Sean Murphy’s Batman: Beyond the White Knight Visits Gotham’s Future

Two years after wrapping up Curse of the White Knight, writer/artist Sean Murphy is debuting the latest chapter in his alt-universe Batman saga. Starting in March, Murphy (via IGN) will launch Batman: Beyond the White Knight, a new story that plunges readers into a harrowing vision of Gotham CIty’s future.

Murphy’s original Batman: White Knight story found Bruce Wayne tangling with a seemingly-reformed Joker, who set out to prove that Batman was the real danger to Gotham’s safety. However, Beyond the White Knight will find Bruce facing an entirely different threat. As the title suggests, the new series borrows heavily from Batman Beyond. But in this universe, an elderly Bruce was locked away while Derek Powers (a.k.a. Blight) used his family’s fortune to re-shape the city into Neo-Gotham. And when Terry McGinnis starts parading around town in a stolen Batsuit, Bruce is anything but supportive. In fact, he teams up with Jason Todd to bring this new Batman down.

“This series is designed to check all the boxes of what readers love about Batman Beyond,” said Murphy. “But it also plays with some of the pieces in different ways, reinventing some of the characters and taking a different approach on a few of the plot points. The idea is to make is unique but familiar. Not only are there influences of the Dark Knight in there, but also Blade Runner (duh), Spider Man 2099, Ghost in the Shell, and a dozen other things.”

“It wouldn’t be a Beyond book without Derek Powers in the story, and him having a secret that leads to the death of Terry’s father,” added Murphy. “But in order to enhance him a bit, I added a compelling backstory that involved him working with Thomas Wayne’s company under the tutelage of Mr. Freeze. There’s also a personal grudge between him and Batman, but I won’t spoil it here.”

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Unfortunately, Bruce will have to deal with more than just Terry’s crusade against Powers. He must also contend with another one of his former partners, Dick Grayson. In the years since Bruce’s incarceration, Dick has fought to make Batman a “law-abiding tool” of Gotham’s police force. And this goes against his mentor’s goal to turn the city into a Batman-free zone.

“There’s a civil war brewing in Neo-Gotham, and it’s around this very question,” said Murphy. “On one hand you have Dick Grayson leading the GTO around in a bunch of tanks, claiming that crime is down to zero and that things have never been safer. Opposing him is Barbara Gordon leading the GCPD, claiming that the GTO has turned the city into an inhumane police state that’s caused higher rates of taxes homelessness, suicides, and depression.”

Luckily, Beyond the White Knight won’t be the end of this part of the story. Murphy also confirmed that Jason will get his own two-issue spinoff later in 2022. Plus, the new series will catch up with Harley Quinn, who previously got her own White Knight spinoff and is now raising the Joker’s twins.

Batman: Beyond the White Knight #1 hits comic shops on March 29, 2022.

Are you excited to read the new series next spring? Let us know in the comment section below!

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