[8.0/10] Look, this one is a continuity nod-lover’s dream. We have the triumphant return of the Terry McGinnis Batman for the first time since the last season of Static Shock. We have the first appearance of Static himself since his show ended, and the chance to see him actually in action as a grown man, rather than the small taste we got in “Future Shock” is a treat. We get confirmation that Warhawk is John and Shayera’s son, with a quick bond that forms between parent and child while staving off the end of the world.
To top it all off, we get supercharged versions of the gang from Return of the Joker, a glimpse of the beginning of time as a giant hand, and even an interlude with Hal Jordan. This episode is a real valentine to fans of the DCAU up to this point, who get to see gestures and nods to all sorts of bits from Gotham’s prophesied future and those of the franchise’s major heroes.
What’s most impressive about it, though, is that it manages to balance the fun and the meaningful within the same episode. There’s something pretty goofy about the Jokerz having Darth Maul’s lightsaber or Chucko getting sent to the time of dinosaurs right before the meteor hits or a pack of British infantrymen firing on Terry McGinnis. But we also get Batman gasping at Wonder Woman’s disappearance despite claiming they’re just friends, Old Bruce Wayne mourning the loss of Terry, and John Stewart telling a baddie to stay away from his son. These are all brief moments -- both the comedy and the more sentimental material, but each works.
So do the stakes and the inter-chronological team-up. It’s just neat to seeing a trio of present day Leaguers teaming up with future Leaguers, especially ones the audience knows. I can’t tell you how funny and scary it is to see Batman play good cop/bad cop with...Batman. Old Bruce getting one of the clowns to admit he wets the bed is silly but fun.
The degradation of the timestream also provides good stakes for this one. The show sets up the potential for Chronos accidentally destroying all of time with his year-hopping shenanigans nicely via his wife, and the whiteness consuming the skies communicates that well visually. Chronos himself is a distinctive villain here, more bitter and nebbishy than the usual baddies, which makes him a little more interesting.
The fact that everything returns to “normal”, with only GL and Batman remembering what happened, though with knowledge that’s changed them, is a cool way to close things out. Seeing the future changes their presents, whether they like it or not. For all the fun continuity nods and other tidbits we get here, that’s a fine note to go out on, for both the episode and the season, one of the DCAU’s best.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2020-09-29T17:44:45Z
[8.0/10] Look, this one is a continuity nod-lover’s dream. We have the triumphant return of the Terry McGinnis Batman for the first time since the last season of Static Shock. We have the first appearance of Static himself since his show ended, and the chance to see him actually in action as a grown man, rather than the small taste we got in “Future Shock” is a treat. We get confirmation that Warhawk is John and Shayera’s son, with a quick bond that forms between parent and child while staving off the end of the world.
To top it all off, we get supercharged versions of the gang from Return of the Joker, a glimpse of the beginning of time as a giant hand, and even an interlude with Hal Jordan. This episode is a real valentine to fans of the DCAU up to this point, who get to see gestures and nods to all sorts of bits from Gotham’s prophesied future and those of the franchise’s major heroes.
What’s most impressive about it, though, is that it manages to balance the fun and the meaningful within the same episode. There’s something pretty goofy about the Jokerz having Darth Maul’s lightsaber or Chucko getting sent to the time of dinosaurs right before the meteor hits or a pack of British infantrymen firing on Terry McGinnis. But we also get Batman gasping at Wonder Woman’s disappearance despite claiming they’re just friends, Old Bruce Wayne mourning the loss of Terry, and John Stewart telling a baddie to stay away from his son. These are all brief moments -- both the comedy and the more sentimental material, but each works.
So do the stakes and the inter-chronological team-up. It’s just neat to seeing a trio of present day Leaguers teaming up with future Leaguers, especially ones the audience knows. I can’t tell you how funny and scary it is to see Batman play good cop/bad cop with...Batman. Old Bruce getting one of the clowns to admit he wets the bed is silly but fun.
The degradation of the timestream also provides good stakes for this one. The show sets up the potential for Chronos accidentally destroying all of time with his year-hopping shenanigans nicely via his wife, and the whiteness consuming the skies communicates that well visually. Chronos himself is a distinctive villain here, more bitter and nebbishy than the usual baddies, which makes him a little more interesting.
The fact that everything returns to “normal”, with only GL and Batman remembering what happened, though with knowledge that’s changed them, is a cool way to close things out. Seeing the future changes their presents, whether they like it or not. For all the fun continuity nods and other tidbits we get here, that’s a fine note to go out on, for both the episode and the season, one of the DCAU’s best.