BLIGHT - Supervillain Breakdown

Easily the best villain from the Batman Beyond show. The archnemesis of the future Batman.
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[@ChannelNerdgasm]

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[@cobrabear6497]

"Do you have any idea how little that narrows it down?"

[@ChannelNerdgasm]

Classic lol

[@stevencisneros9306]

Blight has SO much potential, he would’ve had huge thing in the main DC universe!!

[@damianprock1650]

Exactly

[@stevencisneros9306]

@@damianprock1650 absolutely

[@damianprock1650]

@@stevencisneros9306 big time

[@stevencisneros9306]

@@damianprock1650 absolutely

[@damianprock1650]

@@stevencisneros9306 definitely

[@AnthanKrufix]

One thing I love about Blight is that while he's physically extremely powerful and dangerous.. Throughout the whole season it genuinely shows his mental issues more and more, especially his fears and insecurities. ... There's one recurring theme about Batman Beyond and that's almost all the villains get defeated not by Batman but by their own powers and schemes... The guy who took the venom drug, overdosed.. The guy who could walk through walls, ended up phasing through he ground and locked there.. Shriek, lost his hearing when he turned his own speakers up... etc. And Blight got publicly exposed when he went superpowered mode in public, then betrayed and sold out by his own son which he was trying to use for his own purposes (and meanwhile his son then lived in constant paranoia believing that blight survived and was coming for him).

[@ChannelNerdgasm]

I guess so. Never really noticed that.

[@VITAS874]

well technically, Terry created a blight

[@aaronjackson1493]

Which is why Batman Beyond will always be one of the best Batman cartoons EVER 😎🙏☕🥯

[@jihef03]

Blight reminds me of Green Goblin/Norman Osborn: ruthless businessman, bad father that turns into a green-colored villain, responsible for a lot of the hero's troubles, including the death of a loved one. And I guess the whole spooky skeleton look ties a bit with Halloween too. Anyway I'm glad that Blight made it into the comics eventually.

[@DragonmanX90]

Blight had some of the best lines in the franchise. I'm never going to forget his words to Mr. Freeze: "And behold; I shall be a blight upon the land. And everything I touch shall wither and die." Just... wow!

[@Elly3981]

Blight definitely has a lot of parallels to Mr. Freeze but unlike Freeze, who garners sympathy because he did everything out of love for his wife, Blight is the kind of villain you want to see Batman take down. Still, his clashes with Batman also demonstrates that Terry has a big heart; even though Powers ordered the death of his father, Terry still felt sorry for him when he realized that Paxton truly intended to kill him.

[@jorensleong4202]

What to expect from a walking, ruthless, power hungry and radioactive metahuman??

[@aidanhever3369]

Did you know he was based on a minor Batman villain: Dr. Phosphorous ? WOW, who would thought that the animated adaptations did well with the minor villains than the comics ? The best examples are: Mr. Freeze, Mad Hatter, Spot, Firefly, Killer Moth and even Kite Man.

[@Thebeastofcosby]

Awe good ol kite man

[@gamester512]

I know they're Marvel characters, but look at the animated adaptation of Tombstone in Spider-Man. He's very easily one of the most intimidating members of Spidey's Rogue's Gallery just from his calm and calculating demeanor alone, let alone how formidable he is in an actual fight (he can give even Spidey a hard time!). In the hands of a competent writer, even the most seemingly trivial villain can turn into a huge threat. I mean, consider Magneto from the X-Men for a moment, at first glance you'd think "Oh, he's just some guy who can control metal, it's not *that* impressive!" Until you realize just how dangerous a mastery of magnetism actually is. Our blood has traces of iron in it (hence why our blood has a metallic taste to it). The air around us has traces of lead and mercury. The ground we stand on is filled with various metallic ores. The Earth itself is surrounded by a literal magnetic field!

[@SellavinAtoms]

They got rid of one of their best characters too damn early I'm glad he comes back in the comics though, still it was a bad move.

[@ChannelNerdgasm]

It still hurts haha

[@Elly3981]

Well, they could have brought Blight back in the anime since his body was never found after his sub went down so his death wasn't confirmed.

[@itpugil]

"Do you have any idea how little that narrows it down?" man that made me chuckle

[@erickamakeeaina1649]

They should have kept him as the Big Bad, Maybe have him as Terry's Nemesis. The initial blight reveal even works as a nice parralel to the Joker seeing his reflection after his Skin got bleached

[@BlackangelKatakuri]

When does Joker see his skin get bleached?

[@erickamakeeaina1649]

@@BlackangelKatakuri Its a common trope/scene to have Joker see his reflection after the chemical incident before laughing hysterically. For example in the killing Joke and in Batman 1989 To Clarify, I'm not sure if the DCAU Joker specifically had a scene like that

[@persephoneblack888]

Man, Blight was a fantastic villain. He should have had way more appearances and a longer story arc in the animated series. It makes sense that he would eventually be sludge, all that radiation eating his body and bones.

[@aleger620]

There is a reason

[@danielfontoura3084]

9:12 Glad to know that you included that line. 😄

[@Warren_The_Warrinator257]

He's my favorite Batman Beyond villain.

[@InzaneMane]

He is like a nuclear version of He-Man's Skeletor. I fkn love it

[@ChannelNerdgasm]

Blight is awesome :)

[@ghostsofwargow2511]

Such an awesome character. Batman Beyond really was amazing.

[@KingWolf101]

I can picture blight in this amazing suit and he was so powerful he almost killed Terry forcing Bruce Wayne to be the Batman again. Now that would be a great episode. Nice video Nerdgasm, sry for all the subscribers you've lost. I really wish it didn't happened to you.

[@ChannelNerdgasm]

I haven't really been losing many - or at least that I have noticed lol. I grow every day. Just not by a whole lot. The channel is always gaining subscribers, but not fast...and I don't know why anymore. I think the site is just too oversaturated. There are so many channels at this point in 2020. And its random. Some get to 100k in no time, and others go unnoticed. There are even channels better than mine that have half the subscribers I do. Its a shame.

[@ZetaEntity101]

Agree Bright is the best Beyond villain he's also my favorite too and I wish he appeared in more episodes of the show because he had more potential well let's hope he returns in the future 💀

[@ChannelNerdgasm]

If they ever make a movie...

[@Tribal_Soldier]

My all time favorite DC villain since my childhood. Wish to see him as a playable character in the DC games, maybe for Injustice 3😏

[@ChannelNerdgasm]

That'd be cool

[@itsdantaylor]

I do think Blight, out of all the newer villains that were created, was one of the more interesting, both in terms of personality, power, and design.

[@NRF3703]

I LOVED Blight as a villain, but was really frustrated with how they treated him in Batman Beyond as a whole. His death should have been the series finale, not the season 1 finale, ffs! He's the archenemy of Batman II / Terry McGinnis, goddammit!

[@miguelgarcia6170]

If they make a movie of batman beyond, this guy should be the main villain.

[@BlackangelKatakuri]

I'd make him a background villain for the first two then serve as the main villain in the third

[@AxleTrade]

The rogues gallery in Batman Beyond was pretty decent but lacking when compared to Bruce's original villains. Blight and Inque are the most interesting and unique though.

[@ChannelNerdgasm]

They had a challenge on their hands making a rogues gallery from scratch essentially seeing as so many of Bruce's villains were too old...or dead lol

[@damianprock1650]

Exactly

[@jamestoner3900]

​​@@ChannelNerdgasm I think it would have been cool to have seen Killer Croc, Man-Bat and Deadshot (Zoe Lawton) as Batman Beyond villains Killer Croc; still lurking in Gotham Sewers, Crocodiles are natural survivors, but one day while rumbling through the sewers, Waylon comes across a mysterious nanotechnology device that was dumped in the sewers by Wayne-Powers, Croc ends up touching it and he's now got 50,% of nanotechnology in his body, pretty much making him a nanotech Human-Croc hybrid MAN-BAT: what if Kirk Langstrom has been stuck in his Man-Bat form for many years and is wanting to create a race of Man-Bat Creatures like himself and make the Man-Bats the new dominant race in Neo-Gotham, and he wants revenge on KOBRA for kidnapping Francine and dissecting her for her She-Bat Gene ZOE LAWTON/DEADSHOT: I think it would be cool if Zoe Lawton grew up and took on the Deadshot mantle and became like her father, a female Deadshot, 🤔 that would have been interesting, u could interpretate it two ways 1: Zoe wants to carry on her Father's legacy and does this to remember him, 2: Zoe became Deadshot to ruin her dad's image and be a better assassin than he was, simply because Floyd wasn't there in her life, and she would also blame her mother for not letting her see her Father.

[@nils920]

On one hand I whole-heartedly agree Derek Powers/Blight was criminally underused in Batman Beyond. The way he used Bruce Wayne's company and assets to create a bioweapon to sell to terrorists and had Terry's father murdered made him an enemy of both Batman generations. Add his powers as a walking nuclear reactor and you've got a really cool and dangerous supervillain for sure. But on the other hand I can kinda understand it's one of the reason why he was dropped in season 2. Just the fact it's lethal to just be anywhere near Blight made him overpowered. While it can be argued Bruce might have upgraded Terry's Batsuit to give him more protection from radiation, Blight's radiation only got more and more severe as stated in the video.

[@ChannelNerdgasm]

Yeah they might have written themselves into a corner too.

[@Melvinwacko]

Blight is in some ways similar to Jack Nicholson's Joker. Kills a parental figure of Batman, leading to the creation of said hero who confronts him, leading to an accident with chemicals that transforms the villain. He even attempts to make his skin look normal, only for his disfigurement to inveterately reveal itself.

[@strayiggytv]

What's wild to me is how rare it is for a character to have actual radiation power. Sure lots of characters get their powers from radiation but rarely are they LITERALLY radioactive, as in dangerous to stand to close too. Blight would have been a fantastic permanent member of the rouge gallery. I love his characterization in season one of beyond. He was truely evil even before his transformation but afterwards was more dangerous but also fed up with his own condition. IMO the dc universe has enough insane villians. I've always preferred the ones who were just self aware jerks.

[@TrojanSalesmen1]

I wish they didnt take this series into a more kid friendly path.. season 1 is SO DAMN GOOD !@

[@rupertgordonii6623]

I know, they should have always kept that darker tone ~ that's what really made things feel dire and real and above all, to continue the story of Blight to the end

[@darthcinema4262]

Well at least we got Return of the Joker

[@PrimarisUltramarine]

Blight is basically an omega level villain in dc, considering the fact that he has the power of a nuclear bomb, and keep in mind his powers continue to grow as his level of power has seemingly limitless potential to grow.

[@BlackangelKatakuri]

Until it destroys his body that is .

[@EvilMariobot]

"Bottom line it, doctor!" "Bottom line is... you now glow in the dark and we can see your skeleton." [cue laughing fit that's totally not a reference to Jack Nicholson's Joker]

[@SteveSmith-ty8ko]

Is laughing evilly just inherently tied to the Joker? Does Derek sound like Nicholson’s joker when he laughs?

[@angelwayne2872]

Cool

[@jv63bevv16]

Reminds me of Atomic Skull

[@DESTRAKON]

Interesting how both him and Skeletor just bust out laughing after seeing their face is just a skull

[@debut71]

i guess youve gotta if you saw that as your reflection

[@makurorakudo]

Blight is one of my favorite Batman beyond villains and one of my favorite animated villains from then 1990s. I do wish that Batman beyond could get a revival one of the things that I would like to see in a season 3 revival would be exploring more of the dc universe, I would like to see what the other dc heroes would be like in that universe for example what is Wonder Woman like in that future or who is the green arrow of that future.

[@vincentfranklin17]

Blight reminds me of Dr. Phosphorus, only a bit more stylish.

[@alexandrefrauches132]

Just like Batman Beyond has some similarites with Spider man (both are teenager super heroes who deal with relatable problems) I feel Blight shares a lot of similarites with Green Goblin since both are greedy corrupt businessmen who suffer a accident that gave them powers but also make them insane.

[@criticalcerebral]

Blight is definitely like Green Goblin. Spiderman has a lot of villains in his comics but Goblin is his all time equal.

[@alexandrefrauches132]

@@criticalcerebral Agreed, although my favorite Spidey villain of all is Mysterio, followed by Doctor Octopus

[@angelwayne2872]

Yep

[@TECH097]

The DCAU for certain became a bit less focused in it's last years, but in my opinion what it did was not so much "focus everywhere" but "focus elsewhere". At the end of Unlimited, the most important characters seem to be Green Arrow, Black Canary, Huntress and The Question, moreso the latter two. They served to help ground the high stakes of The Justice League's growing controversy in the world around them alongside the arc of Luthor's rise to presidency. And sure a show like Young Justice was able to handle these themes better by focusing on specific teams with not so many group members (moreso in Season 2 than 3), but as is JLU struck me as a show that featured characters that we grew up watching but also introduced new ones to have focus not taken away from them, but shifted so that we could see the world they inhabited from a new perspective. At the very least JL and JLU were steps up from the Second and Third seasons of Batman Beyond where no longer confined to the S&P of Kids WB, they didn't have to appeal to young audiences with more vibrant colors, simpler stories and spinoffs with tonally upbeat undertones (even though I liked The Zeta Project it was hardly a show in line with what came before or after tonally). This especially is the case when you consider the backup pitch for Justice League was including Sidekicks that kids could relate with if CN refused to allow the series to air.

[@jorensleong4202]

A green, ruthless, power hungry glowing husk of radiation.

[@Bigcutekitty]

The new McFarlane Blight action figure is amazing.

[@crimsonspider8579]

He’s design is so scary is cool

[@steelrarebit7387]

Blight got the same treatment as the Joker did in the first Batman movie. Short life even though it could have made things more interesting by keeping them around.

[@MPB059]

Blight is my favorite villain of Batman Beyond, but the ending of the last episode of season 1 pissed me off when they killed him off. I was hoping that they continued with his story in the show.

[@ChannelNerdgasm]

Yeah it's the one true blemish of Batman Beyond IMO. A scar that will never fully heal lol

[@jordancameron3847]

I've been writing my own Batman Beyond series and I assure you Blight is no joke I made him completely devoid of carrying for other people and will stop at nothing to ruin Terry's life

[@nema151]

Blight looks like he's going to star singing and dancing while spreading toxic sludge and pollution across the fairy forest.

[@jacksonknightproductions8697]

Ive shit on Batman plenty of times in my life and in the comments of your vids, but i will always praise Batman Beyond. I used to think Teen Titans was my favorite DC animated show but after watching all of both Teen Titans and Batman Beyond i gotta give and easy win to Beyond.

[@damianprock1650]

Ok then

[@shanewright344]

I don't know if Blight could be compared to the Joker, but he is definitely a good foil for Terry. I also think his potential was wasted.

[@jamestoner3900]

Blight was and still the best Batman Beyond villain, not only is he The Archenemy to Terry McGinnis's Batman but he's an enemy to old Bruce Wayne, hes the link between them ,Blight should have remained as The Big Bad Regardless, its a shame Blights story came to an abrupt end on the show, its like an open wound that won't heal, i think u could have told more stories with Blight, thankfully i own the issue where Blight returns and dies via molten steel, i got at comic con in Glasgow by sheer chance, that issue really should have been an episode of the show, i also have fond memories of having The Batman Beyond Character DLC Pack for Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, Blight was one of the best characters in the DLC, Blight reminds me of Willem Dafoe's Norman Osborn/Green Goblin in a way, if they ever make a Live Action Batman Beyond movie who would portray Derek Powers/Blight, had Batman Beyond appeared in the Arrowverse and got his own show, Blight would be Season 1's Big Bad and hed have the same tropes with Malcolm Merlyn/Dark Archer and Eobard Thawne/Reverse Flash (who were big bads of the first seasons of their respective shows, created the heroes, act as the Archenemies to the heroes, both have a close relative whom they see as a failure, both seemingly died at the end of Season 1, but contuined to return and plague our heroes time and time), i wish we got episodes in Batman Beyond where Blight returns from his supposed death and wants revenge on not only Terry, Old Bruce Wayne but also on his son Paxton Powers and how cool would it be if Blight attacked Wayne Manor, seeing Blight's containment suit was cool, Blight may be based on Dr. Phosphorus but I'd Say Blight is way better than him, Dr. Phosphorus should be a Firestorm villain

[@zemox2534]

I wish Blight returned in future seasons. He has loads of potential but apparently the show got too many complaints from overprotective parents because they thought it was too dark. So of course, they write Blight out of the show and he was never seen again. What a blody waste.

[@ChannelNerdgasm]

I don't think it was parents. I think it was just WB wanting to target kids because it made up the majority of the audience. The corporate stuff with Derek Powers/Bruce Wayne might have went over their heads? At least that's what the execs might have thought. Batman Beyond was a bit dark in that first season too - darker than BTAS even was. Though there was that season 2 episode 'Earth Mover' - that was a later exception. There was going to be a season 4 of Batman Beyond, but once Justice League started, they just sort of left it on the back burner and never went back. Maybe it could have gone darker again. Especially after Return of The Joker.

[@damianprock1650]

@@ChannelNerdgasm well they should've thought of that before ending Teen Titans with *Things Change,* they tried to kill my father, they drove my aunt Heather to suicide, they killed my grandfather, they drove my uncle Andy to suicide, they made my girlfriend dump me so close to Christmas, they cost me my job, they drove my nephews mother to kidnap him, they tried to make a cannibal outta me, they got my mother wrongfully arrested, they killed my cat, they put my cousin and his family in grave danger, they killed Stan Lee and Stephen Hillenburg before I'd have a chance to work with em, they made my father unable to show up for Christmas, they released this virus upon us, and they had me institutionalized for almost a week with that episode

[@maximumvoltagestudios1866]

Isn’t blight basically just a future atomic skull

[@edgardeitz2784]

Has anyone tried to write a fanfiction that attempts to reconcile the 2001 and 2011 "Batman Beyond" comic book timelines together yet?

[@shreyanshpandey1123]

He is like doctor Phosphorus

[@wallygator92]

I own Batman Beyond the complete series on Blu-ray!

[@ChannelNerdgasm]

Same here! BTAS, JL, and JLU too. Now all we need is Superman and the collection is complete...c'mon DC

[@zemox2534]

Didn't Warner release a Superman TAS DVD box collection?

[@ChannelNerdgasm]

@@zemox2534 Yeah but I want a remastered Blu Ray

[@ThePreciseClimber]

It's definitely quite unfortunate they had to ditch Blight's serialised story after Season 1. I thought serialisation gave Beyond its own, unique identity compared to the first Batman Series. Like, this was the next level after the first, episodic show. Events would have consequences and status quo would NOT reign supreme. But after Season 1 they went back to the standard villain-of-the-week formula. Even though the serialised story was just getting started. It definitely smells of executive meddling. As you said, Seasons 2&3 were good but they were not TRUE Batman Beyond promised in Season 1.

[@itsdantaylor]

I will say, while i did like a lot with what they did with batman beyond, what they did AFTER batman beyond kind of irked me. Granted some of it varies from comic to comic because no one could keep it consistent but none of the instances of what happens in between BAS and BB shine good lights on the characters, especially for something considered to be a (granted more mature) kids show. Like how the fallout between dick grayson and bruce came because bruce had a affair with barbara, or that nightwing was virtually crippled due to batman's carelessness, not to mention the shit that happens in return of the joker with Tim Drake. I mean there's 'mature' and there's "WTH is going on with you today?"

[@TheCubecrafer]

Yeah i've read that the human body is slighty radioactive. As in Gamma brainwaves and more

[@AnonymousAnonposter]

Can you more videos like this about Batman Beyond?

[@DowntownTasty]

It sucks that they got rid of him so early. Blight was batman beyonds most compelling villain. All others are just villain of the day types

[@mercenarybdu]

I enjoyed Batman Beyond as it was completely brand new. Blight was a very enjoyable character for what he is. I presume he was slated to return in Season 4, but as it never happened, what Blight would have done is up for debate. The rest of the series despite the lack of Blight was enjoyable for what it is. Wish it ended on a Season 4 than Return of the Joker.

[@ChannelNerdgasm]

Honestly, I think Return of The Joker would have been better than anything we would have got in a Season 4. It didn't look like the show was changing direction. It was still focusing on the school and the students for the most part. And I don't think Blight would have returned. They went too long without incorporating him back into the story. I feel like they wouldn't have bothered.

[@Elly3981]

Its kind of funny how Derek Powers looks almost as young as his son, Paxton, except for his white hair. Its a shame that he did not appear again in the anime version of Batman Beyond since he's as powerful and formidable as Mr. Freeze. And like the latter, he needs a suit to contain his radiation. I'm guessing that like Freeze, his body will also deteriorate over time as well. That being said, I don't think its right to compare Powers to the Joker since he did have logical reasons to do everything he did. Blight is much more like Mr. Freeze than he ever was to the Joker.

[@ChannelNerdgasm]

I just meant in terms of scale - not necessarily the backstory and motivations. Blight is the archnemesis of Batman Beyond. He's written that way.

[@Elly3981]

@@ChannelNerdgasm Its too bad his role was so short. In fact, none of the Batman Beyond villains appeared as frequently as the villains from BTAS.

[@aleger620]

Such as an AWESOME VILLAIN. Too bad it was a pain for the wallet to animate..

[@chrisanderson2204]

He returns in the Earth 12 comics,but unfortunately those comics have too many continuity issues to be considered canon to the DCAU,and Earth 12 has been proven by Bruce Timm and other people not to be the DCAU

[@nazishhussain2712]

Do a origin of zordon and yami yugi

[@michaelparker1348]

Would've been a Awesome Injustice

[@20wonsavage55]

I want to see blight vs Doctor Manhattan

[@ChannelNerdgasm]

Though I enjoy Blight more as a character, he would stand zero chance against Dr. Manhattan lol

[@stefano1488o]

Был ещё вроде бы такой похожий на него , только фиолетовый или красный , помогите найти

[@toganium4175]

You really don't think that Justice League Unlimited is that great? I disagree, ESPECIALLY when it comes to the Cadmus arch.

[@ChannelNerdgasm]

I didn't say it was bad lol. Just not as great as the earlier DCAU stuff when the stories were more focused and not having to balance as many characters. There are certain episodes from JL and JLU that are amazing, but as a whole, I think the quality decreased. You weren't getting hit after hit - knocking it out of the park with nearly every episode.

[@malleableconcrete]

@@ChannelNerdgasm Eh, I think this is a bit rose tinted, when I rewatched Batman the Animated Series I was surprised how erratic the quality of the episodes were, there are some real clunkers next to stone cold classics. JLU was a lot more consistent, it was also the point at which they were able to do long form storytelling with season long arcs and development for characters stretched out over many episodes which they weren't really able to do in the first few series. I also think the animation and voice acting really became solidified and the plots were more complex and had a bit more going on thematically, there was even some commentary on contemporary politics, I think one of the episodes was even called 'Patriot Act'.

[@NateTmi]

what about when the joker comes back? would that not be more like the joker then this guy

[@brandongrotha7508]

I'll take a beyond reboot with more blight time

[@damaniqphillip2756]

awesome

[@nazishhussain2712]

Good video

[@kristelvidhi5038]

Best Batman villain.

[@smoothoperator3739]

Blight is just the Atomic Skull with a better story

[@BlackangelKatakuri]

Better look too

[@nazishhussain2712]

He remind me of molten man

[@tylermatthew349]

Or like marvel villain named radioactive man

[@nazishhussain2712]

It was the 2099 of dc

[@superfly1757]

Blight was the best villian in dc history

[@PartyCrewCoolPAD]

Greetings 👋 🥀

[@nazishhussain2712]

He was og l from death note

[@BlackangelKatakuri]

Blight was too underused.

[@ChannelNerdgasm]

It still bothers me to this day haha

[@BlackangelKatakuri]

@@ChannelNerdgasm Same. I thought a heard a rumor that Joker was going to come back as a villain in the series after the movie but they scrapped the idea . Would have been cool to have seen Blight and the Joker as potential enemies.

[@vilepeople3477]

Terry>Bruce

[@Firguy_the_Foot_Fetishist]

0:00 I like how this scene has parallels to the scene in Batman '89 where Joker is being worked on by a back alley plastic surgeon.

[@thefatman69dude]

Blight was the coolest Batman villain. Its a shame they never did anything in the second and third season.