One of the best Batman movies ever made was so dark that it had to be censored, but the uncut version was released a few years later. Batman movies are some of the most common comic book adaptations out there. Movies like The Batman and The Dark Knight are often cited as some of the best superhero movies ever made, and Batman himself has become a household name because of how common and popular his movies are.
Even for a character like Batman, however, achieving a perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes is exceedingly rare. Even The Dark Knight only has 94% approval on the review aggregator, and it’s widely considered the best Batman movie ever made. There is one film, however, that performed better among critics: Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker. The animated film that tied into the far-future story of Batman Beyond boasts 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker follows Terry McGinnis, the heir to the Batman moniker and cowl in the year 2019, as he investigates the return of the Joker, who had seemingly died years prior, when Bruce Wayne was still operating as Batman. Through flashbacks, Return of the Joker depicts the story of Tim Drake being abducted, tortured, and brainwashed by the Joker.
Though it is universally loved by critics, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker wasn’t perfect. In fact, the original cut of the movie was so dark that it had to be censored before it was released (via CBR). A big reason Warner Brothers decided to censor the animated film was due to the Columbine High School mass shooting in 1999. That tragedy sparked debate about the influence of violence in media, especially media aimed at younger demographics, and Warner Brothers decided to cut out the more graphic parts of Return of the Joker as a result.
The Censored Version Of Batman Beyond: Return Of The Joker Changed Joker’s Death Scene
The biggest change Warner Brothers made while censoring Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker came during the flashback sequence when Joker originally died. In the censored version, Tim Drake had been turned into a mini-Joker, complete with maniacal laugh, face paint, and a purple suit. Joker hands him a harpoon gun and orders him to kill Batman, but Tim throws the gun away and instead pushed Joker into a bunch of wires, electrocuting him as the movie cuts away.
In the original version of the film, Tim doesn’t throw the harpoon gun away. Instead, he turns the gun and shoots Joker in the chest with a novelty flag that reads “BANG!” The Joker then leans back with blood running from the corner of his mouth and says “That’s not funny,” before falling over dead with a gasp on-screen. The change was presumably made because of the original scene’s depiction of gun violence, especially with a child as the shooter, which was under scrutiny in the wake of Columbine.
Interestingly enough, the censored version of Joker’s death is arguably more graphic and disturbing than the original. In the censored version, Tim’s fight with the Joker is more drawn-out, and there’s more emphasis on the Joker being doused with water before flipping the switch and electrocuting himself. There’s also an additional blood-curdling scream from Mark Hamill added into the film, so while the censored version didn’t show Joker dying, viewers are able to conjure up a particularly dark death in their imaginations.
It’s also worth noting that the changes in the censored version don’t just affect the violence of the Joker’s death, they change quite a bit of the psychological and philosophical implications of the scene. In the original version, Joker says “That’s not funny,” tying into his twisted world view, and Tim is directly responsible for his death. In the censored version, Joker’s death is basically an accident, there’s no rebuke of the Joker’s philosophy, and Tim is much less responsible.
Batman Beyond: Return Of The Joker Is Still One Of The Darkest Batman Stories Ever
Even the censored version of Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker is still one of the darkest Batman stories ever told. As previously mentioned, the Joker’s death is still bone-chilling in the censored version, and there’s still plenty of moral and philosophical darkness in the rest of the film. The entire flashback sequence, for example, is filled with dark moments that make the movie extremely mature.
Bruce tries on several occasions to kill the Joker, violating his no killing rule. At one point in the original version, he throws a knife directly at the Joker’s head but misses. The entire film also revolves around the Joker torturing and brainwashing Tim Drake when he was a child. In 2019, Bruce is also presented as much darker, serious, and more violent. At one point, he seemingly takes joy in the idea of decapitating a statue of Two-Face.
Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker is currently only available to rent or buy.
Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker also has a surprisingly layered and nuanced take on the enduring nature of trauma through its big reveal towards the end of the film. In 2019, Terry discovers that the Joker has returned by forcefully taking over Tim Drake’s body through a chip in Tim’s head that he planted before dying. Through that plot device, the Joker literally lived on in Tim’s head for decades, and Tim was never able to fully move past his torture.
The darkness of Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker is just one aspect that makes the movie so great. It really has everything, from beautiful animation, great vocal performances from Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy, an engaging mystery filled with twists, and surprisingly deep themes and moral and philosophical questions. If you like Batman at all, you’ll definitely like Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker.
- Release Date
-
December 12, 2000
- Runtime
-
76 minutes
- Director
-
Curt Geda
