WARNING: This article contains SPOILERS for Batman Beyond: Rebirth
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Terry McGinnis is getting some company as Batman Beyond, with his younger brother claiming the title of Robin. That’s the next major twist on the Beyond formula that seems to be coming in 2018, after the DC Rebirth finally returned the hero to the spotlight. After being displaced in time (and by time), Batman Beyond: Rebirth returned Terry McGinnis to the cowl and role of Neo-Gotham’s guardian angel. And once Bruce Wayne returned to DC’s future along with him, it seemed like the status quo was finally restored.
Only to be given a shocking new twist by writer Dan Jurgens – or several of them, if you ask the fans. Bringing heroes and villains back from the dead is always controversial, let alone the changes DC has made to the future of beloved characters in DC’s current timeline. Yet Beyond has tried to connect each twist to the core of the Batman ‘idea’ that fans can recognize. So if Batman needs a Robin, it’s about time that Terry McGinnis got one for himself. And even better: keep it in the family.
RELATED: Batman Beyond’s Brother Starts His Robin Training
The idea that Matt McGinnis wants to be Robin has been made fairly clear over the past few issues, as he and his older brother Terry have moved in to Wayne Manor (ostensibly to keep Bruce company). As Terry patrols, Matt has had the opportunity to pick Bruce’s brain about the versions of Robin who came before… and observe their training via surveillance footage. The fact that Matt was emulating the Robin training was never a secret, but with Issue #18 coming in March, it looks like he’s finally making his superhero identity official.
Take a look at the cover art by Bernard Chang to see if you can spot the evidence:
That’s right: when his brother Terry winds up in a predicament that not even Bruce Wayne can solve, Matt has to do the unthinkable. Smashing the preserved display case of Damian Wayne’s Robin costume, and don it himself. It’s the same costume that Matt has been observing in his training videos, meaning his fighting style is built around Damian’s, if anyone’s. And skeptical as casual fans may be to think that Matt can simply ‘become Robin’ because he wants to, it’s not his first time saving the day in Rebirth. Sure, he may not have the legacy of a Dick Grayson, Tim Drake, or Damian Wayne… but then, neither did Terry. So considering the rifts that have inevitably formed between all Batmen and Robins, maybe a pair of brothers is actually a change for the better.
Fans will need to wait until Issue #18 to see the events unfold, and the cover’s clear implication officially confirmed. But with Batman back, Joker returned to life, and even Bruce Wayne up to his old tricks, a new Robin is just a matter of time. What DC does with the McGinnises after that… remains to be seen.
RELATED: Batman Beyond’s Brother Starts His Robin Training
Batman Beyond #18 will be available in local comic book shops or via digital services on March 28, 2018.
