The beauty of comic book animated series is the ability to create heroes and villains that don’t exist in the source material. A perfect example of this is Harley Quinn. Initially, she was supposed to appear once in Batman: The Animated Series. Thanks to her popularity, she became a recurring antagonist. Now she’s among the most recognized characters in comics, leading to her own movie and animated show on HBO Max. Another example (also coming out of the Batman: The Animated Series universe) is the future’s Batman, Terry McGinnis.
Terry debuted in the first episode of Batman Beyond, and fans quickly gravitated to him. Like Miles Morales, he was a legacy character who was unlike their mentor. Terry's swagger was more like Dick Grayson (Nightwing) than Bruce Wayne. This could be why Bruce loves him as much as he does. The popularity of Batman Beyond led to Terry starring in his own comics and an upcoming crossover with a major Milestone Media hero, Virgil Hawkins, aka Static, titled Batman/Static: Beyond.
Virgil Hawkins (created by Dwayne McDuffie, writer and producer for Justice League Unlimited) will team up with Terry in a mini-series titled Batman/Static: Beyond. Writer Evan Narcisse says, “I loved the dynamic Nik (Nikolas Draper-Ivey, artist in this series) set up between Static and Batman in the Milestone 30th Anniversary Special, where these characters first teamed up with each other…” The most important part could be how Evan said the mini-series will explore how different Terry and Virgil are. This should lead to conflict and bonding from Earth’s future heroes.
Artist on Batman/Static: Beyond, Nikolas Draper-Ivey, comments that, "This story is intended to be a commentary on our overreliance on technology and the imminent dangers of becoming complacent and too comfortable using AI to substitute our own imagination and human ingenuity." Considering the number of people relying on technology and companies using artificial intelligence to write stories and create actors, it’s an important message to get out. And what better people to do it than two amazing creators like Evan Narcisse and Nikolas Draper-Ivey?
Preview of the interior of Batman/Static: Beyond shows Static and Batman (Terry) in space on an experimental ship designed by Bruce Wayne. Meanwhile, Superman and Milestone Media character Icon are out in space. Soon after that, the heroes blast off into battle at an incredible speed to begin their journey. That ends the preview, but it's enough to understand that this is going to be a must-read miniseries to close out 2025.
Batman/Static: Beyond No. 1 is scheduled to debut on November 12, 2025. Stay tuned to Bam Smack Pow’s social media sites, Bluesky, Instagram, and Twitter for more DC comic book, TV, and movie news, opinions, and rumors as they come out.