Set in the not-so-distant future of 2039 , Batman Beyond provided a very nice bridge between Batman: The Animated Series (1992-1995) and Justice League (2001-2004). In this age of revamps and reboots and all kinds of “re-dos”, this series did what many of today’s filmmakers and producers could take a lesson from: instead of pretending the original material didn’t happen, it expanded upon it. Instead of going back and trying to re-write the history of a character that has been loved for decades (Batman made his first appearance way back in 1939, as a matter of fact), Bruce Timm and Eric Radomski (the show’s creators) explored the future of a hero who had suffered the long, slow march of time. It highlighted issues such as genetic testing on humans and animals, the psychology of criminals, and personal relationships both good and bad. In this regard, it was one of the darkest shows on TV at the time.  even though it was made for kids, surprisingly enough... Beyond certainly wasn’t the first time since the Adam West and Burt Ward series (1960s) that Batman was made into something darker than originally intended; Frank Miller and Tim Burton succeed with their respective works, and so did The Animated Series after them. But it was one heck of a continuation!