Welcome to the Future

 

–2019 CE
Referenced in Batman Beyond Vol. 7 #7.^[1] The date is purely conjectural. Wayne Enterprises begins a close working relationship with Geri Powers and her company Powers Industries. This relationship will continue for roughly a year at which point the two companies will officially merge.

–2020 CE
Referenced in Batman Beyond Vol. 7 #7. Bruce agrees to a merger between Wayne Enterprises and Powers Industries to form Wayne-Powers Company. However, Bruce doesn’t trust Powers Industries board member Derek Powers (Geri Powers’ nephew, who will eventually become CEO of Wayne-Powers years down the road). Because of his distrust for the shady Derek Powers, Bruce keeps all Wayne Enterprises tech encrypted using secret ciphers to mask his notes.

–2020 CE
Referenced in The New 52: Futures End #48—originally told in The New 52: Futures End #32-34 and The New 52: Futures End #40-47. Mr. Terrific early-releases the uSphere—a floating smartphone that is a backup of your brain, partly made possible thanks to Brother Eye’s AI—to the citizens of New York City. Of course, Brother Eye goes rogue and uses this tech to take control of every user. Batman descends upon Terrifitech’s Flatiron Building HQ, which becomes filled with dead Terrifitech employees thanks to Brother Eye. Batman joins Mr. Terrific and initiates the “Palin Protocol,” a program designed to control Brother Eye. However, it fails and Brother Eye takes over all planetary electronics. Refusing to obey his “fathers” (Mr. Terrific and Batman), the evil AI resurrects the dead as cyborg zombies (aka eye-Zombies). Batman and Mr. Terrific attempt to destroy Brother Eye, but fail once again. Batman, Mr. Terrific, the Atom, Firestorm (Madison Payne with Jason Rusch trapped inside her), the Key, and Coil fight a bunch of eye-Zombies and all manage to escape. Madison loses her Firestorm powers, and god only knows what happens to Jason Rusch. The fleeing heroes watch as Brother Eye begins to further plague Manhattan. Shortly thereafter, the Atom and Madison start a resistance movement against Brother Eye’s forces, which is able to restrict Brother Eye’s control to just New York. (We must assume that the war pitting Brother Eye versus humanity will continue on for the next twenty-plus years until the evil AI finally enslaves enough metahumans to spread his control beyond New York—which won’t happen until close to the year 2050. Once Brother Eye’s army is big enough for him to assault the Earth for real, this strike will be known as his “initial attack.”) Also note that all characters involved with this episode—including Batman—will retain memories of the defunct Futures End Timeline’s version of events, despite its erasure. For details on this paradox see the immediate bulleted footnote below.

—^[2]

–2020 CE
Referenced in Batman Beyond Vol. 7 #7. The Wayne-Powers Company begins immediate major construction projects all over Gotham in an attempt to keep the city’s technology one step ahead of Brother Eye. (Note that, in order to give room for the possibility of Grant Morrison’s 666 Future, which occurs in the 2020s and 2030s, Brother Eye’s war against humanity will be a slow and semi-cold war until 2050. For the next two decades, Brother Eye will control New York City and other parts of North America, but most of the United States and its other metropolitan areas—including Washington DC, Metropolis, and Gotham—will remain defended and protected from Brother Eye’s reach. Of course, once Brother Eye’s campaign heats up—with his so-called “initial attack”—to expand its reach in two decades’ time, only then will Wayne-Powers invent and initiate its Veil technology and rebuild Gotham into Neo-Gotham.)

–mid 2020s CE
Green Lantern Vol. 5 #20. This flash-forward details Hal Jordan and Carol Ferris not only getting married, but also having a child shortly thereafter. Batman (Bruce Wayne), Wonder Woman, and Superman meet Martin Jordan—the Dark Knight declares that the baby is beautiful.

—^[3][4]

–Circa mid 2020s CE
Damian: Son of Batman #1, Part 1—and also referenced in Damian: Son of Batman #2. Batman semi-retires, giving up the mantle of the Bat back to Dick Grayson, who becomes Batman once again, taking a roughly nineteen-year-old Damian as his Robin. (In the Modern Age, Damian was fourteen-years-old, but this cannot be the case in the New 52.) Also, Jim Gordon retires and becomes a priest after his daughter Barbara Gordon inexplicably and horrifically loses the use of her legs again. Batman (Dick) and Robin (Damian) investigate a mass grave about which a bunch of Joker-fish are strewn. When Dick examines the fish, a bomb goes off killing him instantly. (The immediate aftermath of this death scene is also shown in single panels in Batman #666 and the questionably canonical dream sequence from Batman Incorporated Vol. 2 #5, although it looks quite different.) Soon after, a funeral is held at Wayne Manor, presided over by Father Jim Gordon. In attendance are Bruce, Alfred, Damian, an unidentified female (maybe Sonia Zucco, Harper Row, or Stephanie Brown?), an unidentified male (maybe Lucius Fox, Luke Fox, or Duke Thomas?), and Babs.

–Circa mid 2020s CE
Batman Incorporated Vol. 2 #5—originally referenced in Batman #666. (Again, note that the 666 Future dream sequence from Batman Incorporated Vol. 2 #5 is only a mere possibility.) Shortly after the death of Dick Grayson, the grieving Damian is manipulated into making a deal with the devil (aka Simon Hurt)—Damian’s soul in exchange for the ensured survival of Gotham. The nitty gritty details of the deal are never fully revealed, but it is implied that Damian receives a “healing factor” or semi-immortality in the process. However, this deal will eventually come back to haunt Damian down the road. Unknown to Damian, Hurt’s manipulation runs even deeper since he works for Talia, who is secretly the one responsible for Dick’s death.

–Circa mid 2020s CE
Damian: Son of Batman #1-4. Weeks after Dick Grayson’s death, Damian visits his mother Talia and grandfather Ra’s al Ghul. Talia and Ra’s al Ghul discuss Damian’s history (although Talia curiously neglects to mention his death at the hands of the Heretic and resurrection thereafter), after which they encourage him to become the next Batman. Back in Gotham, Damian learns that many super-villains have falsely claimed responsibility for murdering Batman. A pissed-off Robin goes out and murders both Mr. Freeze and Killer Croc and nearly kills Jackanapes (one of Joker’s original henchmen). After a chat with Father Gordon, Robin kills rookie villain Chipmunk. Back in the Batcave, Bruce (now in his forties and slightly graying) flips-out and confronts Damian about the murders. Bruce and Damian begin a brutal fistfight with each other, during which Bruce winds up getting accidentally gutted by a grappling hook. Alfred rushes in to stabilize Bruce and orders Damian to leave. After chatting with Father Gordon, the Damian decides to become the new Batman! After donning an adult version of his “666 costume,” Damian heads to the recently abandoned Arkham Asylum when he gets a report of activity there from a police drone. A clue at Arkham leads him downtown into battle with Professor Pyg and his Dollotrons. Pyg kicks Damian’s butt and blows him into the Gotham River. Alfred collects the unconscious Damian and brings it back home. After performing life saving surgery on Damian, Alfred slumps over and ingloriously dies. (Note that Alfred’s tombstone says 2014, which should obviously be ignored.)^[5] Damian soon recovers from injury but begins talking to his pet cat, Alfred II, which he hallucinates as sounding just like Alfred. Talk about a coping mechanism. Damian, as Batman, returns to the streets and takes down newcomer Sharptooth, Jackanapes, and an unnamed simian pal. Later, Bruce, still recovering from his own injury, gets kidnapped by his in-house nurse, who turns out to be a disguised Impostor Joker. This prompts Damian to march into a nest of super-villains to attempt a rescue. The young new Batman fights and defeats Phosphorus Rex, a newbie named Tomahawks, Jackanapes (again), Weasel, and a bunch of ape-men. He then saves his dad and kicks the crap out of Impostor Joker. After Damian and Bruce leave, the real Joker appears and kills Impostor Joker. Damian chats with kitty Alfred and then takes to the streets to make his tenure as the new Batman official, starting with the arrest of weird super-villain Snickers the Cat-Man.

–Circa mid 2020s CE
Referenced in Batman Beyond Vol. 7 #8, Batman Beyond Vol. 7 #12-13, and Batman Beyond: Rebirth #1. After completing a mission with the Titans, an exhausted Red Robin meets with Bruce, now taking a ton of prescription medication and using a cane for mobility thanks to his recent permanent injuries. Red Robin tells Bruce he is going to get some rest. Red Robin then departs and disappears without a trace. Bruce begins an exhaustive search for Tim, one that he will be completely immersed in for the next few years (which is one of the main reasons we won’t see much of Bruce on our timeline in the near future). An obsessed Bruce won’t find Tim and the latter’s absence will be one of the greater tragic mysteries of the DCU. As a memorial, Bruce puts Red Robin’s costume on display in the Batcave.

–early 2030s CE
References in Batman Incorporated Vol. 2 #5, Batman Incorporated Vol. 2 #10, Batman Incorporated Vol. 2 #13, and Damian: Son of Batman #1-2—originally told and referenced in Batman #666 and Batman #700. (Don’t forget that the 666 Future dream sequence from Batman Incorporated Vol. 2 #5 AND Damian: Son of Batman are both only mere possibilities.) Batman (Damian Wayne) spends the first three years of his tenure as the Caped Crusader booby-trapping the entire city of Gotham to become his own personal weapon. Furthermore, Damian activates a new Brother-I satellite and uses it as his ultimate surveillance guide. (Be aware this is not Brother Eye—this is a totally separate AI. Brother Eye would currently be at war with humanity, as per The New 52: Futures End #47-48.) Damian’s main rogues gallery consists of a pastiche of veteran villains and wild new rogues, which he regularly puts away in a reopened super-security version of Arkham Asylum. Damian puts away both Jackanapes and The Sphinx in the new Arkham. No specific details are given, but Damian also becomes partly responsible for the death of an unknown person (but likely Jim Gordon), which puts him at odds with Gotham’s new Commissioner of Police, Barbara Gordon. When former Azrael (Michael Lane) returns to Gotham obsessed with destroying the now approximately twenty-five-year-old Batman at the behest of his master Simon Hurt, Damian responds by confronting Lane head-on. Damian is riddled with bullets and set on fire but survives, thus confirming his “healing factor”/near invulnerability obtained from his deal with Hurt. Much to the dismay of Commissioner Gordon, Damian executes Lane. Later, Max Roboto (another of Joker’s original henchmen) and 2-Face-2 take over Gotham’s new artificial climate control system, causing it to rain Monster Joker Venom all over the city. The majority of Gotham’s citizens are morphed into crazed Jokerized zombies. The double-faced villain also kidnaps an infected infant named Terry McGinnis. Batman watches as a time-traveling Professor Carter Nichols appears from the past (2011) and, in a twisted form of suicide, murders his older self. 2011 Nichols, distraught at his life of failure thanks to Simon Hurt, has time-traveled to now, killed his older self, and then sent that body back to 2011 so that the authorities (and Hurt) will think he is dead, thus providing him with a free and unhindered life in this future. Batman rescues tiny Terry, gives him an anti-venom, and defeats the baddies. Joker’s joke book also makes an appearance, but like its previous two appearances, it’s just a MacGuffin.

–early 2030s CE
Batman Incorporated Vol. 2 #5. The date is conjectural, and don’t forget that the 666 Future dream sequence from Batman Incorporated Vol. 2 #5 is only a mere possibility. With much of North America in chaos (thanks to the actions of Damian’s rogues and the ongoing Brother Eye war), Batman (Damian Wayne) and Commissioner Babs fight off the entire populace of a government-quarantined Gotham, which has been Jokerized with a brand new strain of Joker Venom. Damian and Babs try to hold off the Jokerized citizens from a barricaded Arkham Asylum, but a rescued infant brings the virus within their walls. (Note that the infant shown in here isn’t Terry McGinnis, especially since Baby Terry was given a dose of anti-venom and this baby is believed to have a natural immunity.)^[6] Babs then gets infected and blasts Damian in the spine with a shotgun. (Damian’s “healing factor”/near invulnerability allow him to continue on.) Per Talia’s orders, Simon Hurt (who has ascended to the highest levels of American government) authorizes a US Government nuclear strike on Gotham, killing thousands and wiping-out most of the city.^[7] Damian’s “healing factor”/near invulnerability also allows him to survive the nuclear strike. Note also that we never see Barbara Gordon killed either, meaning we can assume that Damian rescues her and purges the Joker Juice from her system. As the trope/saying goes, “No body, no death.”

–2030s CE
Referenced in Batman Beyond Vol. 7 #1. In the wake of Gotham’s recent semi-nuclear destruction, the Wayne-Powers Company begins the reconstruction of the city. Gotham had previously always been able to hold its own against Brother Eye, but in its post-nuclear state, the city’s defenses are down, leaving it wide open. Thus, in order to protect the city while it rebuilds, the Wayne-Powers Company initiates sophisticated Veil technology that prevents Brother Eye from striking the newly christened Neo-Gotham. Cloaking software combined with an attack computer virus makes things so that Brother Eye, despite its intellect, cannot discern where Neo-Gotham is nor whether it exists or not. In layman’s terms, Neo-Gotham is a total blind-spot for Brother Eye. The Veil technology is housed inside the massive Wayne-Powers Complex for Deterrence. While Neo-Gotham is safe, Brother Eye decimates New York City and the surrounding areas, setting up prison camps everywhere as well. Brother Eye’s full reach and control are unknown to those in Neo-Gotham since most outside communications have been severed.

–late 2030s CE
Referenced in Batman Beyond Vol. 8 #2. Batman (Bruce Wayne) creates a new Batman costume for himself, with extra armor and a red Bat-symbol. Despite Bruce’s age and frail condition, this sci-fi costume allows for him to be fully active and effective as a crime-fighter.

–late 2030s CE
Referenced in Batman Beyond Vol. 8 #7. Batman (Bruce) sets up several surveillance satellites in Earth’s orbit. Presumably, the Brother-I satellite (from Batman #666) is still functional and Bruce is adding onto this network. Brother Eye will eventually destroy most of these satellites, but now all of them.

–December 24, late 2030s CE
Flashback from Batman Beyond Vol. 8 #2—and also referenced in Batman Beyond Vol. 7 #13 and Batman Beyond Vol. 8 #3. On a snowy Christmas Eve, Joker captures Batman and chains him to the front loader of a large construction vehicle that is filled with explosives. Batman breaks his own arm to escape. With some assistance from Commissioner Barbara Gordon, Batman hops back into the vehicle and fights Joker. The vehicle crashes and explodes, seemingly incinerating Joker. Batman and the GCPD runs tests on the blood and meager bodily remains of Joker, confirming a match to the legendary villain’s DNA record. Joker is publicly declared dead. What little is left of his remains are cremated and the Clown Prince of Crime is interred at a Neo-Gotham funeral home. Bruce double and triple-checks to confirm that Joker is truly dead. Unable to prove otherwise, Bruce accepts that his greatest rival is no more. (SPOILER: Of course, Joker ain’t really dead. You surely didn’t buy that for a second, did you? As we learn in Batman Beyond Vol. 8 #5, Joker is still alive.)

–late 2030s CE
Flashback from Batman Beyond Vol. 8 #8—and also referenced in Batman Beyond Vol. 7 #14, Batman Beyond Vol. 8 #4, and Batman Beyond Vol. 8 #6-8. Bruce designs and tailors a new Batman costume, one that is just as powerful as the current model, but is much sleeker and streamlined. (This is the costume that Bruce will eventually give to Terry McGinnis down the road.) Despite the new costume upgrade, old Batman’s first challenge is the debuting Banes—murderous gang of Venom-addicted Bane-worshippers. After the Banes kick Batman’s ass, he decides he needs an even more powerful suit. Back to the drawing board, the hobbled Bruce constructs an even stronger Batman costume (known as the “X-7”) with aerodynamic wing cape, pill bombs, built-in radar-sonar, fingerprint-retina-DNA scanner, sound-imaging alert system, and sentient X-7 AI that can control the suit if need be. While the Banes run amok for weeks, Bruce works on the X-7, testing its capabilities. Bruce then dons the X-7 and takes on the Banes. Batman suffers multiple broken bones, but when X-7 takes completely takes over his body, Batman is able to defeat the Banes. Bruce realizes that the suit is dangerous and only because it is damaged is Bruce able to take it off afterward. With terrible new injuries sustained to an already frail elderly body, Batman officially fully retires from crime-fighting.

–early 2040s CE
Flashback from Batman Beyond Vol. 8 #8
Obsessed with perfection (and likely bored in retirement), Bruce repairs the X-7 suit and continues tinkering with it, hoping to correct its design flaws. After weeks of work Bruce finally thinks he’s fixed the suit’s problems. Bruce has someone (possibly Damian?) test out the suit, but the results are disastrous. Afterward, Bruce stashes the X-7 in a Batcave vault, vowing never to let anyone wear it ever again.

–2040s CE
Referenced in Batman Beyond Vol. 8 #8. Ra’s al Ghul dies. Bruce is on hand to witness as Damian bathes in a Lazarus Pit to regain his youth (appearing as a 20-something or 30-something-year-old after reemerging). Damian then becomes the new leader of the League of Assassins!

–late 2040s CE
Referenced in Batman Beyond Vol. 7 #12. Bruce gets a dog named Ace.

–2049 CE^[8]
Flashback from Batman Beyond: Rebirth #1 and Batman Beyond Vol. 8 #7—and also referenced in Batman Vol. 2 #20, Batwing #19, Superman Unchained #2, Batman Vol. 2 Annual #4, Batman Beyond Vol. 7 #11, Gotham Academy Annual #1, Batman Beyond: Rebirth #1, Batman Beyond Vol. 8 #4, Batman Beyond Vol. 8 #4, and Batman Beyond Vol. 8 #7. High schooler Terry McGinnis and his girlfriend Dana Tan are attacked by the Joker-inspired terror gang known as The Jokerz. Terry leads the Jokerz outside of the city, accidentally winding up at Wayne Manor, where an elderly Bruce Wayne drives the Jokerz away. Terry helps old Bruce into his home and administers his meds, causing Bruce to pass out. Noticing a bat oddly trapped inside a grandfather clock, Terry investigates and discovers the Batcave, realizing that Bruce is the former Batman. Bruce, having awakened, discovers the snooping Terry and drives him away as well. Terry arrives home to his mom Mary McGinnis and little brother Matt McGinnis to find that his whistle-blowing father has been murdered on the orders of Wayne-Powers Company’s new corrupt CEO Derek Powers. Terry immediately returns to Wayne Manor and begs Bruce to avenge his dad. Bruce refuses, so Terry steals an experimental Bat-suit that Bruce has been improving upon for decades. Terry becomes the new Batman, protector of Neo-Gotham. This Bat-suit has a plethora of unique strengths that no Bat-suit has ever had before, including powerful cloaking technology, which Terry will use during almost every case (even if it isn’t specifically mentioned below). The rookie Batman, remotely guided by a begrudging Bruce, confronts his father’s killer, Derek Powers, and defeats him. In the process, Powers suffers a horrific radiation accident that turns him into the super-villain Blight. Blight becomes the new Batman’s first arch-rival, battling him several times. Blight will soon learn the new Batman’s secret identity as well. Terry then officially joins the Bat-Family in its battle against Brother Eye. Bruce also builds a sentient computerized version of the long deceased Alfred, aptly called ALFRED, which acts as a built-in guide inside Terry’s Bat-suit. ALFRED is basically a nicer fixed-up version of the X-7 AI. Terry immediately begins on-the-job training with Bruce. (It is unknown if Damian helps Bruce train Terry.) Bruce tells the new Batman to guard his secret identity at all costs, even from those close to him. Moving forward, Bruce will be constantly gruff and overly-critical of Terry, treating Terry like a younger version of himself. And, while we won’t see it appear visibly on our timeline below, be aware that Terry continues to date Dana, but as his life as Batman begins to occupy more and more of his time, Dana will get phased out pretty quickly—with Terry ditching her constantly and making flimsy excuses to get away. Bruce will impress upon Terry the idea that nothing else matters except for the mission. Terry will take this to heart.

–2049 CE
Referenced in Batman Beyond Vol. 8 #3. Bruce goes out into the Gotham underworld disguised as Matches Malone to dig up information for Batman (Terry). For the rest of the calendar year, once every few weeks, Matches will make a rare appearance, but we will have to simply imagine these undercover appearances as happening randomly on our timeline below.

–2049 CE
Referenced in Batman Beyond Vol. 7 #2. The shape-shifting villainess Inque debuts. Batman (Terry McGinnis) is able to defeat her with her only weakness: water. Batman Beyond Vol. 7 #2 tells us that Inque is Terry’s biggest rival, so, while not listed on our timeline, Terry must have several more altercations with Inque in the next few years. Inque will also have a rivalry with Commissioner Barbara Gordon as well, who has now been commissioner for twenty years and has once again regained the ability to walk.

–2049 CE
Referenced in Batman Beyond Vol. 7 #5. Walter Shreeve becomes Blight’s newest henchman, becoming the sound wave-blasting super-villain known as Shriek. Batman (Terry McGinnis) encounters and defeats Shriek.

–2049 CE
Referenced in Gotham Academy Annual #1. Batman (Terry McGinnis) is likely not directly involved with this event, but it is worth noting anyway. A young Maps Mizoguchi time travels from 2016 to now. In 2049, Maps does some digging and learns Batman’s secret ID and origin story. Maps also learns the origin of Blight. After learning all of this, Maps returns to her correct time.

–2049 CE
Referenced in Batman Beyond Vol. 7 #5. Psychologist Ira Billings becomes the hallucination-inducing super-villain known as Spellbinder. Batman (Terry McGinnis) ends his short reign of terror in Neo-Gotham and puts him behind bars.

–2049 CE
Referenced in Batman Beyond Vol. 7 #7 and Batman Beyond Vol. 7 #12. Batman (Terry McGinnis) defeats the debuting Rewire (Davis Dusk). Dusk is the son of the Mayor of Gotham, William Dusk, who has invented a renewable energy source, which he uses for evil instead of good.

–2049 CE
Referenced in Batman Beyond Vol. 7 #1 and Batman Beyond Vol. 7 #13. Batman (Terry McGinnis) fights some Jokerz.

–2049 CE
Flashback from Batman Beyond Vol. 8 #3—and also referenced in Batman Beyond Vol. 8 #3. Terry and Dana officially break-up.

–2049 CE
Referenced in Batman Beyond Vol. 7 #13. Batman (Terry McGinnis) fights his former high school classmate and current owner of the notorious Club Purple, the super-villain known as Terminal (Carter Wilson). While defeating Terminal and a bunch of Jokerz that are loyal to him, Batman’s secret ID is exposed to one of his closest friends, Maxine Gibson.

–2049 CE
Referenced in Batman Beyond Vol. 8 #3. Bruce, disguised as Matches Malone, becomes chummy with Terminal and some of the Jokerz gang members in order to dig up information about them. He will sporadically meet with Terminal and some of the Jokerz randomly (albeit invisibly) below on our timeline.

–2049 CE
Flashback from Batman Beyond Vol. 7 #12. Terry has been Batman for a few months now. Bruce asks Batman to begin documenting his crime-files several times. Terry takes it upon himself to study Bruce’s former cases, allies, and enemies. When Batman finally does add files (on Inque, Spellbinder, and Rewire) to the Batcave computer, Bruce flips out. A visiting Commissioner Barbara Gordon witnesses the clash and informs Terry that Bruce is only upset because a document about Tim Drake had come up on the screen. After Bruce storms off with Ace, Babs tells Terry about how Tim disappeared decades ago.

–2049 CE
Flashback in Batman Beyond Vol. 7 #13. Batman (Terry McGinnis), having just learned about Tim Drake’s disappearance, visits Club Purple and interrogates Terminal about the cold case. Terminal tells Batman that the original Joker had something to do with Tim’s disappearance and that he secretly is still alive, hiding in the funeral home that supposedly cremated his remains years ago. Upon searching the funeral home, Terminal’s lies are exposed and his trap is sprung. A bunch of his Jokerz attack, but Batman beats them up. Batman returns to Bruce with his tail between his legs, ready for a scolding, but Bruce is pretty nice to him about the whole wild goose chase.

–2049 CE
Referenced in Batman Beyond Vol. 7 #9. When a new fad of genetic self-manipulation hits Gotham, turning ordinary folks into mutant-like animal-human hybrids known as Splicers, Batman (Terry McGinnis) fights the Splicers and busts the evil scientist responsible for facilitating their metamorphoses: Dr. Abel Cuvier.

–2049 CE
Referenced in Batman Beyond Vol. 7 #8 and Batman Beyond Vol. 7 #10. Batman (Terry McGinnis) meets and teams-up with the latest incarnation of the Justice League—Superman (Jon Kent), Shazam, Big Barda, Aquagirl, Green Lantern Kai-Ro, Warhawk (Rex Stewart), Micron, and Flash (Danica Williams). In this continuity, it is unknown what case or cases they go on, or whether or not Batman joins the team. We do know that the JL learns Batman’s secret identity.

–2049 CE
Referenced in Batman Beyond Vol. 8 #6-8. Batman (Terry McGinnis) teams-up with Commissioner Barbara Gordon to fight the League of Assassins and defeat the debuting Curaré. Bruce tells Terry all about the League of Assassins, Ra’s al Ghul, and how the al Ghul’s connect to his family tree via Talia and Damian. Bruce, however, doesn’t tell Terry that Ra’s al Ghul is dead and that Damian is the new leader of the League of Assassins. Bruce will keep this a secret for years.

–2050 CE
Referenced in Batman Beyond Vol. 8 # 5. Bruce invents Keystone, the ultimate intel-gathering computer, which is housed at the Wayne-Powers Building. Only Bruce and Batman (Terry McGinnis) have security access to Keystone.

–2050 CE
Referenced in Batman Beyond Vol. 7 #1, Batman Beyond Vol. 7 #8-10, and Batman Beyond: Rebirth #1. Terry’s mother Mary is killed by Brother Eye’s forces while presumably traveling outside of Neo-Gotham. Terry becomes a primary caretaker for his little brother Matt McGinnis. McGinnis family friend Nora Boxer (an employee of the Global Peace Agency) begins checking-in on and helping care for both Terry and Matt. She will do this from time to time, moving forward.

–2050 CE
Referenced in Batman Vol. 2 #20, Batwing #19, Superman Unchained #2, and Batman Beyond Vol. 7 #1—originally seen in Batman #700. Bruce guides Batman (Terry McGinnis) into battle against some Jokerz. (Note that the identity of Terry’s guide in Batman #700, in the Modern Age, is meant to be an older Damian. However, since the guide is never explicitly named and bears a resemblance to both an elder Damian and an elder Bruce, it technically could be Bruce. For the purposes of the New 52 timeline, it makes more sense if this is Bruce.)

–2050 CE
Referenced in Batman Beyond Vol. 7 #12. Batman (Terry) has another fight with Rewire and, again, defeats him.

–2050 CE
Flashback from Batman Beyond Vol. 7 #14. Terry McGinnis has been Batman for over a year at this point. Terry’s younger brother Matt watches as Batman fights Shriek. From the Batcave, Bruce guides Batman. During the fight, Matt falls from a crumbling bridge and is badly hurt. Shriek destroys the Wayne-Powers Building, damaging the anti-Brother Eye Veil technology inside. Batman rescues his little brother and later reveals his secret identity to him while he recovers in the hospital. As they talk, Brother Eye—having been contained to New York for the past three decades but now free to strike without the Veil up-and-running—begins his “initial attack” on Neo-Gotham. Brother Eye, empowered and emboldened, also attacks all over the globe.

–2050 CE
Referenced in Batman Beyond Vol. 7 #1 and Batman Beyond Vol. 7 #8-10. Brother Eye and his eye-Zombies continue their “initial attack.” In Neo-Gotham, Brother Eye’s forces strike at the Global Peace Agency’s HQ. Just as the brutal attack begins, Terry McGinnis’ younger brother Matt is taken in by Global Peace Agent and family friend Nora Boxer.

–2050 CE
Referenced in The New 52: Futures End #48–originally referenced in The New 52: Futures End #36. Less than 24 hours have passed since Brother Eye started his big “initial attack.” Brother Eye puts Mr. Terrific under house arrest in New York City and adds the majority of the remaining metahumans into his mindless cyborg army. Bruce Wayne, Batman (Terry McGinnis), and others fight a guerrilla-style war against Brother Eye’s hordes.

–2050 CE
Referenced in The New 52: Futures End #48–originally told in The New 52: Futures End #0. It’s still been less than 24 hours since Brother Eye’s hordes began their big “initial attack.” Bruce hurriedly cobbles together a one-way time-traveling belt for Batman (Terry McGinnis). Bruce gives the time-belt to Terry, instructing him to go back into the past to prevent this horrific Brother Eye future from happening, should the worst happen.

–2050 CE
Flashback from Batman Beyond Vol. 8 # 5—and referenced in Batman Beyond Vol. 7 #1 and Batman Beyond Vol. 7 #8-10. Brother Eye’s “initial attack” is still under way. Less than 24 hours have passed since it began. Bruce rushes to a Wayne-Powers Monitor Installation to coordinate global defenses against Brother Eye’s invading armies. Meanwhile, in London, the Justice League is completely defeated by Brother Eye with all of its members captured and put into deep-stasis (except for Micron, who survives and escapes but is implanted with false memories of his teammates’ deaths). Brother Eye takes complete control of the entire continent of Europe. Likewise, Brother Eye takes over Metropolis and its surrounding areas as well. Batman Beyond Vol. 7 #9 tells us that Brother Eye, within hours of starting his “initial attack,” takes over most of the Earth, although what that specifically means in terms of land is unknown. A few of Brother Eye’s ships barrage Bruce’s Gotham location with extreme firepower. Bruce radios Batman and tells him that he is done for. The ships blow Bruce’s monitor station to smithereens. Batman arrives to inspect the rubble, but finds no trace of life. As referenced in Batman Beyond Vol. 8 #1, Batman believes that Bruce has died. Of course, this isn’t true. Bruce has survived, having been thrown from the exploding building. Rushed to a nearby triage tent by aid-workers, the comatose Bruce is discovered by Terminal, who immediately kidnaps him. Terminal takes Bruce into a secure location, keeping barely alive with life support. He will lay low with Bruce until Brother Eye’s attack subsides.

–2050 CE
Referenced in The New 52: Futures End #48–originally told in The New 52: Futures End #0. Brother Eye’s “initial attack” is still under way. Less than 24 hours have passed since it began. With Brother Eye having taken over large chunks of the planet in a very short amount of time, and with Bruce seemingly dead, Batman (Terry McGinnis) and ALFRED activate the time-belt and vanish into thin air. As revealed in a big in-narrative retcon from Batman Beyond Vol. 7 #15, Terry doesn’t actually go back in time. Instead, the time-belt fails and he winds up a few miles away on the war-torn streets of Gotham.

–2050 CE
Flashback from Batman Beyond Vol. 7 #15—and referenced in Batman Beyond Vol. 8 #5. Brother Eye’s “initial attack” is still under way. Less than 24 hours have passed since it began. Batman (Terry McGinnis) defeats dozens of Brother Eye’s cyborgs, but gets gravely injured and is unable to move. A day later, Spellbinder collects the wounded Batman and brainwashes him, completely erasing his memories and making him totally subservient. Terry, without any memory of being Batman, goes into hiding with his new master, Spellbinder. They will remain in hiding together for nearly a full year. Everyone will think Terry has died.

—^[9]

–2050 CE
The New 52: Futures End #47-48. Let’s get y’all caught up to speed. There’s a new Batman in town. And he hails from the “Futures End Timeline”—an alternate reality where Terry McGinnis did successfully go back in time via Bruce’s time-belt only to get killed and pass the mantle of the Bat on to a worthy successor. Who is this successor? It’s none other than the Futures End Timeline’s version of Tim Drake! The new Tim Drake Batman and his ALFRED emerge here and now, having just confronted Brother Eye in 2015 (also on our primary timeline), where they injected him with a Veil virus offshoot and witnessed what they thought was his destruction via explosion. As per The New 52: Futures End #48 and Batman Beyond Vol. 7 #1-3, the evil Brother Eye future remains intact thanks to the Brother Eye’s post-explosion survival within the AI at Terrifitech HQ. Due to a plot-holey “chronal-wall” that shields the alternate timeline’s Terrifitech (and Brother Eye within), several beings from the alternate Futures End Timeline are “unaffected” by the surge of the spacetime-change. This means that, despite being primary timeline characters, Brother Eye, Batman, the Atom, Mr. Terrific, the Key, Coil, and Madison Payne each retain memories of everything that happened on the defunct Futures End Timeline, including memories of the death of Terry McGinnis. The only exception is Brother Eye’s memory of the alternate Tim Drake being Batman. This memory is blocked thanks to the Veil virus delivered in 2015 (as referenced in Batman Beyond Vol. 7 #3). Fortunately, the Veil also allows for Brother Eye and his forces to be easily expelled from Neo-Gotham and, thanks to the Wayne-Powers Complex for Deterrence, Brother Eye is unable to even see or conceive of the cloaked city. Unfortunately, because of his own actions, Tim’s entire prior life has been lost, relegated to nothing more than part of a defunct alternate reality. The Futures End Timeline has been totally erased, except in the memories of those mentioned above. The new Tim Drake Batman materializes in NYC’s Flatiron Building, permanent prison home to a frazzled Mr. Terrific. He is saddened to discover that the dark future he had hoped to prevent has still come to fruition. A fake Superman and a bunch of eye-Zombies—including deceased robo-versions of Flash, Booster Gold, Captain Cold, Hawkman, Blue Beetle, and John Constantine—flood the room in an attempt to eliminate Batman. (Note that, as per Batman Beyond Vol. 7 #10, Brother Eye has built evil robot versions of Superman, Wonder Woman, and Green Lantern John Stewart and has pawned them off as the real thing in order to demoralize humanity further. Therefore, it is possible that any evil heroes we see could be fake robots.) A ragtag group of masked freedom fighters, accompanied by the Atom, swings in to make a rescue. The Flatiron Building explodes as the group makes their subterranean exit with Batman and Mr. Terrific in tow. At a safe location, the leader of the group unmasks to reveal herself as Tim’s girlfriend Madison Payne. Despite now being thirty years her boyfriend’s senior, they embrace and kiss passionately. (Remember, despite being our primary timeline’s Madison, she has all her Futures End memories intact, memories which include having been in love with Tim.) Batman, misbelieving his predecessor (Terry) is dead, stands amid the rubble of a ruined New York City and vows to defeat Brother Eye.

–2050 CE
Referenced in Batman Beyond Vol. 8 #5. With Brother Eye expelled from a cloaked and protected Neo-Gotham, Terminal emerges from the shadows with a kidnapped comatose Bruce Wayne in tow. He dresses up Bruce to look like Joker and delivers him to the Jokerz, who—actually believing him to be the real Joker—provide the surgical resources and life support systems needed to keep Bruce alive. Bruce will remain in a lifeless coma for almost a year. The world will continue to think he is dead.

–2050 CE
DC Sneak Peek: Batman Beyond. In the ruins of New York City, Batman (Tim Drake) saves some resistance fighters from a giant robotic Hell Hound and some eye-Zombies. Afterward, Batman unmasks and delivers the sad news of Terry’s death to Terry’s brother Matt and friend Nora Boxer. Batman promises to avenge Terry’s death by defeating Brother Eye and saving the remaining populace of New York. (Don’t forget, Terry isn’t really dead. Tim, and a few others, simply have memories of Terry’s death from the alternate Futures End Timeline, which they believe to be real.)

–2050 CE
Batman Beyond Vol. 7 #1-3 (“BRAVE NEW WORLDS”). Batman (Tim Drake) prevents some Jokerz from blowing up the Wayne-Powers Complex for Deterrence, which would have allowed Brother Eye to attack Neo-Gotham. Batman then visits Nora Boxer and Matt McGinnis. Nora tells him that Terry’s friend Maxine Gibson and a bunch of freedom fighters are being held in a POW camp outside of the ravaged New York City known as The Lodge. Batman flies to the Lodge but gets into a fight with the fake Superman. ALFRED scans the cyborg monster and confirms that it appears to be the legit Man of Steel, but this fact remains highly dubious. Batman blasts fake Superman away, but at the cost of severe damage to his suit, which powers off. Terry infiltrates the prison and finds Maxine, who is allied with a roughly fifty-eight-year-old Commissioner Barbara Gordon! While Babs, Maxine, and Tim run away from prison guards, Babs tells Tim about Brother Eye’s vile torture process that turns humans into eyeZombies. The same process also can rape human minds of information. Maxine gets captured and put into the torture chamber, which is run by Inque. Babs and Tim then fight Inque. Tim plugs into an eyeZombie and gets enough juice to reboot his Batman suit (and ALFRED) back up. Back in his suit, Batman gains the upper hand against Inque, but a brainwashed Maxine intervenes and knocks-out Batman. With Babs and Batman both captured, Brother Eye orders their “processing.” Brother Eye rapes Batman’s mind and learns all about the history of Tim Drake (aka the history from Tim’s erased timeline and how he wound up where he is) and about the Veil offshoot virus tech that had previously been blocking his very ability to process any thought regarding Neo-Gotham or Tim. Batman breaks free of his restraints and battles Inque again, learning that she is only helping Brother Eye because he has kidnapped her daughter Deanna Clay. Brother Eye seemingly allows Deanna to contact her mom on Earth. Deanna tells Batman, Inque, and Babs that Brother Eye’s primary body is on a lunar moon base (which is actually the stolen former Justice League satellite HQ). Inque makes peace with Batman, who blows up the prison and escapes with Babs and Maxine in tow. While Maxine has her Brother Eye brainwashing undone, a slightly damaged ALFRED reveals that his Veil offshoot that had been hiding both he and Tim from Brother Eye has collapsed. Brother Eye, having learned about his Neo-Gotham blind-spot from Batman’s mind-rape, has hitched a ride aboard Tim’s Batman costume and now has become “fully aware” of Neo-Gotham and its location. Batman is joined by Micron in preparation for Brother Eye’s inevitable attack.

–2050 CE
Batman Beyond Vol. 7 #4-6 (“BRAVE NEW WORLDS” Continued…). Batman, Micron, and Commissioner Barbara Gordon fight swarms of eyeZombies as Brother Eye invades Neo-Gotham with an army of evil cyborgs. Inque sees the light and joins forces with Babs to fight Brother Eye’s army. Even with a stronger second wave of eyeZombies—led by fake Superman, fake Green Lantern John Stewart, and fake Wonder Woman—waiting to strike outside of the city limits, the first weaker wave is able to damage Batman’s suit enough that he has to escape with Babs underground and into the Batcave, which still exists and has been maintained by Babs. With need of a temporary costume to use, Babs opens up a vault and produces her dad’s old robo-Batman costume from thirty-five years prior! Tim dons the robo-Batman suit and thrashes fake John Stewart. All around him, humans—including cops, civilians, and even super-villains like Spellbinder and Shriek—help defend the city against Brother Eye’s forces as the second wave of former Justice Leaguers invade. Micron and Batman team-up to destroy fake Wonder Woman and fake Superman, who gets Bruce’s old Kryptonite ring shoved down his throat. Batman then rejoins Barbara and they go to an old Court of Owls mansion to gain access to a secret JL satellite teleporter. While Barbara and Micron fight-off cyborgs outside, Batman and Inque teleport to the moon! There, aboard the former JL satellite, Batman fights Brother Eye. Once Deanna is safe, Inque wraps her body around Brother Eye, trapping his core consciousness within his anthropomorphic body. Inque squeezes tight, seemingly sacrificing herself to destroy Brother Eye and shut down all his cyborgs on Earth. Before the entire satellite explodes, Batman and Deanna teleport back down to the planet. Brother Eye’s reign of terror is over for good.

–2050 CE
Batman Beyond Vol. 7 #7-9. Tim Drake tries to decode Bruce’s data on the Bat-suit, but is unable to for days. Barbara Gordon visits the exhausted Tim in the Batcave and gives him some coffee and a fresh perspective, with which Tim is able to crack the code and re-energize the suit. Meanwhile, Matt McGinnis takes the severed eyeZombie arm of a Green Lantern (complete with power ring) to an black market tech dealer and gets it scanalyzed to find its place of origin: Metropolis. A pissed-off Rewire enters the shop and kills the tech dealer as Matt makes his quick exit and returns home to Nora Boxer. As rain begins to pour down, Tim tests his Batman costume—with Babs guiding him instead of the still damaged ALFRED AI—by busting some Jokerz. The next morning, Matt skips school and travels to Metropolis while Tim moves into Babs’ apartment. En route to Metropolis, Matt briefly meets refugees Randall, Jace, Maggie, and Jace’s unnamed young sister, a family traveling in the opposite direction to Gotham. That night, Batman visits Nora and learns that Matt is missing. The next day, Batman follows some security footage to trace Matt’s path, visiting the pawn shop. There, Batman fights Rewire and learns that Matt is on his way to Metropolis. At one of the walled-entrances into Neo-Gotham, thousands of refugees attempt to gain entry only to be stopped by law enforcement officials. Batman chastises the cops, but Mayor Luke Fox (former Batwing) tells him that they can’t let anyone in from the wastelands outside of the city for safety reasons. Meanwhile, Matt enters the outskirts of Metropolis, which is mostly ravaged and overgrown except for a few still-standing skyscrapers, including the Justice League’s former Watchtower headquarters. Soon after, Batman enters Metropolis as well and goes in disguise into one of the city’s many black markets where he learns that a mysterious doctor, headquartered in the old JL Watchtower, is in charge of the city. When Matt gets attacked by some human-animal hybrid Splicers, Batman swoops in and saves him. While Batman fights the Splicers, the Green Lantern ring pops off of its severed hand and flies away. Matt chases after and follows it into a hidden laboratory where he discovers the Justice League, alive and well, in suspended animation! Meanwhile, the Splicers overpower Batman deliver him to the doctor, their master Dr. Abel Cuvier!

–2050 CE
Batman Beyond Vol. 7 #10-11 (“CITY OF YESTERDAY”). As Batman (Tim Drake) fights the Splicers, their master, Dr. Abel Cuvier, arrives along with his partner, the royal tiger-man warrior Prince Tuftan, to watch the fray. Inside the Watchtower, the flying Green Lantern ring affixes itself onto Kai-Ro, who breaks his stasis cell and frees his Justice League teammates (although, Shazam and Flash Danica Williams are noticeably missing and Superman remains trapped in stasis). Meanwhile, in Gotham, Mayor Luke Fox and Barbara Gordon struggle to convince their own police force to share rations with refugees outside the city wall. When Jace’s sister dies due to lack of medicine, Jace’s family becomes enraged. Randall causes a huge explosion that blows open the city gate, staring a huge riot. In Metropolis, Batman continues his fight until the Justice League—controlled by Cuvier via implants—attacks him, believing him to be an Eye-Zombie. A raging Big Barda seemingly disintegrates Batman, but in actuality his suit—thanks to a verbal reactivation command shouted out by Matt—goes into cloaking mode to save his life. Batman and Matt then free Superman, but like his fellow teammates, he is under Cuvier’s control. But Tuftan betrays Cuvier and destroys Superman’s implant, allowing Superman to see the light and apprehend Cuvier. Superman then removes and destroys the implants attached to his JL teammates.^[10] Tuftan takes the Splicers to live with his animal-people outside of Metropolis. Batman, Matt, and the JL fly to Gotham and immediately quell the riots, vowing to return Earth to its former state of glory. Meanwhile, a new Rewire—(the prior has died)—makes plans with a mystery boss to take over Gotham. (HUGE SPOILER ALERT: The new Rewire is a brainwashed and not dead Terry McGinnis! And his mystery boss is Spellbinder!)

–2051 CE
Batman Beyond Vol. 7 #12-16 (“WIRED FOR DEATH”). Commissioner Barbara Gordon, from the Batcave, guides Batman to the scene of a STAR Labs break-in. There, Batman fights the new Rewire, who is able to defeat him by shorting out the Bat-suit, causing Batman to fall into Gotham Bay. Rewire takes some stolen power batteries to his mystery boss, Spellbinder. Remotely, Babs saves Tim’s life and he comes back in. They ponder how anyone could access the Bat-suit and Babs tells Tim the story of when Terry searched for the missing Tim of this timeline. Babs then sends Batman to the funeral home that once cremated the “remains” of the original Joker, citing that Rewire had been caught on a security tape there. At the funeral home, Batman fights Rewire, who maniacally claims that he needs the stolen batteries to function a machine heart that keeps him alive. Once again, Rewire commands Batman’s suit to shut down. Babs does a remote biometrics analysis and confirms that it is a different person under the villain’s costume. Barely escaping alive, Batman returns back to a Batcave debriefing from Babs. Tim then escorts Matt McGinnis into the Batcave. Meanwhile, Spellbinder—in disguise as an old lady—continues to mess with Terry’s head, poisoning him with a fake origin story that makes him think he is really the original Rewire (Davis Dusk). Four subsequent nights of sporadic blackouts all over Gotham put Batman and Babs into action against looters for four nights in a row, culminating in a confrontation pitting Babs versus Spellbinder and “Rewire.” Babs unmasks the fake villain to reveal Terry underneath the helmet. After brainwashing Babs, Terry and Spellbinder lure Batman to abandoned Blackgate Prison. There, Batman fights the trio and also knocks fake-Rewire’s helmet off, revealing Terry underneath. Matt watches the video feed from the Batcave and is shocked. Spellbinder explains that he found an injured Terry during Brother Eye’s big “initial attack” on Gotham and put him under his control, brainwashing him to think he was a villain. When the real Rewire died, Terry stepped into the role. The super-villain also monologues about how he has been in cahoots with Abel Cuvier this whole time as well. Batman deduces that when his own timeline was erased, it also altered the primary timeline and erased Terry’s death! Terry has been alive this whole time, under Spellbinder’s control. Terry rages and begins fighting Batman. Matt, with ALFRED guiding him, interrupts the scene with the Batmobile, saving Batman. Unmasked, Tim fends off hypnotized Babs and beats the tar out of Spellbinder, severing his power over both Babs and Terry. Back at the Batcave, Tim explains everything to Terry. He gives the mantle of Batman back to Terry and then departs on a motorcycle. Back in his costume for the first time in a while, a jubilant Terry McGinnis Batman takes to the skies. The next day, Tim gets sucked into a brightly lit portal, seemingly erased for being the time-anomaly that he is. Maybe we’ll find out the final fate of this alternate Tim one day.

–2051 CE
Referenced in Batman Beyond Vol. 8 #1. Terry instructs his brother Matt on strict protocols to protect both his secret ID as Batman and the secret location of the Batcave. Terry and Matt do research and learn that Bruce supposedly died during Brother Eye’s “initial attack.” (Bruce is actually in a coma and, as revealed in Batman Beyond Vol. 8 #3, has somehow wound up in the secret care of the vile Terminal.)

–2051 CE
Batman Beyond: Rebirth #1. Terry and his brother Matt move into a new apartment. Later, Terry reconnects with both Matt and Maxine Gibson before suiting up for patrol. As Batman, Terry takes down some Jokerz and debriefs with Commissioner Barbara Gordon, who tells him of the Jokerz territory called Jokerz Town. Meanwhile, Terry’s old girlfriend Dana Tan is kidnapped by Jokerz. After saving a bus full of kids, Batman returns home to help Maxine and Matt unpack as they continue moving into the new pad. When a news report delivers details of Dana’s kidnapping, Batman heads to Jokerz Town. In a comedy club there, Jokerz leader Terminal shows Dana something truly shocking: a stitched-together, barely-breathing but alive Joker, attached to a life support machine in a cryogenic chamber. (SPOILER: This isn’t Joker—it’s Bruce Wayne dressed up as Joker!)

–2051 CE
Batman Beyond Vol. 8 #1-3. Matt McGinnis blindfolds Maxine Gibson and takes her into the Batcave. There they remotely monitor Batman. In Jokerz Town, Batman fights an explosive battle against Tiny, the most massive musclebound member of the Jokerz. Because Batman has been out of the game for so many months, he is out of shape and badly in need of training. Thus, Tiny thrashes him with ease until Batman is able to smash his steroid-distributing backpack. But the victory is short-lived as dozens of Jokerz attack at once, forcing Batman to retreat. Back home, Batman welcomes Maxine into the fold and changes his strategy by changing his attire. He will head back to Jokerz Town, but disguised as on of the Jokerz. While Max and Matt fly the Batmobile into Jokerz Town to distract the Jokerz, Batman—in his new disguise as Matches Malone’s son “Trey”—makes his presence known. He fires a bazooka at the Batmobile and Max and Matt make it look like they’ve been shot down. Impressed, Terminal invites “Trey” onto the team. Dana escapes, but “Trey” retrieves her and tells her that he’s got a plan to rescue her. Meanwhile, Max learns about the prototype “X-7” Batman costume from the Bat-computer, retrieves it and hands it off to Matt to give to Terry. While Max distracts the guards outside of Jokerz Town, Matt breaks in. Terminal not only realizes that “Trey” is a faker, but also realizes that he is none other than his old high school chum, Terry McGinnis. Terminal assumes that he is working for Batman and has him strung-up alongside Dana. In private, Terminal addresses the comatose Joker, revealing that it is really Bruce Wayne in disguise! Terminal steals money from Bruce’s account and monologues to himself about the ultimate joke—using Bruce Wayne as a stand-in Joker to embolden the Jokerz and solidify his leadership over them.

–2051 CE
Batman Beyond Vol. 8 #4-5. Terry and Dana escape from the Jokerz. Matt arrives and hands off the new Bat-suit to Terry, who reveals his secret ID to a shocked Dana. In his new super-suit, Batman easily defeats Tiny and a few other Jokerz, prompting Terminal and his assistant to flee with Bruce in tow. Batman is surprised to scan Bruce’s fingerprint in Terminal’s lab. After scanning Terminal’s computer attached to the life support system, Batman learns that Bruce is still alive! Batman realizes that Terminal is attempting to use Bruce to access the Keystone computer system, so he rushes to the Wayne-Powers Building and begins fighting the villain. Terminal’s assistant wakes up Bruce, who is then dumped off the side of the skyscraper by Terminal, forcing Batman to save his falling mentor. Terminal and his assistant fly away, but get shot at with a bazooka by an arriving Matt and Nora. Terry greets Bruce with joy, but Bruce immediately gives him grave news: Terminal’s assistant is the original Joker in disguise! Outside of the city limits, Terminal’s damaged vehicle crashes in the woods. Joker reveals himself and beats Terminal to death with a crowbar. The Clown Prince of Crime is back!

–2051 CE
Batman Beyond Vol. 8 #6-8 (“RISE OF THE DEMON”). Terry and company reintroduce Bruce to the Batcave and fill him in on all he has missed. Meanwhile, Curaré fights-off League of Assassins ninjas and smashes her way into police HQ, demanding an audience with Batman. Bruce scans the police blotter with Matt, learning that Terminal has been killed. Bruce tells Matt that Joker is alive and that the X-7 Bat-suit is dangerous. Meanwhile, outside of Dana’s apartment, Terry catches-up with Dana. Atop the GCPD HQ tower, the League of Assassins attacks Curaré and Commissioner Barbara Gordon, who lights up the Batsignal. Despite seeing the signal, Terry makes a decision to ignore it, citing that, unlike Bruce, he will balance a personal life with crime-fighting. While Curaré and Babs struggle against overwhelming odds, Terry makes-out with Dana. At Wayne Manor, Bruce sits in front of a fireplace and broods, recalling the past. (Note that in Bruce’s trip down memory lane double-splash spread, we are treated to an image of the original Robins, although they are incorrectly drawn wearing their Modern Age costumes. Likewise, classic Batman seems to be drawn in a Golden Age style in this splash. But, hey, it’s basically an old man’s dream of the past, stylistically visualized, so just ignore it.) Bruce, Max, and Matt monitor the League of Assassins fight, noting that Batman hasn’t responded to the signal. Terry screens Bruce’s phone call, so Matt sends a video of the rooftop battle to Dana, who shows it to Terry, who suits up and joins the fray. Bruce sees the X-7 suit and flips out, citing that is bad news for whoever wears it. Batman violently kicks the crap out of the League of Assassins ninjas before Curaré shows him a video that supposedly shows Ra’s al Ghul (although he is wearing a mask), alive and well! While Curaré fights top assassin Koru, Batman flies to the League of Assassins lair in the Himalayas where he confronts their leader. Ra’s al Ghul is long gone. Damian, given youth via the Lazarus Pits, is the leader of the League of Assassins.

–Circa 3000 CE
Originally shown in Batman #700. The intergalactic tyrant known as Fura decimates Neo-Gotham using a horde of deadly robot warriors. The Batman of this era (Brane Taylor) and his nephew Robin (Ricky Taylor) lead an uprising that ends Fura’s brutal regime and restores order.

–Circa 85,280 CE
Originally shown in Batman #700. In the city of Nugothotropolis Megurb (the merging of the ever-growing former Metropolis and former Neo-Gotham), Batman and Robin the Toy Wonder (the Dynamic Duo of the 853rd century) battle against an entire legion of united super-villains.

–Circa 100 billion CE (The End of Time)
Flashback from Robin Rises: Omega #1—originally told in Batman: Return of Bruce Wayne #6. 2011 era Bruce Wayne, via Carter Nichols’ time-portal from 1990, arrives at Vanishing Point, the last place that exists a mere hour before the total destruction of the universe and the literal End of Time. The Bush Robot Archivists that oversee Vanishing Point completely restore all of Bruce’s lost memories, capture the Hyper-Adapter, and quarantine the beast, albeit only temporarily. Knowing that the Hyper-Adapter will escape at any moment and that the creature is linked to his own body/mind, Bruce comes up with a plan. Bruce has the Archivists once again strip his memory blank (in an attempt to sever the mind-link between he and the Hyper-Adapter). Bruce then has the Archivists give him immense power via a bizarre hybrid Archivist/cyborg Bat-suit before traveling back to the present via a time-sphere. Back in 2011, cyber-Batman defeats the Hyper-Adapter, which metamorphoses into a giant primordial bat, an animal consistent with the man it had been linked to. The giant bat then retreats backward through time. It appears in 1765 where it endows Simon Hurt with extended life and in 38,000 BCE where it is killed and worn as a costume by Bruce.

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1. ^[1]COLLIN COLSHER: Batman Beyond Vol. 7 began publication in 2015. According to some other sources, the previous two volumes—Vol. 5 and Vol. 6 (2012-2014)—are not official volumes because they collect digital-first material under the series names Batman Beyond Unlimited and Batman Beyond Universe, respectively. Thus, those sources, taking into consideration the alternate series names, list them separately by referring to Vol. 7 as Vol. 5 instead. I, however, have chosen to regard Unlimited and Universe as Volumes 5 and 6. Therefore, the Batman Beyond notes below will be from Volume 7 and 8.↩
2. ^[2]COLLIN COLSHER: Originally, the Futures End Timeline was canon and contained a 2020 portion of its narrative that appeared in place of the immediate bulleted text above. In that narrative, Terry McGinnis came back in time to 2020 only to be killed and pass the Batman mantle over to Tim Drake. However, thanks to this alternate-Tim Drake’s actions, the Futures End Timeline gets erased and replaced with what you see before you (aka the primary timeline). Terry’s death is undone. However, as a result of a cosmic anomaly, alt-Tim remains on the primary timeline, spat out in the year 2050 (where you will see him next). Speaking of anomalies, thanks to a weird chronal-wall surrounding Terrifitech, all involved with the original Futures End Timeline episode—including Mr. Terrific, Madison Rayne, and the Atom—recall these events exactly as they happened in said Futures End Timeline. This means that while Terry hasn’t actually come back, died, and passed the torch to Tim Drake, all these characters will have concrete memories of all of that happening. Confused? Chronal-wall. Cosmic Anomaly. Still confused? You should be. More on the bizarre layers of the Futures End Timeline below.↩
3. ^[3]COLLIN COLSHER: Batman & Robin Vol. 2 Annual #1 features the debut of Damian Wayne’s 666 costume, albeit a kid version of it. This reference can be used as a means of canonizing the 666 Future, a dark dystopia where an adult Damian becomes Batman—shown and referenced in a questionably canonical dream sequence from Batman Incorporated Vol. 2 #5, Batman Incorporated Vol. 2 #10, Batman Incorporated Vol. 2 #13, the possibly apocryphal Damian: Son of Batman #1-4, Batman #666, and Batman #700. (The latter two are Modern Age stories.) While there is no 100% confirmation that the 666 Future is canon the New 52, there is an argument to be made that it should be canon based upon the fact that it has a direct antecedent in the canonical Batman Incorporated series. Since the 666 Future cannot be verified as canon or non-canon definitively, it is really up to the reader to include or not include these events. I have no doubt that Grant Morrison wrote his opus deliberately so that the text can be read different ways. Oh, and also feel free to include Morrison’s “666 Future” but exclude Andy Kubert’s Damian mini-series, which is one step even further removed from the possibility of being canon for reasons we will detail below. Or exclude the 666 Future sequence from Batman Incorporated Vol. 2 #5, which technically is only a dream and cannot be verified as a definitive outcome. Or keep it all. Hell, it’s really up to you. Listed below is the ultimate composite version pieced together from all possible manifestations of the 666 Future. It includes Batman #666, Batman #700, the questionably canonical dream sequence from Batman Incorporated Vol. 2 #5, and the could-be-apocryphal Damian: Son of Batman #1-4.

   Since there is no legitimate way of knowing one true version of the 666 Future, we can only choose from a mathematical set. In this instance, we have a set of four elements: the four stories that show the 666 Future. A set of four elements has 2-to-the-4th-power subsets, including the empty set (in which we decide that the 666 Future doesn’t happen at all). Therefore, we can have: 1) nothing; 2) A or B or C or D; 3) AB or AC or AD or BC or BD or CD; 4) BCD or ACD or ABD or ABC; 5) ABCD. The answer to the mathematical problem is 16 possible combinations. Again, feel free to go with whichever one of these combos you’d like. Selecting a smaller subset certainly decreases the amount of errors and caveats, but nevertheless I’ve chosen the maximum combo set of ABCD, if only to prove that technically it can be done. Though, in no way should my choice influence your personal decision.↩

4. ^[4]COLLIN COLSHER: Confused about the 666 Future? Let me help aid in your decision making (or confuse you further, mwahahaha)! Technically, the entire foundation of the 666 Future is grounded in a dream/vision that Bruce has. Based upon this fact, we can’t really know for sure if the dream/vision is a set-in-stone reality, not a reality, or merely a possible outcome. Furthermore, because Damian is heavily involved in the dream, things get murkier since clones are pretty easy to come by. There are a few major schools of thought on the subject of the 666 Future. Most folks take the easiest route, the dogmatic approach, either ruling-out the 666 Future completely as non-canon or choosing to include all mentions and details of it as canon. Some, like comic scholar Rikdad, take a more agnostic approach, acknowledging that any combination of possible 666 Futures could exist. Others, like site contributor Eric Agner, figure that the entirety of the 666 Future is canon EXCEPT FOR the 666 sequence from Batman Incorporated Vol. 2 #5 because it is the only part of the 666 Future that is definitively sandwiched between narrative that explicitly regards it as a mere dream. Agner also posits a theory that, because Batman #666 is packaged with the Damian: Son of Batman trade paperback, DC’s intention is to legitimize both as New 52 canon, thus also adding-in the closely tied Batman #700 into the mix (albeit with some caveats), but leaving Batman Incorporated Vol. 2 #5 out in the lurch. This model also requires some caveats for the smooth insertion of the sometimes problematic Damian: Son of Batman series. My conceptualization of the 666 Future is a compromise version of the timeline that takes ALL into account. The main four glimpses of the 666 Future are seen in Batman #666, Batman #700, Batman Incorporated Vol. 2 #5, and Damian: Son of Batman #1-4. There’s no denying that some form of Batman #666 and Batman #700 should be canon, albeit with some slight caveats. It seems that the Damian: Son of Batman series should be canon as well, although due to its possible apocryphal nature, a bunch of caveats are required (even MORE than were required to include the prior two 666 issues). The possibility also exists that the 666 sequence from Batman Incorporated Vol. 2 #5 could be a definitive future as well, although its canonical status, despite actually having less need for caveats than Damian: Son of Batman, is still highly dubious due to its context—as a dream that Bruce is detailing—within its own narrative. Because there is no 100% dead-on correct version of the 666 Future, I’ve put everything on my chronology, if only to prove that it can be done and for the sake of completeness. I’d rather place something on my timeline with a caveat that it might not be canon rather than miss something entirely. And based upon the information given, it is a relatively easy process to disregard items one feels should be non-canon while reading the timeline below.↩
5. ^[5]COLLIN COLSHER: For the purposes of the 666 Future, comic book age/era is virtually irrelevant, meaning that trying to place any 666 Future story, including Damian: Son of Batman, onto EITHER the Modern Age timeline OR the New 52 timeline is a futile endeavor. The 666 Future stories are meant to take place simultaneously—should you choose to include them—on BOTH timelines. However, Damian: Son of Batman, oddly enough, is clearly written by Andy Kubert with a strong lean toward Modern Age sensibilities even though it was published in the New 52. This explains the unnecessary specificity of the year 2014 on Alfred’s tombstone.↩
6. ^[6]ED: Note that while Terry appears as the infected baby in Batman #700, the baby in Batman Inc #5 ISN’T Terry. Events play out like this:
   1) Damian rescues infant Terry and gives him an antidote (made from Max Roboto’s saliva) which cures the Joker Venom poisoning.
   2) Damian returns the baby to his parents, who live (or move) outside the city limits of Gotham.
   3) The Joker Venom infecting Gotham mutates. The new strain is immune the antidote Damian created in Batman #700.
   4) Desperate to find a cure to this new strain, Damian locates a baby with natural immunity. (Unlike infant Terry, who showed the symptoms of Joker Venom infection, this baby shows no symptoms.) This leads us into Batman Inc Vol. 2 #5.
   5) Gotham is bombed and thousands are killed except for Damian, who is immortal (or invulnerable or has a “healing factor”).
   6) Wayne-Powers Company spends the next decade rebuilding Gotham City, while Damian and Bruce eventually help train Terry McGinnis (who was not in Gotham when it was bombed) to be the new Batman.↩
7. ^[7]COLLIN COLSHER: The nuking of Gotham occurs right after the presidential tenure of Beth Ross has ended, as detailed in Prez Vol. 2 and the second feature to Catwoman: Election Night #1. Prez Ross would never have let this happen.↩
8. ^[8]COLLIN COLSHER: Batman Beyond Vol. 7 #14 tells us that Brother Eye’s “initial strike” against Gotham occurs at a time when Terry McGinnis has been Batman for “over a year.” Brother Eye’s strike occurs in 2050. Therefore, Terry has to debut as Batman in 2049, around 17 or 18 years of age. This also means that most of Terry’s Batman adventures prior to Brother Eye’s attack take up the span of his senior year of high school.↩
9. ^[9]COLLIN COLSHER: The 2050 portion of The New 52: Futures End (aka Futures End Timeline) takes place now, but, just like the 2020 portion before, the 2050 portion cannot appear on our timeline. Why? Because Futures End is a bunch of paradoxical layers of alternate timelines, and that’s putting it mildly. In other words, the Futures End Timeline, as stated above, is non-canon, replaced with what you see before you (aka the primary timeline) due to alt-Tim Drake’s actions. The most important thing to take from The New 52: Futures End is the debut of an alternate Tim Drake as Batman, who replaces the missing Terry McGinnis, who is believed to be dead. Terry is believed to be dead because an alternate version of Terry did indeed die during Futures End. Several characters, having memories of the Futures End Timeline, have continued to mistakenly confirm Terry’s death even though their Futures End memories are no longer legitimate. We’ve mentioned them above, but we’ll address those characters again in a bit. But to get back to the paradoxical layers of alternate timelines: technically, there are multiple versions of the Futures End Timeline, which further complicates things. The original Futures End Timeline, featured a history containing a brutal Earth-2 War that led up to a dark Brother Eye future. However, at the story conclusion of The New 52: Futures End, Terry dies and gives the mantle of the Bat over to Tim, who causes the erasure of the Futures End Timeline. The Futures End Timeline gets changed into a what we see before us, the primary timeline. On our primary timeline, the Earth-2 War stuff never happened, Terry never went back in time in the first place (and thus never died). So how then does Tim still experience the Futures End Timeline, which includes both Terry’s death and his becoming Batman? As explained in Batman Beyond Vol. 7 #15, it’s all one big “cosmic joke.” I kid you not. Despite erasing his own timeline, Tim winds up on the primary timeline (in 2050) as Batman. Terry, meanwhile, is missing and has been mind-wiped, so everyone believes he is dead, having gone back in time and gotten killed, as confirmed by Tim, who merely has memories of a defunct alternate timeline.↩
10. ^[10]COLLIN COLSHER: In Batman Beyond Vol. 7 #11, Superman Jon Kent says, upon meeting Tim, that Tim “knew his father.” Since our Tim is an alternate version of primary Tim, he technically never met Jon’s dad, the Modern Age Superman. But primary Tim definitely did, hence Jon’s error. After all, Jon wouldn’t know he’s talking to an alternate Tim at their first ever meeting.↩