Batman Beyond fans have been hoping for some sort of live-action revival since the acclaimed animated series left our screens almost two decades ago, and it turns out we very nearly got one in the early 2000s.
While speaking to Kevin Smith on the latest episode of Fatman on Batman, Paul Dini revealed that he and fellow Batman Beyond co-creator Alan Burnett were hired to write the script for a live-action adaptation. Boaz Yakin (Remember The Titans) was on board as director, and the studio was even looking at Clint Eastwood to play the older incarnation of Bruce Wayne.
"It was set in Gotham's future, but it didn't quite have the fantastic, futuristic edge," Dini explained. "It was sort of like an amalgam. There was a little bit of Dark Knight, there was a little bit of contemporary comics and there was Terry [McGinnis] and the suit and everything. It was old Bruce Wayne."
Unfortunately, WB execs balked at the trio's much darker and nihilistic take on the Caped Crusader of the future, and demanded a more family-friendly version. Yakin refused to tone down his vision, departed the project, and the rest is history.
Could this still happen at some point? Well, Warner Bros. has certainly softened its stance on darker material over the years, so that wouldn't be an issue anymore. Of course, we've yet to meet our latest Bruce Wayne (Robert Pattinson) on the big screen, so Terry McGinnis is probably still a long way off!
Would you guys be interested in a Batman Beyond movie? Let us know in the comments.