Batman Beyond Episode Tier List | Every Episode Ranked

As part of my Batman Beyond 25th Anniversary celebrations I put together this tier list looking at EVERY episode of Batman Beyond. This was actually a very difficult list to put together due to the overall high quality of the show.
#batmanbeyond #batmanbeyond25 #dcau #batman #beyond25
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/ @serumlake

[@SAPProd]

Revenant has a wonderful little subplot where Terry’s brother Matt wants to believe in ghosts so he could reach out to his dad, who he misses. Seeing Terry connect with Matt in remembering his father and that there’s always a part of their dad in them (gee, did THAT get retconned by JLU…but you know what, he was still their dad, which matters). Such a nice touch. Moments like that elevated Batman Beyond.

[@michaelandreipalon359]

And since ghosts undoubtedly exist in that universe, who knows, there may be a future if offscreen story where an older and more mature Matt, alongside Terry, did meet up with a visiting spectre of good old Warren McGinnis even for 24 hours' while.

[@kimeraclan3135]

That Matt and Terry subplot is only reinforced when you consider how Willie remains unloved by the end of that episode for having pretended to being a ghost. What an impactful episode and deserves to be in the top! My opinion... anyway!

[@Mikon595]

Want to make an honorable mention to "Epilogue" from JLU, which is essentially a Batman Beyond episode. The throwback to "On Leather Wings" opening, Batman sitting with Ace, Amanda Waller and Phantasm, to Terry becoming a Batman that lives for more than "The Mission". All of it coming together as a celebration of the DCAU that began with BTAS, to STAS, to Beyond, and then Justice League. With Batman at the heart of it all showing that his legacy and his ideals never die as long as they are passing on to the next generations. Stealing a line from another show but "When does a man die? He dies when he's forgotten"

[@michaelandreipalon359]

Not a huuuuuuuge fan of One Piece compared to similar yet mercifully shorter and arguably well paced shows like Dragon Ball Z, Yuu Yuu Hakusho, and Cardcaptor Sakura, but I can heavily sympathize with this quote alongside similar visual moments in The Book of Life and Coco.

[@VALonYouTube]

As a Spellbinder and Curaré fan, I can't say I agree 100% with your tier list, Serum. Regardless, I enjoyed the video all the way throughout. Thank you so much for all this amazing Batman Beyond content.

[@Dbzmaster159]

7:57 HOW DARE YOU SIR?! Disappearing Inque and Ascension are total S tier episodes. Bruce steps out into the field for the first time in 20 years wearing the mech suit that caused his heart problem to begin with all to save Terry, the theme song throwback, and the end where Terry looks up to Bruce both Literally and Figuratively. Ascension had the deep moment between Batman and Blight. At least we both agree that Meltdown was a deep S Tier.

[@SerumLake]

I do love that moment in Disappearing Inque, I wish it lasted longer!

[@Chadius]

10:46 The scariest part of the suit is when it walks into Gotham River and just waits for Terry to drown. Even worse, Bruce has to shut down the suit to prevent them from going underwater, and Terry has to hold up his head and hold his breath for dear life.

[@michaelandreipalon359]

It also justifies the appearance of a rebreather for the suit in future eps and some tie-in comics.

[@Elfenlied8675309]

Thanks for this, just started rewatching Batman Beyond and finished season 1. I really like the first appearance of Shriek. Bruce saying "The voices in my head don't call me Bruce." is such a good moment.

[@michaelandreipalon359]

When in doubt, there is no Bruce Wayne, *only the freakin' Bat.*

[@rramdohr7548]

I've always loved that scene in "Where's Terry". Glad I'm not the only one 🤣

[@Elfenlied8675309]

I love in the ascension episode that Paxton seems afraid that his dad could have survived the ship sinking at the end, with Batman saying that Paxton better watch his back. Paxton seems unconvinced until the TV report says that Derek Powers body was never located. Awesome ending to the overall Blight arc. I know Blight comes back in the comics with a new containment suit.

[@michaelandreipalon359]

The Vol. 3 comics onwards aren't proper DCAU canon, though. There's also Volume 2's issue 18, but even then, he's quite mindless and left inert as a (temporary?) trophy there.

[@SerumLake]

Given that he still needs to eat and breathe, I view Blight as being dead at the end of issue 18. "Inert" is just a coded way of saying "deceased". But it was completely my bad to forget about it - for some reason I thought it was a story from volume 3 or 4.

[@Elfenlied8675309]

Because I just rewatched the episode "Out of the Past" last night I have to say I do love that Talia tries to correct Terry on the pronunciation of Ra's, but Terry continues to say it "Incorrectly" for the rest of the episode lol.

[@Chadius]

Curaré is such a badass. I love how they went with show don't tell to raise her intrigue and mystery. The followup episode seems like the logical conclusion: the League of Assassins turns against her for failure, so she eliminates the League. Batman correctly doesn't care until the last assassin mentions he planted a bomb somewhere in Gotham, and he'll reset the timer as long as Batman protects him. Curaré kills the guy and now Batman has to find the bomb and deal with Curaré hunting him down. Super suspenseful.

[@michaelandreipalon359]

There's also how she founds her own Society of Assassins in Batman Beyond Vol. 2 issue 9.

[@levesteM]

Some stuff I want to list about some of the episodes(wall of text warning): Splicers - the bull splicer is voiced by Ice T. I don't know why, I just find that kind of funny. Meltdown - I don't remember if it was done at the end of Rebirth, but from this episode onwards, at least, the Romanian dub gave Powers a voice filter whenever he went into his Blight form. I don't know why, but I thought it was a cool touch. Unfortunately, the dub is now lost media Eyewitness - I always felt like this was "Over the Edge", but with a more satisfying ending. While OtE was more a what if story, Eyewitness gave some nice characterisation for Barbara, especially with that last comment from Spellbinder. Inqueling - the ending kinda reminds me of the end of the first Riddler episode("How much is a good night's sleep worth?") Sentries of the Last Cosmos - this is pure speculation on my part, since I couldn't find anything concrete, but, putting the Star Wars references aside, I feel like the plot might be a reference to how Bob Kane cut Bill Finger from getting anything out of the Batman IP. It kinda feels like the writers where doing a sort of revenge fantasy, but it could also just be a coincidence. The Call - Starro was the first villain the Justice League fought in the comics, so I thought it was a nice callback for what would be their first appearance(by release order) in the DCAU.

[@Elfenlied8675309]

The references in Sentries of the Last Cosmo's might be referring to Richard Garriott, the creator of Ultima Online. Garriott is credited as being the inventor of the very first MMO game and for inventing the term "Online avatar" to refer to your in-game character. He had a self insert character in his games he named Lord British that was the God King of his Ultima universe. Garriott lives in a mockup medieval castle replica mansion in California and has been known to have people refer to him in real life as Lord British when they meet him. He even once hosted a special event at his mansion for Ultima super fans similar to the premise of the episode.

[@levesteM]

@@Elfenlied8675309 That also seems like a likely one. The episode definitely has more references than just Star Wars. But in terms of the plot of "guy steals from his bussiness/creative partner and denies him any credit", it feels a bit too close to the Bob Kane/Bill Finger situation to be a coincidence(especially since it's a Batman story specifically).

[@Elfenlied8675309]

Bruce's horrified expression as he see's Terry looking pretty much just like Dr. Langstrom is amazing. Splicers was a good episode.

[@michaelandreipalon359]

True that, even if I'm not that extremely fond of the splicing stuff in the show and the rest of the DCAU.

[@Elfenlied8675309]

The floating psychic fat guy from "Mind Games" always makes me feel like he was pulled straight from The Real Ghostbusters cartoon. Even the animation.

[@VALonYouTube]

Hey... The thumbnail is from ROTJ. That's cheating. 😜 Can't wait to go through the entire tier. We're getting so much awesome content this month.

[@SerumLake]

Damn, the video was live for just over an hour before I was caught out!

[@VALonYouTube]

@@SerumLake 😅

[@thehandsomeone8369]

@@SerumLakeI mean, we all know it’s somewhere between S-A tier anyway.

[@MatthewK122]

Good lists

[@The_Phantasm]

Since "Epilogue" is an unofficial Batman Beyond episode, where would you rank it if you were to include it?

[@SerumLake]

A firm S from me!

[@michaelandreipalon359]

What about Static Shock S4E1 - "Future Shock" and Justice League Unlimited S1E13 - "The Once and Future Thing Part II - Time, Warped"?

[@SerumLake]

Future Shock - B Once and Future Thing - S Zeta Project's Shadows - C and Batman Beyond's appearance in that recent Scooby Doo comic: F, just for the association with Scooby Doo!

[@michaelandreipalon359]

@@SerumLake And also not being friendly to established canon, I think... but putting that aside, Scooby-Doo isn't that bad when put separately from anything DC related (well, apart from that Batman: The Brave and the Bold crossover movie, but that's a long schway story).

[@michaelandreipalon359]

1-2: No words needed. 3: Same as 1 and 2. 4 and 24: Hmm, A if not B for me. They're relatable, but they just don't pique me as much as, say, Batman Beyond Vol. 2 issue 10, which is a sequel. 5: S if not A. 6: Not perfect in my opinion, but one thing's for certain, the Fantastic Four have not got their one big lucky break on visual media yet. Plus, it does nicely foreshadow the grey morals stance of the U.S. government and military not only in the DCAU proper, but also in other media surrounding them... A if not B for me. Hmm, noticed that you're doing this on airdate order. Believe me, production order is the best storytelling order for the show, especially by the time Maxine Gibson becomes a mainstay. 7: A if not B again. Love the somber peek into the rickety obsolete Old Gotham, while the ending is another peak BB moment. 8: Apart from the all too fast Terry/Melanie moments (what is this, Newtype romances from Universal Century Gundam all over again?), this is a solid A, with leanings to S in a few parts. 9: Apart from a one-shot Bane II and the drug not getting a dramatic return, this is another A. 10: B for me, but follow-up eps surrounding the same villain will be more interesting, I think. 11: Now that's one worthy S. 12: A, and she's from the *Society* of Assassins. 13: Gladly, I'll make this another S. 14: Appreciate the lore connections, but the ep is A if not B to me, because I'm not into humanimal stuff much. 15: Another S. 16: A if not one more good S. Way better than "Splicers" in my eyes. 17: S yet again! Still wondering whether the poor computerized guy was corrupted or just what he is though. 18: B, with a little bit of A. Nicely introduces a surprisingly relatable (and unfortunately overhated) companion in the form of Max, however, plus it does have a real good sequel tie-in comic in the form of Vol. 2 issue 12. 19: A bloody fine ep, and thank gosh Stalker didn't simply perish in the end. A if not S! 20: Same as Example 8, and I can admit that it's loads better than the confusing romp that is BB comic Vol. 2 issue 4. 21: ...Way too relatable, which means it gets an A. 22: A if not S. Gotta pity the poor guy though, regardless if he's an obvious murderer of children/suspect cannibal... come to think of it, he sure is a better, more murderous, and more sympathetic Killer Croc than the actual DCAU Killer Croc. 23: Try watching it with JL's "Wild Cards", JLU's "Double Date" and "Epilogue", and also the Matilda 1996 movie adaptation, and you may change your mind on it... A with a huge lean to S for me, by the way. 25: Hmm, seems you probably watched Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water; it's pronounced like "babble", actually. Anywho, triumphant S has been given, especially with JLA: Babel in mind (and also The Batman Adventures issues 4-5, which did a similar modus operandi before both stories showed up). 26: As long as it's not on the B tier, then God's in His Heaven. 27: If only we got BB Vol. 2 issue 14 adapted into animation too. A to S from me, as an aside. 28: Name's Mutro Botha, the last member of the brutally decimated Society of Assassins. Other than that, this should be an A, and thank gosh Max didn't stay an all around scrappy compared to Katz Kobayashi from Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam. 29: Kind of amusing that the evil doctor is played by John Ritter, who is essentially Jack Tripper from Three's Company, and is also the real life father of Jason Ritter, whom Disney animation fans know as Mason "Dipper" Pines from Gravity Falls. 30: Not as memorable as B: TAS' "Lock-Up", but I could say that it's less "anvillicious" as that ep. B if not from me. 31: Wowee, another S! Remember, kids, freedom of speech and journalism can become overrated when done way too much and way too soon. 32: One more S, and again, I'll say that this is the best B: TAS ep not made for that show... who would've thought Nelson Nash is a surprisingly good dad though? 33: Like the video games Dragon Age: Origins+Awakening, Soldier of Fortune, Parasite Eve, and Dino Crisis, this A-tier ep shouldn't have gotten a set of unnecessary sequels. 34: Gotta love Spidey and Kraven team-ups in all but name. Poor Falseface, in the meantime... a B if not A. 35: Has a few annoying loose ends, but overall, A. 36: A at best. Me being a huge fan of the now beleaguered Star Wars and also an avid gamer for SW Legends titles like TIE Fighter and Jedi Knight helps on opinions. 37: Reminds me of Lock-Up a bit once more. Anywho, A if not B because of that "Bruce Wayne's nightmares" bit. 38: Fun fact, the runaway boy is played by Eli Marienthal, who did Tim Drake in Static Shock S2E11 "The Big Leagues" plus the Mystery of the Batwoman movie, and also did Hogarth Hughes in The Iron Giant. A if not B again, and justice for the bait that is Max! 39: This should be the true Season 3 premiere, by the way. Yet another S. 40: Things change once more, and permanently... yet another S, and kudos to George Lazenby (King) and Will Friedle (Terry/Batman) for giving us that worthwhile line about successors not being as, hmm, profound as their much remembered predecessors (to roughly clarify, Lazenby, who was James Bond in only one film, is deemed as overshadowed by Sean Connery, who was Bond before him, and we already know the Bruce vs. Terry debate enough as it is). 41: B to me, but I sure was surprised by that twist back in the day. 42: That snobbish daughter better be lucky... anyhow, B if not A, and I'd rather think that all the Vol.1 and 2 tie-in comics featuring Inque are sequels to this ep, even with rewrites that retcon them from being set after "Disappearing Inque". 43 and 48: A, with some leanings with S. Still not as effective as the Two-Face eps of what came before. 44: Should have been a two-parter with more flashbacks to me. A if not S, and here's to hoping those really were Ra's al Ghul's final days that we saw. 45: Not as special as I think it should be, but overall, B if not A. 46-47: If only these were Eps. 51-52 in airdate order. S if not A, depending on the mood... am still wondering how things fared with Starro-Superman and folks like Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, over those many offscreen years, though. 49-50: Works way too fast for a two-parter, has some corny pseudoscience that I just can't excusably grasp on (I can easily stomach splicers who do hyenas and snakes, but dinos?!), and it's not even a perfect sequel storyline to an above average B: TAS story arc (the next two-parter in production/script order, ze aforementioned "The Call" does away with these flaws, unironically), thus making this the weakest relevant BB storyline for me and you, SL; overall, B- for me as a mercy, and I think of this as the beginning of KOBRA's collapse up until the Static Shock crossover "Future Shock" hopefully ended them for good, for we need more failures not unlike the Weather Underground, and not more Talibans in fiction. 51: SKIP THIS FILLERY SOD!!! REPLACE IT WITH RETURN OF THE JOKER JUST BECAUSE!!! 52: B if not A. Would have gotten itself better received had it been released before "The Call" and Return of the Joker, as it should have been in production order.

[@The_Phantasm]

You know, the Willie Watt episodes never really clicked with me. I appreciated the plot of him being bullied and how it was handled but I found the teen romance parts of the episodes a bit lacking personally.

[@VALonYouTube]

Really? 😄 "Golem" and "Revenant" are two of my favorite Batman Beyond episodes, actually.

[@manjackson2772]

No no Watt's on second, Hu's on first

[@michaelandreipalon359]

Not unlike the Universal Century Gundam continuity, the DCAU's rough angles on romance. Anywho, the Willie Watt eps are interesting in their own right, but not unlike "Jimmy" from Static Shock, the subject material just isn't my thing to be honest, especially compared to Beyond's "Sneak Peek" and Static's "Frozen Out".

[@michaelandreipalon359]

​@@manjackson2772Seriously?

[@kimeraclan3135]

"Revenant" was the better Willie Watt episode, albeit it depends on the events of "Golem". What made that episode so great was it's message on mourning and para social relationships vs. actual attachments. On the one hand every student at Terry's school treats a jock's death and "haunting" as a fad. A jock who, mind you, probably most of the students hadn't even spoken with. But on the other hand, Matt, Terry's brother, is actually still saddened over the loss of his father, whom he actually knew.

[@deadcool3227]

I think you got confused in the Sneak Peek episode XD. Terry is the one that tells Peek to reveal his identity but to leave Bruce out of it, for everything he has done as Batman; then at the end he calls Bruce to help him with the belt's side effects in exchange for the video

[@SerumLake]

Yep, you’re right, I misremembered!

[@elmorehairston-ne4mp]

Man can't believe 25 years of batman beyond one best cartoons along ed edd n eddy futurama courage the cowardly dog spongebob squarepants to come out in 1999

[@michaelandreipalon359]

Tell that to B: TAS, which is basically less than 32 years old as of this vid's release.

[@rotex03]

I generally dislike Cobras as the villains. They are like the "The Hydra" from Marvel, but with less charismatic characters.

[@Elfenlied8675309]

The really sad part is "Countdown" is the final episode of Batman Beyond if you watch it in production order like I am lol. What a weak episode to end on.

[@Elfenlied8675309]

Not a fan of "Mind Games?" What do you mean you don't like Batman trying to save Wednesday Addams lol.

[@michaelandreipalon359]

I know, right? This episode starts to grow on the viewers by the time we encounter the Royal Flush Gang's woobie Ace in Justice League+Unlimited (alongside the Mandragoras in a lesser extent). Where Bruce arguably failed many years back, Terry almost effortlessly succeeds in giving a specially talented young girl a better and safer life, I would add. Also, Mara Wilson (yes, the psychic/book reader Matilda) sure nailed Tamara Caulder there.

[@wayneyanda]

Shriek deserves to be higher as it gives us an insight into how f'd up Bruce's psyche still is. Plus Powers' line to Terry: "There's always room in the psych ward for one more." (And at the end, Bruce doesn't give f*** if Shriek's hearing comes back or not. That's cold.) Curare deserves to be higher, because it's the return of Batgirl, and she's voiced by Stockard Channing. Which brings me to pay attention to the voice talent. Ma Mayhem is voiced by Kathleen Freeman, aka: The Penguin from The Blues Brothers. Howard Groote (Terry's Friend Dates A Robot) is given life by Max Brooks, son of Mel. Going back to BTAS ... Calendar Girl (Mean Seasons) is voiced by Sela Ward, an actress and former model. Google her, you'll be glad you did.

[@Chadius]

Inque episodes are A or S. All is good in the world, I agree with this list in general.

[@michaelandreipalon359]

Ah, was expecting you to exactly quote Neon Genesis Evangelion and R.O.D the TV's finale episode there.

[@prosperotorres7965]

Salutations from the D.R. 🇩🇴. Could you possibly make a bonus level vids where you rate the Batman Beyond crossovers in the other shows? I know that’ll be tricky due to one’s requirements in enjoying and being familiar with those shows plus how much or little screen time the BB cast gets in those (I’m looking at JLU but understandably they had so many characters and lore to tackle).

[@SerumLake]

I think it'd be a very short video, but I suppose I could do it, yeah! Off the top of my head there's the Static Shock episode, two episodes of Justice League Unlimited, and The Zeta Project. Anything I'm missing?

[@RonsaRRR]

April Moon should be higher - it has the darkest ending.

[@Elfenlied8675309]

Man I could not get into the Bloodsport episode, him being such a clear ripoff of Kraven the Hunter was too much. Even his story was identical but I know Bruce Timm has said he really likes Spider-Man villains.

[@michaelandreipalon359]

I actually love the Stalker eps. They sure are quite gripping compared to the otherwise tame eps for Kraven himself in Spider-Man: The Animated Series.

[@FrozenJack2007]

inque was robbed

[@VALonYouTube]

Would you find it fair to say that Inque is to Batman Beyond what Poison Ivy is to Batman: The Animated Series?

[@FrozenJack2007]

@@VALonKZbin Im down with that

[@The_Phantasm]

@@VALonKZbin No not really. Inque is more of a hitwoman and assassin for hire.

[@VALonYouTube]

​@@The_PhantasmFair enough. I make the comparison because they're both seductive villainesses, not to mention that they both kiss their respective Batman counterpart. I perceive Catwoman more like an anti-hero, hence her mention at the end of "Dead Man's Hand".

[@The_Phantasm]

@@VALonKZbin I didn't mention Catwoman.

[@chrisrochefort3554]

Also disliked 'sentries'

[@SerumLake]

I must admit, I was expecting more heat for rating that episode so low...

[@Chadius]

@@SerumLake Sentries is trying too hard to be nostalgic and relies too much on "do you remember Star Wars?"

[@michaelandreipalon359]

It isn't perfect (Jar Jar isn't lame, Terry; have you even heard of Trioculus?) and I do admit not liking it in the very first viewing a long time ago, but over time and especially nowadays with the unending Disney/J.J. Abrams/Robert Rodriguez missteps on the pitiable current franchise, it sure grew to me and others quite relevantly. And besides, those Sentries fans and gamers neatly bring into mind my own experiences with beloved Star Wars Legends games like TIE Fighter, the Dark Forces Saga/Jedi Knight series, and Republic Commando. Why apathetically shrug off their admittedly fictional excitement when they're literally mirroring one's own real life escapist experiences with a similar form of media adored since childhood?