Sean Gordon Murphy's Batman: White Knight series has easily become one of the most popular comic book incarnations of the Dark Knight in recent years. The original series presents a uniquely twisted take on Gotham City where a (supposedly) reformed Joker turns Gotham against the Dark Knight. That series has since spawned a direct sequel, Batman: Curse of the White Knight, as well as multiple spinoffs. And now DC is gearing up for the next chapter in the White Knight saga.
IGN can exclusively reveal the first details for Batman: Beyond the White Knight. As the title suggests, this latest sequel draws inspiration from the animated series Batman Beyond and shifts the timeline forward into future. Ten years after the events of Curse of the White Knight, a middle-aged Bruce Wayne is locked away in prison while Derek Powers uses the Wayne fortune to remake the city into Neo-Gotham. When a brand new Batman arrives on the scene, Bruce has no choice but to team up with his former sidekick Jason Todd to destroy his legacy once and for all.
Get a closer look at Beyond the White Knight in the slideshow gallery below, and then read on to learn more about how this sequel both homages and subverts the world of Batman Beyond:
Murphy's previous work has always shown a strong Batman: The Animated Series influence, so it comes as no surprise he's pivoting to the futuristic setting of Batman Beyond for this latest sequel. However, fans shouldn't expect a straightforward retelling of the Beyond story. This series also draws inspiration from Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns and a number of non-Batman sci-fi tales for good measure.
"This series is designed to check all the boxes of what readers love about Batman Beyond," Murphy tells IGN. "But it also plays with some of the pieces in different ways, reinventing some of the characters and taking a different approach on a few of the plot points. The idea is to make is unique but familiar. Not only are there influences of the Dark Knight in there, but also Blade Runner (duh), Spider Man 2099, Ghost in the Shell, and a dozen other things."
While it may seem bizarre to think that Gotham City could transform from a grungy urban hellscape into the futuristic Neo-Gotham in the span of a single decade, Murphy hints that sudden transformation is a major plot element in this series.
"When I was a kid watching Batman Beyond I thought, 'How did Gotham evolve so much in Bruce's lifetime, from black and white TVs to flying cars?' While you're not supposed to really ask stuff like that, it's a White Knight tradition to use 'real world thinking' to enhance Batman's fictional world, making it more believable," Murphy says. "In this case, Gotham is able to evolved relatively quickly into Neo-Gotham because Bruce gave his fortune away at the end of the last volume. And this influx of money (resources, social programs, etc.) changes everything. But not in the ways he hoped."
"It's a White Knight tradition to use 'real world thinking' to enhance Batman's fictional world, making it more believable."
In the classic Batman Beyond mythology, an elderly Bruce Wayne sets out to mentor Terry McGinnis and ensure his city will still have a Batman. But here, it appears Bruce has a very different motivation. He ended his career as Batman for a reason, and he doesn't approve of the upstart Terry parading around Gotham in a stolen Batsuit. Nor does he support Dick Grayson's mission to remake Batman as a law-abiding tool of the GCPD. Bruce's goal in Beyond the White Knight is nothing short of ridding Gotham of Batman forever.
"There's a civil war brewing in Neo-Gotham, and it's around this very question," Murphy says. "On one hand you have Dick Grayson leading the GTO around in a bunch of tanks, claiming that crime is down to zero and that things have never been safer. Opposing him is Barbara Gordon leading the GCPD, claiming that the GTO has turned the city into an inhumane police state that's caused higher rates of taxes homelessness, suicides, and depression."
Murphy continues, "Not only does Bruce see his incarceration as a way to pay for his sins, but it's also a chance for Gotham to move beyond Batman. But when he sees the effect Batman's legacy still has on everyone, Bruce has no choice but to escape and try to set things right. Not only is he out to stop Dick and the GTO, but to bring down Terry in a stolen Beyond suit."
Further complicating matters is Powers himself, a character Murphy feels is the only logical choice of villain for a Batman Beyond-inspired sequel.
"It wouldn't be a Beyond book without Derek Powers in the story, and him having a secret that leads to the death of Terry's father," Murphy says. "But in order to enhance him a bit, I added a compelling backstory that involved him working with Thomas Wayne's company under the tutelage of Mr. Freeze. There's also personal grudge between him and Batman, but I won't spoil it here."
And if all that weren't enough chaos, the series is also continuing the story of Harley Quinn, who is now a mother to twin children fathered by a certain Clown Prince of Crime.
"My wife Katana Collins wrote a 6-issue book called Batman White Knight Presents: Harley Quinn with Matteo Scalera last year, and one of my goals was to continue that story in Beyond," Murphy says. "Her (and the Joker's) twins are tweens now, and they're starting to show their true colors. While Bryce seems to have inherited all the good things from her and Jack Napier, Jackie is becoming obsessed with the Joker. When Jackie discovers a massive secret about her mother and Bruce, she decides to run away. Will Bruce be able to find her? And what does Powers want with her?"
Even a guy like Bruce Wayne is going to have a difficult time declaring war on two different batmen and Derek Powers, so he'll need allies. In this case, he's going all the way back to the beginning for a team-up with the very first Robin. Not Dick Grayson, but Jason Todd. In fact, Jason's role in this story is so crucial he'll be getting his own two-issue spinoff book later in 2022.
"In this universe, Jason Todd was the first Robin," Murphy reveals. "It started out as a timeline error in Volume 1 (oops), but because it's too late to go back and fix it, I've decided to embrace it moving forward. Jason plays a huge part in this series—not only are he and Bruce able to patch things up, but we'll even see him put on the Red Hood. There's also a 2 part spin-off called White Knight: Jason Todd that'll be released later in the year that'll introduce a new Robin to the White Knight universe! So stay tuned."
And if White Knight fans are assuming Beyond the White Knight wraps up a planned trilogy of stories, they'd be wrong. Murphy tells IGN he has "at least" one more direct sequel planned, with other spinoffs a possibility as well. This twisted vision of Gotham City is nowhere near finished yet.
Batman: Beyond the White Knight #1 will be released in print and digitally on March 29, 2022. Until then, brush up on IGN's Top 25 Batman Graphic Novels.
Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.
Continue reading...
IGN can exclusively reveal the first details for Batman: Beyond the White Knight. As the title suggests, this latest sequel draws inspiration from the animated series Batman Beyond and shifts the timeline forward into future. Ten years after the events of Curse of the White Knight, a middle-aged Bruce Wayne is locked away in prison while Derek Powers uses the Wayne fortune to remake the city into Neo-Gotham. When a brand new Batman arrives on the scene, Bruce has no choice but to team up with his former sidekick Jason Todd to destroy his legacy once and for all.
Get a closer look at Beyond the White Knight in the slideshow gallery below, and then read on to learn more about how this sequel both homages and subverts the world of Batman Beyond:
Revisiting Batman Beyond
Murphy's previous work has always shown a strong Batman: The Animated Series influence, so it comes as no surprise he's pivoting to the futuristic setting of Batman Beyond for this latest sequel. However, fans shouldn't expect a straightforward retelling of the Beyond story. This series also draws inspiration from Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns and a number of non-Batman sci-fi tales for good measure.
"This series is designed to check all the boxes of what readers love about Batman Beyond," Murphy tells IGN. "But it also plays with some of the pieces in different ways, reinventing some of the characters and taking a different approach on a few of the plot points. The idea is to make is unique but familiar. Not only are there influences of the Dark Knight in there, but also Blade Runner (duh), Spider Man 2099, Ghost in the Shell, and a dozen other things."
While it may seem bizarre to think that Gotham City could transform from a grungy urban hellscape into the futuristic Neo-Gotham in the span of a single decade, Murphy hints that sudden transformation is a major plot element in this series.
"When I was a kid watching Batman Beyond I thought, 'How did Gotham evolve so much in Bruce's lifetime, from black and white TVs to flying cars?' While you're not supposed to really ask stuff like that, it's a White Knight tradition to use 'real world thinking' to enhance Batman's fictional world, making it more believable," Murphy says. "In this case, Gotham is able to evolved relatively quickly into Neo-Gotham because Bruce gave his fortune away at the end of the last volume. And this influx of money (resources, social programs, etc.) changes everything. But not in the ways he hoped."
"It's a White Knight tradition to use 'real world thinking' to enhance Batman's fictional world, making it more believable."
Bruce Wayne vs. Batman
In the classic Batman Beyond mythology, an elderly Bruce Wayne sets out to mentor Terry McGinnis and ensure his city will still have a Batman. But here, it appears Bruce has a very different motivation. He ended his career as Batman for a reason, and he doesn't approve of the upstart Terry parading around Gotham in a stolen Batsuit. Nor does he support Dick Grayson's mission to remake Batman as a law-abiding tool of the GCPD. Bruce's goal in Beyond the White Knight is nothing short of ridding Gotham of Batman forever.
"There's a civil war brewing in Neo-Gotham, and it's around this very question," Murphy says. "On one hand you have Dick Grayson leading the GTO around in a bunch of tanks, claiming that crime is down to zero and that things have never been safer. Opposing him is Barbara Gordon leading the GCPD, claiming that the GTO has turned the city into an inhumane police state that's caused higher rates of taxes homelessness, suicides, and depression."
Murphy continues, "Not only does Bruce see his incarceration as a way to pay for his sins, but it's also a chance for Gotham to move beyond Batman. But when he sees the effect Batman's legacy still has on everyone, Bruce has no choice but to escape and try to set things right. Not only is he out to stop Dick and the GTO, but to bring down Terry in a stolen Beyond suit."
Further complicating matters is Powers himself, a character Murphy feels is the only logical choice of villain for a Batman Beyond-inspired sequel.
"It wouldn't be a Beyond book without Derek Powers in the story, and him having a secret that leads to the death of Terry's father," Murphy says. "But in order to enhance him a bit, I added a compelling backstory that involved him working with Thomas Wayne's company under the tutelage of Mr. Freeze. There's also personal grudge between him and Batman, but I won't spoil it here."
And if all that weren't enough chaos, the series is also continuing the story of Harley Quinn, who is now a mother to twin children fathered by a certain Clown Prince of Crime.
"My wife Katana Collins wrote a 6-issue book called Batman White Knight Presents: Harley Quinn with Matteo Scalera last year, and one of my goals was to continue that story in Beyond," Murphy says. "Her (and the Joker's) twins are tweens now, and they're starting to show their true colors. While Bryce seems to have inherited all the good things from her and Jack Napier, Jackie is becoming obsessed with the Joker. When Jackie discovers a massive secret about her mother and Bruce, she decides to run away. Will Bruce be able to find her? And what does Powers want with her?"
The Future of the White Knight Universe
Even a guy like Bruce Wayne is going to have a difficult time declaring war on two different batmen and Derek Powers, so he'll need allies. In this case, he's going all the way back to the beginning for a team-up with the very first Robin. Not Dick Grayson, but Jason Todd. In fact, Jason's role in this story is so crucial he'll be getting his own two-issue spinoff book later in 2022.
"In this universe, Jason Todd was the first Robin," Murphy reveals. "It started out as a timeline error in Volume 1 (oops), but because it's too late to go back and fix it, I've decided to embrace it moving forward. Jason plays a huge part in this series—not only are he and Bruce able to patch things up, but we'll even see him put on the Red Hood. There's also a 2 part spin-off called White Knight: Jason Todd that'll be released later in the year that'll introduce a new Robin to the White Knight universe! So stay tuned."
And if White Knight fans are assuming Beyond the White Knight wraps up a planned trilogy of stories, they'd be wrong. Murphy tells IGN he has "at least" one more direct sequel planned, with other spinoffs a possibility as well. This twisted vision of Gotham City is nowhere near finished yet.
Batman: Beyond the White Knight #1 will be released in print and digitally on March 29, 2022. Until then, brush up on IGN's Top 25 Batman Graphic Novels.
Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.
Continue reading...