Terrence "Terry" McGinnis, also known as Batman Beyond or Batman of the Future after his animated television series to distinguish him from his predecessor Bruce Wayne, is a superhero appearing in media published by DC Entertainment. The character was created by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini and first appeared in the pilot episode of Batman Beyond (1999–2001) set in the DC Animated Universe, voiced by Will Friedle.
Terry is the vigilante known as Batman in the future, having taken over the mantle after the aging Bruce Wayne retired. A separate version of the character was introduced in the 2023 Murphyverse graphic novel Batman: Beyond the White Knight.
Publication history McGinnis was created for the Batman Beyond animated television series, as a continuation of Batman: The Animated Series and The New Batman Adventures originally meant as a character for the DCAU. For a long time, he was not considered a character for the main DC Universe. Countdown to Final Crisis introduced Earth-12, an alternate universe with its version of Terry McGinnis and other Beyond-like characters. In times, it is revealed that this universe is where the DCAU situates. Superman/Batman (comic book) #22 (2005, which predates Superman/Batman Annual 4) was the first comic to depict McGinnis as existing in the future of Batman and the characters of the mainstream comic book DCU. In Batman #700, Terry's mentor is not Bruce, but Damian Wayne, who had become the third Batman after Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson (in other words, Terry would be the fourth Batman).
The 2010 story Superman/Batman Annual #4 returned to the DCAU Terry's story, as later did a 2011 Batman Beyond miniseries. In 2012, DC began publishing three Terry-related comic books: Batman Beyond and Justice League Beyond most prominently, though the character also appears in Superman Beyond. Terry officially entered mainstream DC continuity in the 2014 New 52 maxiseries, The New 52: Futures End. It has since then produced two separate comic book series, the first in 2015, where Tim Drake replaced Terry as Batman; and the second one in 2016, as part of DC Rebirth, where Terry has become Batman once again inheriting the cowl from the 2nd Batman Damian Wayne. Terry's story continued in the Batman Beyond series with Batman Beyond (vol.6) published in 2016, Batman Beyond: Neo-year series from 2022, and then the Batman Beyond: Neo-Gothic series 2023.
Fictional character biography Batman Beyond Terry was born in Gotham City to Warren and Mary McGinnis, a research scientist at Wayne-Powers and an astronomer at Astro-Tech, respectively. As a friend of the youthful racketeer Charlie "Big Time" Bigelow, Terry as a small-time criminal had numerous run-ins with the Gotham City Police at age fourteen, while his parents were going through a divorce, even serving a three-month stint in juvenile hall.
Twenty years after Batman's disappearance from Gotham, due to Bruce Wayne's retirement on account of a cardiovascular disease, Terry finds himself on the run from the Jokerz, another street gang, who have modelled themselves after the long-dead legendary criminal, the Joker. Terry flees onto the grounds of Wayne Manor, where an aged Bruce comes to his defense and together they subdue and ward off the Jokerz. The strain of the fight places substantial stress on Bruce's weak heart, so Terry helps Bruce into the mansion and gets him his medication; Bruce proceeds to fall asleep afterward. Terry attempts to leave, but Bruce's dog Ace stops him with hostility. He then tries to call his father but then notices a bat stuck inside a grandfather clock. As he tries to free it he stumbles upon the entrance to the Batcave and realizes that Bruce was the city's heroic Dark Knight. He is then forced out by an enraged Bruce.
Terry returns home to find his father murdered, ostensibly by the Jokerz. He later discovers that Derek Powers (who has assumed leadership of a merged Wayne-Powers) ordered Warren's death after the latter discovered Powers' plan to mass-produce biological weapons. Powers' right-hand man, Mr. Fixx, leads a raid on the McGinnis home and shoots Warren McGinnis. (In the comic books, he orders one of his henchmen, Jake Chill, who is a great grand-nephew of Joe Chill, the one who murdered Bruce's parents, to shoot Warren). Terry then seeks Bruce's assistance in bringing Powers down, but cannot convince the old man to inflict swift justice - Bruce is still shaken from an ordeal 20 years earlier of having relied on a handgun for self-defense (the event that forced him to retire as Batman for good), as well as the traumatic event of the Joker's death and Tim Drake's psychological torture in the flashbacks of Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker and the limitations of his age. Bruce suggests that Terry take the evidence against Powers to Police Commissioner Barbara Gordon, his former partner and the retired Batgirl. However, after Powers reclaims the evidence in a violent scuffle, Terry takes matters into his own hands and steals Bruce's last, advanced Batsuit, which had caught his eye. Despite some initial mistrust, their similar backgrounds and the risks of a pandemic that Powers' viral weapons might cause convince Bruce to aid Terry. Terry successfully derails Powers' plan, exposing him to his weapons in the process, resulting in his mutation into Blight.
Reminded by Terry of why he started crime-fighting and convinced that there is still a need for a Batman, Bruce accepts Terry as his protégé and successor, training him as Gotham's new Dark Knight under the cover of being a hired personal assistant. In addition, Bruce assists Terry in the field, primarily by keeping in continual contact with him from the Batcave, while also helping him out in the field occasionally and if necessary. Beyond the vigilante duties as Batman, Terry is also Bruce's chauffeur and assists with Bruce's daily business and personal tasks at his home and office, which also allows him to earn money to support his family. Terry's youth and history as a juvenile delinquent provide the perfect cover, ensuring no one suspects he is Batman. As a result, he doesn't have to emulate Bruce by pretending to be shallow and irresponsible to protect his identity. This unique background motivates him to offer redemption to criminals who show genuine remorse, directly contrasting with Bruce's deep-seated hatred for those who harm the innocent. In time, the pair develops a bond of trust and respect and confides in each other not only in their mutual missions but also in life issues as well, much like father and son. Bruce would even trust Terry over Barbara Gordon's words when the villain Spellbinder frames Terry for murder with another one of his illusions. While getting his own unique rogues' gallery, in addition to contending with some of his mentor's former foes including the resurrected Joker, Terry also makes allies, such as high school student Maxine Gibson, and despite initial hostility between them, even Commissioner Gordon herself (in the comics, he also eventually meets and works with Bruce's other ex-partner, the former Robin/Nightwing, Dick Grayson). He also meets Bruce's old allies Superman and the Justice League, even being offered full-time membership after he saves them from Starro's world takeover scheme. However, he turns it down, preferring to remain a reserved member and work alone as his mentor did.
After Powers' criminal identity is exposed and he finally brings retribution to his father's killer, Terry decides to continue his role as Batman, aware of the differences he makes and to atone for his past sins, in the hope that it is his chance at redemption. Later in his career as Batman, after Bruce began suffering from kidney failure, he ran a DNA test for suitable donors and discovered that not only was he a suitable match, but the perfect one. He then learns that he is the biological son of his mentor, who had discovered the truth himself sometime before but kept quiet out of respect for Warren, who raised Terry. Seeking answers, Terry then has a confrontation with an elderly Amanda Waller, Bruce's acquaintance from his days with the Justice League, who reveals that she engineered his origin to create a replacement Batman for Bruce. Terry learns that Bruce is his biological father; Waller used nanotechnology to ensure that Bruce’s DNA overwrote the DNA in Warren McGinnis' reproductive cells. She had intended to take things one step forward and recreate the tragic circumstances that drove Bruce into becoming Batman (by hiring the Phantasm to murder the young boy's parents in front of him), but her hired assassin refused at the last minute, forcing Waller to cancel the project, although Warren's eventual murder by criminals ironically cemented Terry's destiny to become the next Batman. In conclusion, Waller tells Terry that while he does not possess Bruce's level of deduction and analytical skills, he does possess the same heart. Initially disillusioned with who he was, Terry eventually reconciles with the truth and continues to have a relationship with Bruce, while also planning on proposing to his longtime girlfriend, Dana Tan. He is also revealed to have joined the Justice League, but like Bruce before him, he is only a part-time member.
Project Batman Beyond In the Justice League Unlimited episode "Epilogue", which takes place 15 years after Batman Beyond, Terry has become a remarkable superhero in his own right, whose life as Batman mirrors his predecessor's, even oddly resembles him, and later discovers the truth about his paternity. When Bruce requires tissue for the cloning of a kidney to transplant, Terry is checked for compatibility. To his surprise, his DNA is similar to Bruce's. After hesitating for a time, he runs a DNA test and finds out that Bruce is his biological father. Terry seeks Amanda Waller, the only person in the world he believes can answer his questions, before confronting Bruce. As he does so, he imagines scenarios where he leaves the people vital to himself because he believes his life was a lie.
Terry vents some of his frustration about Bruce and his plans to Waller, only to be surprised when Waller reveals that it was not Bruce responsible for Terry's genetic makeup – it was her doing, without Bruce's consent or even his express knowledge.
Decades earlier, Waller was the government liaison to the Justice League, and she saw that Batman was the most capable member of the League; despite lacking any powers, his willpower, physical strength, and acute intelligence made him the most balanced and reliable fighter in the entire League. In addition, based on his compassion for the dying original Royal Flush Gang member, Ace, Batman's virtue makes him the League's conscience. Because of this, Waller slowly began to respect and trust Bruce Wayne. However, Waller noticed Batman was getting older and increasingly unable to handle the day-to-day intensities of crimefighting. She knew that one day Batman would have to retire, or he'd be killed on duty. Fearing a world without someone like Batman, she decided to create a new one.
Waller, with old connections to Project Cadmus, gathered the technology necessary for her movement, codenamed "Project Batman Beyond." Bruce's DNA was obtained in Gotham City, where his arm got grazed after intercepting a gang war—a small blood sample on a piece of gauze left at the scene of it. Years later, in Neo Gotham, after Bruce retired, she found a couple that was psychologically identical to his parents. Warren McGinnis was called in to get a routine flu shot that actually was a nanotech solution to replace the DNA in his reproductive system with that of Bruce Wayne's, turning Warren into Bruce's surrogate. A year later, Mary McGinnis gave birth to Terry, who was biologically a child of her and Bruce.