Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker

Jokerz attempt to steal high-tech equipment, but Batman (Terry McGinnis) intercepts them before they can escape. The gang reports back to their leader, revealed to be the Joker, who has been presumed dead for decades. To assert his authority and intimidate the others, the Joker kills Bonk during the confrontation.

The Joker crashes a press conference celebrating Bruce's return and reveals himself to Bruce and the public. Bruce refuses to acknowledge that the attacker is truly the Joker. After the attack, Terry asks Bruce and Barbara Gordon for information, but both remain tight-lipped, leaving him in the dark.

The Jokerz launch a sudden assault, and Dana Tan is nearly killed in the crossfire. In the Batcave, the Joker poisons Bruce and Bruce's Great Dane Ace, revealing that he knows Bruce is Batman and that Terry is his chosen successor.

Barbara Gordon explains the long-hidden origin: decades earlier, the Joker and Harley Quinn kidnapped Tim Drake and brainwashed him into a Jokerized teenager. Batman and Batgirl found Tim, who briefly regained his senses and killed the Joker, while Harley fell into a ravine and was presumed dead. The Joker was buried deep beneath Arkham and the truth kept secret by Commissioner Gordon; Tim spent the following year recovering and eventually retired from superheroics.

Tim Drake recovers with help from Leslie Thompkins and retires from vigilantism, choosing to build a new life away from the heroics of the past. He severs ties with Bruce and begins to chart his own path. The arc sets the stage for the next generation to carry the Bat-name.

Now Batman, Terry seeks out Tim to learn the truth, only to hear Tim express bitterness about his past and deny any involvement in the Joker's return. Tim's resentment hints at a hidden wound rather than cooperation with the Joker.

Terry's investigation leads him to Jordan Pryce, a Wayne Enterprises executive who blames Bruce for his failed ambitions. Pryce is revealed not to be the Joker but a conspirator who collaborated with him. During a confrontation on Pryce's yacht, a directed-energy weapon attack occurs; Terry rescues Pryce and hands him over to the police.

In the Batcave, Bruce and Terry deduce that the Joker destroyed only the Robin costume and that Tim Drake's engineering skill links the Jokerz thefts to a plan to jam and seize control of a satellite. The stolen equipment can be used to construct a jamming system powerful enough to take control of a laser-armed military satellite.

Tim's pursuit leads Terry to his workplace, where a Joker trap is sprung and the Jokerz are subdued with Ace's help at an abandoned candy factory. Terry confronts Tim, but Tim disables Terry's Batsuit and momentarily transforms into the Joker, signaling the full betrayal and escalating the showdown.

The Joker explains that a copy of his consciousness is stored on a microchip behind Tim Drake's ear, allowing him to survive by possessing Tim's body. With the satellite in play, his plan is to kill Bruce and Terry's loved ones and destroy Gotham.

Terry uses the Joker's own electric joy buzzer to destroy the microchip, breaking the Joker's hold over Tim. The duo escapes with the unconscious Tim as the satellite destroys the Joker's lair and goes offline.

Following the arrests, Barbara hides Tim's unwitting involvement to protect him, while the Joker is declared dead and the Dee-Dee twins are bailed out by their grandmother, Harley Quinn, who is revealed to have survived the fall decades ago.

Bruce makes amends with Tim and Barbara while Tim recovers in the hospital. They acknowledge Terry as worthy to carry the Batman mantle, and Terry resumes his life of crimefighting with renewed purpose.