Based seemingly on the false assumptions of a number of Batman Beyond fans and a desire to “diversify the line,” DC Comics author Sean Gordon Murphy has revealed that in his upcoming Batman: Beyond The White Knight series, Terry McGinnis will be race-swapped to be half-Asian.
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The DC Animated Universe successor to the cowl, Terry was born the first son of Mary and Warren McGinnis – the latter of whom had their DNA rewritten to mimic Bruce Wayne’s in a plot by Amanda Waller to ensure the continuing legacy of the Dark Knight, as established by the Justice League Unlimited episode ‘Epilogue’ – both of whom were very plainly white individuals.
However, thanks to the slim eyes and black hair of Terry’s character design, many fans have come to falsely believe that the futuristic Gotham crimefighter possesses some sort of Asian heritage.
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Yet, despite this interpretation of Terry’s ethnicity being nothing more than a widely-assumed headcanon, Murphy’s version of the young crime fighter will take inspiration from this misconception about the hero, establishing him as having some level of Asian background when he debuts in this fifth entry of the White Knight series.
“The trick with Terry for me was how to make him a little different,” Murphy told Screen Rant during a recent interview given in promotion of Beyond The White Knight. “I didn’t want to just mirror exactly what happened with the Batman Beyond cartoon series. I wanted to make it unique, but sort of familiar at the same time.”
“One of the things I really wanted to do is make him half Asian. I didn’t realize this, but a ton of people–including myself–always assumed Terry was half Japanese, and half Irish, or something,” he continued. “Only because there’s so much kanji in Neo-Gotham, and he has long, black, straight hair… like, a lot of people mistake him as being half Asian. Even though both of his parents are like, extremely white.”
“So for this one, I decided to make his mom Asian, and his dad is obviously Irish, just to finally create a new kind of Terry,” he concluded. “Maybe it’s just window dressing, and it doesn’t really affect story that much, but I just thought it was an interesting way to break out my Terry from the other Terrys out there. And obviously to diversify the line, which is important.”
The first issue of Murphy’s Batman: Beyond The White Knight is set to hit shelves on March 29th.
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