Warning! Spoilers for Batman: Beyond The White Knight
As writer and artist Sean Murphy tackles the Batman Beyond era of his Batman: White Knight series, he is giving Terry McGinnis a new batsuit in Batman: Beyond The White Knight. The future Dark Knight closely resembles his animated counterpart, with a few modifications.
Throughout the animated series Batman Beyond, Terry wore a darker, minimalistic batsuit originally worn by an aging Bruce Wayne, who needed assistance during his war on crime. After retiring from his vigilantism, the suit remained in the Batcave, and was eventually stollen by Terry. Although he wasn’t trained to the extent that Bruce had been prior to becoming the Caped Crusader, the suit bridged the gap and enhanced Terry’s skill level fighting criminals. As Murphy’s fifth entry to the Batman: White Knight series approaches, Batman: Beyond The White Knight has revealed that Terry will wear an updated version of the familiar future batsuit.
Throughout cover art and previews posted on social media, Sean Murphy has showcased a new batsuit worn by Terry McGinnis. The adjusted look closely resembles the known iteration, with a few tweaks and a minimized bat symbol. According to Murphy, it was a challenge to revise such a well-designed costume, comparing it with Spider-Man’s suit as it’s already a thoughtfully designed look. Unlike the White Knight’s Batman suit, Terry’s costume remains the same in its aesthetic as the mainstream version. In an interview with Screen Rant, Murphy explained the new batsuit worn by Terry, saying:
“It’s funny, there are so many different ways to draw the Beyond suit, but it’s kind of like a Spider-Man suit, where it’s so perfect the way it was originally conceived, that it’s hard to really add stuff to it without mucking it up. I tried to play around with maybe getting rid of the mouth and covering the teeth, because I just thought it was weird that he could smile. But if you don’t draw the teeth, it doesn’t look like Terry anymore.
So I tried my best to kind of tweak the Beyond suit and I really couldn’t think of anything better. All I really did to it was add these red vents around his elbows and knees, and on his chest, just to give it some extra detail. But I think generally, when I’m dealing with a suit different than most artists is, I have a really scratchy rendering style. So I’m mostly going for texture on the suit, rather than actual design elements.
What I did [with the new Beyond suit] is when the cape expands, it actually connects to these talons that shoot out of his arms, and sort of acts like a glider that way. But for the most part, yeah, tucked away, and he’s just a guy in a black suit. I actually based a lot of the ideas for him off of Spider Man 2099. I know DC will hate me saying that [laughs], but Rick Leonardi the artist is a friend and I love his stuff. And I’ve always wanted to do sort of a Spidey future book, so Batman Beyond is kind of the best of both worlds.”
In terms of its functionality and purpose, it appears the suit remains the same as its animated incarnation. As seen on the cover for Batman: Beyond The White Knight #1, Terry utilizes the costume’s signature red wings to fly through Neo-Gotham. It remains a mystery why Bruce had the suit lying around in the Batcave, as he hadn’t been known to wear the alternate costume. It’s also unclear why he created it, as the White Knight universe’s Bruce wasn’t too old prior to his arrest, and didn’t seem to require the suit’s functions on patrol.
Since Beyond The White Knight depicts Gotham’s transformation into Neo-Gotham from Bruce’s donated resources, the futuristic batsuit is like the first technological display of what is possible with Wayne’s fortune. However, the suit had been created more than a decade before the start of the upcoming 8-issue limited series, as Terry retrieves it in the first issue, meaning its technology is outdated by the time he wears it. Batman: Beyond The White Knight begins on March 29.
