One among Batman’s greatest film villains has a considerably complicated comedian guide legacy that additionally connects them to the Teen Titans.
Batman has starred in a number of films, with a number of of those Caped Crusader celluloids being animated. Maybe probably the most well-known of those is Batman: Masks of the Illusion, which pitted Batman in opposition to a mysterious menace from his previous. Although this iteration of Illusion would solely lately be used within the comics, she wasn’t the one Illusion to be part of the DC Universe.
Danny Chase was maybe probably the most hated member of the Teen Titans ever created, however a last-ditch effort for him to win over the followers gave him the freaky Illusion id. Although fairly totally different from Andrea Beaumont, this Illusion had a really related design, making the moniker’s legacy a bit complicated. Thus, the worst Teen Titan unwittingly shares a legacy with the villain of one of the best animated Batman movie.
Danny Chase’s Illusion Predates the Batman Film Villain
Danny Chase first appeared in The New Teen Titans #73 (by Marv Wolfman and Tom Grummett) in 1991, and his introduction was considerably pivotal to the guide’s title. By that time, the basic Titans Nightwing, Wonder Girl, Cyborg, Starfire, Arsenal and The Flash had grown to be of their 20s, with Beast Boy being the one actual teen amongst them. Thus, Wolfman created Chase with a view to put a young person again on the roster, even when it was to readers’ chagrin. Blessed with a genius mind and psychic talents, Danny Chase would seemingly have been a significant asset to the group. Sadly, he was additionally conscious of this supposed potential, even when he by no means actually reached it. Danny’s time with the Titans had the older members telling him how nice he’s whereas his antics made him the proverbial substitute for the now-older Beast Boy.
This try to endear readers to him did not work, nonetheless, with many coming to despise the younger hero. A final try to make him standard occurred throughout Titans Hunt the place he grew to become one of many Titans attacked by the Wildebeest Society. Left for lifeless, he used objects present in a mall to disguise himself as “Illusion”. His ghostly look and an absence of his typical snark have been an unlimited enchancment for the character. Sadly, this improve was short-lived, with Danny sacrificing himself to save lots of the house realm of Raven. From this got here an entity often known as Illusion who wore Danny’s costume. However attributable to his earlier unpopularity, the identify Illusion is much extra generally related to one other DC character.
Masks of the Illusion Redeemed Two Dangerous Components from DC Comics
Batman: Masks of the Illusion was set within the DC Animated Universe, with its villain and storyline being unique. That does not imply that stated foe has no previous affect, nonetheless, with Andrea Beaumont’s Illusion drawing from a number of DC characters particularly. It has been famous by Bruce Timm and others who labored on the character that this Illusion was a form of free adaptation of the Reaper and his daughter. The Reaper was the primary foe of the reasonably mediocre Batman: Yr Two, with the story occurring to encourage a significantly better story.
This Illusion mantle additionally recollects Danny’s alter ego from the comics that had debuted a few 12 months earlier than the discharge of Masks of the Illusion. On high of that, the designs between these characters are pretty related, as properly. Although Timm has by no means acknowledged to have used the Teen Titan as an affect. Using the Illusion identify within the comics might have been why Andrea Beaumont was solely lately launched into DC Comics’ foremost continuity. It would not assist that the Batman: Hush storyline within the 2000s made her considerably redundant. Regardless of that setback, it is clear that Beaumont would be the solely Illusion going ahead, with numerous reboots and retcons failing to convey again the despised Danny Chase in any main approach.