Warning: Spoilers for Batman Beyond: Neo-Gothic #4!
The Batman Beneath meets the Batman Beyond, as Bruce Wayne’s successor Terry McGinnis is met with the archrival he never knew he deserved. Between both the Batman Beyond television series and his comic book adventures, Terry has always had a rogues gallery filled with underrated villains. However, the Batman Beneath is a whole other beast entirely, the likes of which Terry has never faced before.
Batman Beyond: Neo-Gothic #4 – written by Jackson Lanzing, Colln Kelly, with art by Max Dunbar – acquaints readers further with Batman Beneath, giving a clearer sense of the extent of what he’s capable of.
Of all the threats Terry McGinnis has faced in his career as the protector of future Gotham, the Batman Beneath will test him like no other.
The Future Isn’t Ready For The Batman Beneath
Staying true to the essence of Batman in any form, the Batman Beneath attacks Terry where it truly hurts: his mind. In his first scenes of action, the Batman Beneath truly instills fear in the future Batman, getting to Terry in ways no villain has hurt him before. The personal stakes in this new challenge rise dramatically when the Batman Beneath brings Terry’s insecurities about his family to the surface. Even when Terry recognizes early on that this is a dreamlike sequence, or that his memories appear distorted from how they actually happened, it’s clear that the harsh words of his mother and the interaction with his brother affect him.
The preview for Batman Beyond: Neo-Gothic #4 only scratches the surface of the conflict ahead between Terry McGinnis and the sinister Batman Beneath that is sure to come once Terry has found a way to counteract the villain’s invasion of his memories. McGinnis, and by extension the Batman Beyond franchise, have long been in search of a true nemesis on the level of Batman’s most iconic rogues, such as Joker, Two-Face, or Scarecrow. While the Batman Beneath is currently a threat to Gotham in multiple eras, the character’s longterm role in the DC Universe could lie in the future, rather than the past or the present.
The Batman Beneath Could Be Terry McGinnis’ Greatest Enemy
In Batman Beyond: Neo-Gothic, Bruce Wayne is dead, leaving Terry without a mentor. He and his new sidekick, Kyle the Catboi, have embarked into the depths below Gotham to the Court of Owls, leading them creation of the Owls’ referred to best as the Batman Beneath, a monster created in the shape of Batman, compiled using mushrooms, fungus, and the remains of the Owls themselves. Neo-Gothic #4 is the first glimpse of what exactly this horror creation is capable of, as it targets Terry McGinnis’ darkest thoughts, using them to send the hero through a nightmare realm of his own backstory, setting up a conflict that could redefine Batman Beyond for its next era.
Batman Beyond: Neo-Gothic #4 is available October 25, 2023 from DC Comics.
