once and for all as a civil war slowly brews in the city.

A two-issue spin-off miniseries titled White Knight: Red Hood will launch in summer 2022. A sequel is in development.

Synopsis[]

Setting[]

Batman: Beyond the White Knight occurs 10 years after the events of Batman: Curse of the White Knight (2019–20), in which Bruce Wayne willingly gave his fortune to the people of Gotham City and surrendered himself to police custody after exposing his secret identity as the vigilante Batman to the public. As a result, corrupt CEO Derek Powers acquired all of the Wayne family's assets through his takeover of Wayne Enterprises and used them to tremendously evolve Gotham into a technologically advanced megalopolis known as "Neo-Gotham".[1][2]

In the present, Neo-Gotham has turned into a police state heavily monitored by surveillance cameras and which is controlled by the paramilitary police group known as the Gotham Terrorist Oppression Unit (GTO), led by Dick Grayson and funded by Powers, the latter providing them with a vast array of high-tech equipment that includes armored uniforms and specialized combat vehicles, all stylized in the image of Batman. Opposing the GTO is the Gotham City Police Department (GCPD) and its commissioner Barbara Gordon, with a civil war slowly brewing in Neo-Gotham between the two parties. In addition, Bruce continues to serve time at Stonegate Penitentiary, being guarded by Jason Todd, who—like Dick and Barbara—was also one of Bruce's crime-fighting partners in his past career as a vigilante.[3][4]

Premise[]

After the murder of his father Warren, a young man named Terry McGinnis is manipulated by his employer Powers—who, unbeknownst to Terry, is involved in Warren's death—into stealing a cutting edge Batsuit from a historic site where the ruins of Wayne Manor and the Batcave are located. However, upon discovering Powers' role in Warren's assassination, Terry turns against him and decides to use the Batsuit to avenge his father by becoming the new Batman, which consequently causes a whole set of vigilantes and supervillains to emerge in Neo-Gotham. In the meantime, a middle-aged Bruce resolves to break out of Stonegate and ally himself with Jason to try to stop Terry, retrieve the Batsuit and destroy the mantle of Batman once and for all.[5]

Production[]

Development[]

Sean Murphy, the writer and illustrator of Batman: Beyond the White Knight.

In late November 2018, while working on Batman: Curse of the White Knight (2019–20), the sequel to Batman: White Knight (2017–18), comic book creator Sean Murphy revealed in an interview with DC Daily host Tiffany Smith that he planned to introduce Terry McGinnis—the successor to Bruce Wayne as Batman in the animated television series Batman Beyond (1999–2001)—to the Murphyverse: "I'd also like to eventually bridge the entire thing series into Batman Beyond. I'm not sure what I'm gonna do with it or how I'm gonna introduce Terry, but I have an idea that will explain why Gotham [City] looks so gothic and Batman Beyond looks so futuristic, and how did this city change so fast. I think I have a way to explain that".[6][7] Later interviews with Graeme McMillan of The Hollywood Reporter and Paul Shirey of JoBlo.com would reinforce the above statement concerning the creation of a sequel based on Batman Beyond.[8][9] In early December 2019, Murphy confirmed on Twitter that he was indeed developing a new installment in the Murphyverse titled Batman: Beyond the White Knight.[10][11][12]

Writing[]

Speaking with Dustin Holland of Comic Book Resources (CBR) and Matthew Aguilar of ComicBook.com about bringing his own version of Terry McGinnis to Batman: Beyond the White Knight, Murphy emphasized how important it was to him that the character be "unique, but sort of familiar at the same time", with part of his approach to him revolving around introducing Terry as an antagonist at the beginning of the story: "The trick there is like Terry is the antagonist for a bit, but I also don't want to make him a bad guy". Likewise, he simplified that Terry is not an evil person, just someone traumatized by the loss of his father and who is looking for a replacement role model in his life.[5] In this way, Murphy hoped to explore Terry's complex nature and establish an engaging dynamic between him and Bruce.[13] Additionally, Terry is depicted as being multiracial (partly of Asian and Irish descent) in this book;[14] this is a creative shift the author made to the character's ethnicity, something that was never addressed or specified by the production team of the original TV show, with many of its viewers assuming Terry was Asian for his physical appearance and Irish for his last name, a fact that Murphy was not initially aware of when he decided to diversify the character.[15][16]

In May 2020, during a meeting with Jeff Spry of Syfy Wire, the author described the latest volume of the Murphyverse as a "sci-fi thriller", with its predecessors being a political thriller (Batman: White Knight) and a historical thriller (Batman: Curse of the White Knight), respectively. Furthermore, Murphy unveiled some plot details for Batman: Beyond the White Knight, while hinting at potential supervillains to make appearances in the volume—such as Derek Powers, the Jokerz and the Royal Flush Gang—who according to Murphy, fit his "grounded" concept of antagonist that he tends to work with;[17][18] he chose Powers due to his own belief that he is "the only logical choice of villain for a Batman Beyond-inspired sequel", but to turn Powers into a more empathetic character, Murphy added to him a compelling backstory involving Mr. Freeze and Thomas Wayne, as well as "a personal grudge between [Powers] and Batman".[3] Later, when asked why he prefers to write about complicated, redeemable antagonists for his stories, Murphy affirmed that it is his own interest in detailing the complexities of each villain that motivates him to portray them as sympathetic characters, regardless of whether the audience is rooting for them or not.[13]

Shortly after the announcement of Batman: Beyond the White Knight in December 2021, it was noticed by Jesse Schedeen of IGN midway through an interview how bizarre it seemed that Gotham could progress from "a grungy urban hellscape into the futuristic Neo-Gotham" in the span of a single in-universe decade, and Murphy hinted that this sudden advance would be an important element in the series' plot, responding that "Gotham is able to evolve relatively quickly into Neo-Gotham because Bruce gave his fortune away at the end of [Batman: Curse of the White Knight]. And this influx of money (resources, social programs, etc.) changes everything".[19] In February 2022, Murphy posted pictures of the character Duke Thomas dressed as Robin on Instagram. In the captions alongside the images, he confirmed that Duke will adopt the hero's identity in Batman: Beyond the White Knight, and also clarified that he initially tried to include the idea in earlier volumes of the series, but was unable to do so due to discouragement from his staff.[20]

Design[]

To illustrate Terry in the Batsuit in a way dissimilar to what most artists have done with the character, Murphy used different inking techniques, focusing more on texture than detail, to give the character a unique guise so he would never look twice the same as Batman.[21] Moreover, he didn't want to make any significant changes to Terry's costume, likening it to that of Marvel Comics' character Spider-Man and opining that this particular Batsuit is "so perfect the way it was originally conceived that it's hard to really add stuff to it without mucking it up"; alternatively, Murphy opted to incorporate simple yet small details into the Batsuit, such as red vents at the elbows, knees and around the chest, for example.[22] As for middle-aged Bruce's Batsuit, Murphy designed a makeshift costume for the character, replacing the cape with a hooded trench coat, spray painting over the bat symbol on the chest, and ditching the cowl, with Murphy arguing that there's no need to hide Bruce's face, as everyone in the book knows he was Batman.[23] Murphy also designed the Batsuit-like uniforms of the GTO members to look like "overbearing RoboCops" to contrast those of the GCPD.[13]

Regarding Gotham's new design, which he integrated with elements of Batman Beyond, Murphy conceded that evolving the book's scenario—from the "gothic, jaded streets of Gotham" of the previous volumes to a "neo-noir nightmare of a not-so-distant utopia"—has been one of the funniest aspects of creating Batman: Beyond the White Knight for him,[24] saying: "I really missed working in Gotham and it feels so great to be back. Drawing Neo-Gotham as an upgraded, retrofitted futurescape has been a blast. I'm working hard to blend the Beyond aesthetic with the White Knight world".[25] He also added: "I'm looking forward to drawing flying cars and all that kind of stuff again. The last time I got to do sci-fi was Tokyo Ghost (2015–16), and I really enjoyed it. So it will be interesting to take that and interpret it through Gotham, of what Gotham will look like in the future".[17] Murphy's desire for Neo-Gotham was to give it a distinct presence, focusing on the roads and highways like veins that enter and leave the city from all directions, and also making sure not to keep Neo-Gotham too clean with elements of future architecture so it wouldn't look like a nighttime equivalent of Metropolis.[26] Ultimately, Murphy compared Batman: Beyond the White Knight to Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (1982) because of the futuristic setting the comic book shares with the film, asserting that he wanted to design a Blade Runner-like city in Neo-Gotham: "I think every artist sort of wants Blade Runner. I was really looking forward to drawing sort of Blade Runner Batman Beyond, sort of Neo-Gotham".[5]

For Batman Beyond's flying Batmobile, Murphy tried to envision it as a strange spaceship while at the same time still trying to think of it as a car, which was a complicated and unusual process for him as this Batmobile has no wheels and he is used to designing cars with wheels, which is where a car comes to life in his opinion. To help him reshape the vehicle, Murphy made a model out of cardboard, paper, glue and paint, unsuccessfully trying to base the car's design on the one seen in the classic cartoon that, in his own words, "looks like two commas stuck together". Instead, he decided to give the Batmobile's appearance a personal touch, though he claims he did take some inspiration from the TV show.[26]

Influences[]

As the title suggests, the series is intended to adapt the basic premise of Batman Beyond, with Murphy commenting: "This series is designed to check all the boxes of what readers love about Batman Beyond". However, he decided not to make a straightfoward retelling of the show's storyline, instead focusing on a different approach by reinventing it in order to establish the plot of Batman: Beyond the White Knight as something not only familiar, but unique in relation to the TV series.[3][27] Murphy also teased that "Batman Beyond and Terry McGinnis fans will get everything they loved about the animated series, as well as a few twists".[28] As inspiration for Batman: Beyond the White Knight, the author admitted that he took influences from Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns (1986) and several other Batman publications and storylines, not to cite the aforementioned Blade Runner, but also the Marvel character Spider-Man 2099 and the Japanese manga Ghost in the Shell (1989–91) by Masamune Shirow, among others.[19]

Publication[]

Batman: Beyond the White Knight was written and illustrated by Sean Murphy,[29][30] and colored by Dave Stewart,[31] the latter replacing Matt Hollingsworth, who previously colored Batman: White Knight (2017–18) and Batman: Curse of the White Knight (2019–20).[32][33] The fifth installment in the Murphyverse,[34] Batman: Beyond the White Knight was officially announced on December 15, 2021 by Murphy on his Instagram account,[35][36] as a title under the DC Comics' Black Label—an imprint designed to allow writers to submit their own unique interpretations of traditional DC Universe (DCU) characters for a more mature audience.[37][38] Originally, Batman: Beyond the White Knight was scheduled for release in 2021,[39] but has been pushed back to 2022, with the eight issues released by DC at monthly intervals, the first being published on March 29, 2022.[40][41]

Issues[]

Title Issue Publication date Ref.
Batman: Beyond the White Knight #1 March 29, 2022 [42]
Batman: Beyond the White Knight #2 April 26, 2022 [43]
Batman: Beyond the White Knight #3 May 24, 2022 [44]
Batman: Beyond the White Knight #4 June 28, 2022 [45]

Tie-in media[]

In late February 2022, Murphy stated that the ending of Batman: Beyond the White Knight will serve as a set up for a Justice League-centric comic book.[46]

Future[]

Spin-off series[]

A two-issue spin-off miniseries titled White Knight: Red Hood, co-written by Murphy and Clay McCormack and illustrated by Simone Di Meo, is scheduled for release in summer 2022.[47][48] The spin-off, slated to be the sixth installment in the Murphyverse, is expected to focus on Jason Todd, the eponymous Red Hood from the title, as he takes on a young Mongolian girl named Gan as his protégée and trains her to become the new Robin.[49]

Sequel[]

In December 2021, Murphy revealed that he has "at least" one sequel planned for Batman: Beyond the White Knight.[50]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Johnston, Rich (December 17, 2021). "Full DC Comics March 2022 Solicits – Mostly Batman But Not All Batman". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
  2. ^ Arrant, Chris (December 15, 2021). "Batman Beyond get a new twist in the next chapter of Sean Murphy's White Knight saga". GamesRadar+. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c Abbate, Jake (December 15, 2021). "Sean Murphy's Batman: Beyond the White Knight Visits Gotham's Future". SuperHeroHype.com. Retrieved December 17, 2021.
  4. ^ MacNamee, Olly (December 15, 2021). "First Look: Sean Murphy's White Knight-Verse Returns With 'Batman: Beyond The White Knight'". Comicon.com. Retrieved December 17, 2021.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c Aguilar, Matthew (February 25, 2022). "DC's Sean Murphy Breaks Down Batman: Beyond The White Knight's New World, Terry's Origin, and More". ComicBook.com. Retrieved February 26, 2022.
  6. ^ Matadeen, Renaldo (November 29, 2018). "White Knight: Gordon Murphy Plans to Explore Jason Todd & Batman Beyond". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved December 16, 2021.
  7. ^ Gomes, Fábio de Souza (November 30, 2018). "Cavaleiro Branco - Roteirista vai explorar Jason Todd e Batman do Futuro". Omelete (in Portuguese). Retrieved December 21, 2021.
  8. ^ McMillan, Graeme (July 23, 2019). "How 'Curse of the White Knight' Explores Batman's Hidden Past". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
  9. ^ Shirey, Paul (July 24, 2019). "Interview & art for Sean Gordon Murphy's Batman: Curse of the White Knight!". JoBlo.com. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
  10. ^ Black, Dorian Reyes (December 3, 2019). "Batman: White Knight Creator Confirms Third 'Beyond' Sequel". Screen Rant. Retrieved December 16, 2021.
  11. ^ Black, Dorian Reyes (April 3, 2020). "Batman: Curse of the White Knight Pays Tribute To '66 TV Show". Screen Rant. Retrieved December 16, 2021.
  12. ^ McCullough, Hayley (January 8, 2022). "Batwoman Beyond Debuts at McFarlane Toys With an Unmasked Figure". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved January 8, 2022.
  13. ^ Jump up to: a b c Holland, Dustin (February 25, 2022). "Batman: Beyond the White Knight's Sean Murphy Previews the New DC Series". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved February 26, 2022.
  14. ^ Jung, Iris (March 9, 2022). "New Batman comic series based on animated 'Batman Beyond' features bi-racial Asian Terry McGinnis". Yahoo! News. Yahoo!. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
  15. ^ Mably, Timothy (February 26, 2022). "Terry McGinnis Will Be Half Asian in Batman: Beyond The White Knight". Screen Rant. Retrieved February 27, 2022.
  16. ^ Blum, Jeremy (March 1, 2022). "Batman: Beyond The White Knight Introduces a Half-Asian Terry McGinnis". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
  17. ^ Jump up to: a b Spry, Jeff (May 29, 2020). "Batman's Sean Murphy Teases Terry McGinnis, More Bat-Spinoffs for the 'Murphyverse'". Syfy Wire. Syfy. Retrieved December 17, 2021.
  18. ^ Johnston, Rich (August 8, 2021). "Sean Gordon Murphy Previews Unnamed Unannounced Batman Comic". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved December 17, 2021.
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  21. ^ Murphy, Sean [@seangordonmurphy] (January 21, 2022). "Trying something different with Terry in the Beyond suit, using different inking techniques to give him a unique look. Trying to be more about texture than about the details of his suit. So it never looks the same, twice. I like this kind of stuff because it's something comics can do that other media can't". Retrieved January 24, 2022 – via Instagram.
  22. ^ Mably, Timothy (March 2, 2022). "Batman: Beyond The White Knight Artist Explains Terry's New Batsuit". Screen Rant. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
  23. ^ Philippi, Raul Arias (March 5, 2022). "Batman: White Knight Gives Bruce Wayne A New, Unmasked Costume". Screen Rant. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
  24. ^ Myrick, Joe Anthony (December 17, 2021). "New Batman: White Knight Series Focused on Batman Beyond Coming From DC". Screen Rant. Retrieved December 18, 2021.
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  26. ^ Jump up to: a b Dyce, Andrew (March 1, 2022). "Interview: Batman: Beyond The White Knight Breakdown With Sean Murphy". Screen Rant. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
  27. ^ Murphy, Sean [@seangordonmurphy] (February 4, 2022). "Working hard to give readers what (I think) they want for a Beyond book. The rule of this book is DIFFERENT BUT FAMILIAR. :) Colors by Dave Stewart". Retrieved February 4, 2022 – via Instagram.
  28. ^ Blum, Jeremy (December 15, 2021). "DC's Murphyverse Returns with Black Label's Batman: Beyond the White Knight". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved December 16, 2021.
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  32. ^ Bull, Clark (July 7, 2017). "Sean Murphy's BATMAN: WHITE KNIGHT Arrives October 4". DC Comics.com. DC Comics. Retrieved December 16, 2021.
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  34. ^ Perry, Spencer (March 2, 2020). "Batman: DC Comics Wants Full Murphyverse Line from White Knight Writer/Artist". ComicBook.com. Retrieved January 23, 2022.
  35. ^ Murphy, Sean [@seangordonmurphy] (December 15, 2021). "BATMAN: BEYOND THE WHITE KNIGHT announced today!! You want Terry? Check. You want bearded Bruce breaking out of prison? Check. You want more Robins? Check. Mullet Nightwing? Check. Closure on Jason Todd and the Joker stuff? Check. I think we're shooting for an April release! Colors by @dragonmnky, art and words by me!". Retrieved December 16, 2021 – via Instagram.
  36. ^ Pereira, Eduardo (December 1, 2021). "Batman: Cavaleiro Branco terá versão do Batman do Futuro em seu universo". Omelete (in Portuguese). Retrieved December 15, 2021.
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  39. ^ Kurten, Guillermo (December 4, 2020). "Batman: 10 Boldest Changes From Mainline Canon In Curse Of The White Knight". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
  40. ^ Terror, Jude (December 15, 2021). "Batman: Beyond the White Knight by Sean Murphy Launches in March". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved December 16, 2021.
  41. ^ Arrant, Chris (February 17, 2022). "All the new Batman comics, graphic novels, collections from DC arriving in 2022 and beyond". GamesRadar+. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
  42. ^ "BATMAN: BEYOND THE WHITE KNIGHT #1". DC Comics.com. DC Comics. Retrieved February 26, 2022.
  43. ^ Johnston, Rich (January 21, 2022). "DC Comics Full April 2022 Solicits & Solicitations – Not Just Batman". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
  44. ^ Johnston, Rich (February 18, 2022). "Full DC Comics May 2022 Solicitations – More Than Just Batman". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
  45. ^ "DC's June 2022 comics and covers revealed". GamesRadar+. March 18, 2022. Retrieved March 19, 2022.
  46. ^ Mably, Timothy (February 28, 2022). "Justice League of 'Batman: White Knight' Planned for Future DC Stories". Screen Rant. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
  47. ^ Murphy, Sean [@seangordonmurphy] (March 21, 2022). "Jason Todd mentored a new Robin without Batman knowing?? Check out the details when we release White Knight: Red Hood this summer!". Retrieved March 21, 2022 – via Instagram.
  48. ^ Corley, Shaun (February 26, 2022). "Red Hood's Jason Todd Will Lead His Own 'White Knight' Miniseries". Screen Rant. Retrieved February 27, 2022.
  49. ^ Corley, Shaun (February 27, 2022). "DC's New Robin is A Mongolian Girl Trained By Red Hood Himself". Screen Rant. Retrieved February 27, 2022.
  50. ^ Kurten, Guillermo (January 26, 2022). "Batman: 9 New DC Comic Book Series To Look Forward To In 2022". Screen Rant. Retrieved January 26, 2022.

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