The Batman-Superman Movie - World's Finest (1997) • An Part 001

"**World's Finest**" is the 16th, 17th and 18th episodes of the second season of *Superman: The Animated Series*, and the 29th, 30th, and 31st of the overall series. Originally, this three-parter aired back-to-back as a movie event on October 4, 1997.

The episode depicts the first meeting of Batman and Superman in the DCAU, when Batman comes to Metropolis in pursuit of the Joker, who has offered to kill Superman for Lex Luthor. Superman finds himself out of his depth when matched against the Joker's cunning and unpredictability, while Batman has trouble with the resources Luthor provides the Joker with. Both heroes must agree to overcome their differences to put a stop to the Joker and Luthor.

### Writer

* Alan Burnett
* Paul Dini

### Director

* Dan Riba
* Bruce Walter Timm

## Plot

It's a dark and stormy night in Gotham City as the owner of an Antique Shop is about to close up, but then a mysterious woman enters, allegedly to trade in a music box. It then springs open to reveal a jester's head and douses the man with some gas, which turns out to be Joker venom. Joker then unmasks her to be Harley Quinn and enters to steal a green dragon statue, claiming that he may just have use for it.

Later, the police investigate the crime scene and wonder why Joker would only take one jade statue, worth maybe a hundred thousand dollars, especially when rumor has it that he's short on funds. Batman examines a fragment of the statue that had been left behind and takes it for further study.

Back in the Batcave, he runs a test on the sample, while Alfred reports that the "Laughing Dragon" has gained a bad reputation for being cursed, since all of its owners died prematurely. Batman knows why: the "jade" is emitting low-level radiation, meaning it's actually Kryptonite. Now realizing what the Joker is up to, Batman heads off to Metropolis, where, incidentally, Bruce Wayne has business to attend to.

Out over Metropolis, terrorists seize control of Air Force One, with the President of the United States on board. Lois Lane is among the press corps on board, virtually guaranteeing Superman's prompt arrival. He easily defeats the terrorists and saves the passengers. When he returns to the ground, Lois tries to let him know how she feels, but they are interrupted when robbers attack the First National Bank, and Superman must fly. Alone, Lois berates herself for revealing her feelings and decides to put Superman behind her.

Lex Luthor sourly reads about the President thanking Superman and calls Mercy to get his car ready. Suddenly, she is knocked out by a mechanical Boxing Glove. Luthor enters the car and orders Mercy to take him to the office. However, the driver is revealed to be not Mercy, but Harley Quinn. Luthor then attempts to escape, but Harley locks the car and speeds off, driving quite recklessly. She then notices "a cute hitchhiker" on the edge of the street, which is the Joker lifting his pants leg. She brakes to a halt and the Joker enters the car, explaining to Luthor that he is broke, thanks to Batman's success in closing down his operations in Gotham City. So he makes Luthor an offer: for one billion dollars, he'll kill Superman. Luthor is initially skeptical as he wonders how the Joker has any chance of beating Superman when he can't beat the less powerful Batman. He then changes his mind when the Joker shows him the Kryptonite statue. After the Joker assures him that it couldn't be traced back to him, he accepts.

Later at the airport, a group of reporters, including Lois and Clark are awaiting the arrival of Bruce Wayne, who is revealed to be in Metropolis to oversee a cooperative venture between Wayne Enterprises and LexCorp. Lois reveals what she has heard of Bruce, believing him to be "Gotham Trash". However, Lois is immediately taken with him when he steps off the plane, as he is arriving Lois is checking herself until she is surprised to see Bruce behind her referring to her as the famous Lois Lane. Flustered, Lois accidentally bumps into him while dropping her belongings.

Lois then begins to pick up her belongings while introducing Clark to Bruce. However, he ignores Clark and instead helps Lois, revealing he was impressed with her adventure on Air Force One. Lois then asks him what brings him to Metropolis, however, they are interrupted by Mercy who informs Bruce his car has arrived. Bruce then invites Lois over to dinner to discuss the news and Lois happily accepts Bruce's invitation, much to Clark's displeasure. That night, the Joker sets up his base in Metropolis, gassing a local crime boss, Ceasar Carlini, and taking his hideout and his cowered thugs for his own. Carlini is later found, hysterical with laughter, by the Metropolis police, alerting Superman to the Joker's presence in the city.

The next day, an insect-like probe droid, the Wayne/Lex T-7, crawls through a canyon even scaling walls. Bruce is pleased with how well his and Luthor's companies have collaborated in developing robots for space exploration. Luthor says the robots would be even more useful for military purposes, but Bruce, who under their agreement has sole control over the technology's uses and more so with his hatred for guns, firmly squelches the idea. Later that night, Bruce and Lois are enjoying their date, and Bruce is asking about Superman. Lois then teases him saying she needs to fix them up together. Bruce apologizes but Lois instead apologizes for her remark, where she admits she was hoping to not talk about Superman, revealing how she has been "consumed" with him lately. Wanting to take her mind off and enjoy the rest of their date, Bruce and Lois enjoy a lovely dance, thus blossoming their romance.

Later on, Batman appears in a Metropolis nightclub, finding a runaway thug from the gang Joker recruited. While Batman is interrogating him, Superman arrives, saying he doesn't want Batman's brand of vigilantism in his town. To his astonishment, Batman throws him across the room with a judo move. Superman strikes back by ramming him into a wall, which allows the thug to escape. Using his x-ray vision, Superman peeks behind the mask and sees that Batman is Bruce Wayne, much to his annoyance. Superman expresses his disdain for Batman's methods of vigilantism in Metropolis; Batman then pulls out the Kryptonite fragment and warns Superman of the Joker's plan.

Superman returns to his apartment. His jealousy increases when he gets a call from Lois, who says she's taking the morning off to have breakfast with Bruce. As they talk, he notices a small, bat-themed homing device planted on his cape and picks it up. Clark goes to look out his window, as Lois hangs up. He uses his telescopic vision and spots Batman on the roof of a distant building, watching him through binoculars. Knowing Clark can see him, Batman smiles and with a boy scout salute, jumps down out of sight on the far side. Clark realizes Batman has now discovered his secret identity as well and crushes the device in anger.

## Continuity

* Batman's and Superman's next encounters before being part of the Justice League happen subsequently in the episodes "Knight Time" and "The Demon Reborn".
* Wayne Enterprises' brief partnership with LexCorp is later found, in the episode "Knight Time", to have allowed Brainiac to infect Wayne's computers, after having done so to LexCorp's in "Stolen Memories" (see also "Ghost in the Machine").
* The long-term effects of Kryptonite radiation on humans are further explored in *Justice League* episode "Injustice For All" when Luthor is diagnosed with an incurable form of blood cancer as a result of carrying Kryptonite around with him for years. Luthor also tells Joker that he wants nothing to do with him when Joker reappears in that episode.
* It is revealed in *Justice League*, "Tabula Rasa," that Batman carries a piece of Kryptonite in his utility belt at all times, as "insurance." Since he does not contract Kryptonite poisoning, it can be presumed that, after learning about the deaths of the Laughing Dragon's previous owners, he knows enough to keep it sealed in a lead-lined container that blocks its radiation.
* Lois and Bruce have a brief reunion in "The Demon Reborn", where Lois reveals to Bruce she was having second thoughts about her relationship with him and there were several times that she had almost picked up the phone. Unfortunately, she was talking to herself, because, as usual, Batman had already disappeared.
* Superman claims he heard Batman was "crazy". In "The Last Son of Krypton", Martha Kent previously referred to Batman as "that nut in Gotham City".

## Background information

### Home video releases

* The Batman Superman Movie (VHS)
* The Batman Superman Movie (LaserDisc)
* The Batman Superman Movie (DVD)
* Superman: The Animated Series, Volume Two (DVD)
* Superman: The Complete Animated Series (DVD)
* DC Comics Super-Villains: The Joker's Last Laugh (DVD)

## Production notes

* In the audio commentary, Bruce Timm says that it was Glen Murakami's suggestion not to put red lips on the Joker. Glen justifies it on grounds of "simplification", and Bruce admits it was a mistake.
* Because the Laughing Dragon was carved (approximately) thirty years before the events of this episode, it can be deduced that Superman/Clark Kent is at least 30 and possibly older (going by Earth years, as Kryptonians physically age much more slowly than humans do, as shown in "The Call", where Superman is in his 80s but appears in his 50s).

## Production inconsistencies

* "Apokolips... Now!" was produced before this episode, but aired later. Dan Turpin's appearance would have been an issue when looking at the production order, but not the airing order.

### Trivia

* The title is a reference to *World's Finest Comics*, an anthology comic that often featured the team of Superman and Batman after their first meeting in *Superman #76*. Before that, the comic had simply printed Batman and Superman in separate, unrelated stories.
* When Luthor tells The Joker that he can't be connected to Superman's death, he responds "Oh, you'll be Mr. Clean." Mr. Clean is a soap brand that features a bald man in its logo.
* Batman and Joker's involvement in this episode bears strong similarities to the movie *Batman: Mask of the Phantasm*: Joker is supposed to be paid to stop the show's hero (though his position on the deal is reversed), Bruce's love interest (both played by Dana Delany) is used to get to the show's hero and discovers he is Batman, and Joker is nearly killed in a giant explosion caused by what he was using to fight the hero(es) at the end.
* Dana Delany previously worked with Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill in *Batman: Mask of the Phantasm* as Andrea Beaumont/Phantasm.
* On the *Batman: The Brave And The Bold* episode "The Super-Batman of Planet X!" Kevin Conroy, Dana Delany, and Clancy Brown all voice Zur-En-Arrh counterparts of their characters here; The Batman of Zur-En-Arrh, Vilsi Valar (a reporter), and Rohtul (Luthor spelled backwards), respectively.
* Tim Daly narrowly beat Kevin Conroy for the role of Joe Hackett on the TV series *Wings*, before Conroy was cast in *Batman: The Animated Series*. This is the first time that Daly and Conroy have worked together since then.
* Batman taking out the second round of Joker's goons in the Lexcorp warehouse strongly resembles the *Batman: The Animated Series* intro in that Batman dodges the bullets the same way and disarms both goons with a single Batarang.
* Joker's comments Lex's limo has "rich Corinthian leather"; a reference to Ricardo Montalban's 1975 commercial for the Chrysler Cordoba.
* Harley Quinn's disguise as Mercy Graves is similar to her chauffeur disguise in the *Batman: The Animated Series* episode "Joker's Favor".
* Harley Quinn calls Lex "Mr. L", which is an alias Luthor often used in Superman's early Post-Crisis comics, the first time being in *The Man of Steel* *#2*.
* Bruce asking Lois if there's some "special signal" to call Superman and her responding that he's not like Batman is likely a reference to the Bat-signal, which was actually imitated by Luminus in "Solar Power" to signal Superman. Superman's signature signaling device appears later in "Superman's Pal" when he gives a signal watch to Jimmy Olsen.
* Because it aired in the evening as a special presentation, this episode won a Prime-Time Emmy Award. TMS is very proud of this and displays the Emmy in their lobby.
* In the episode "Krypto's Scriypto: Part 2" of the non-DCAU series *Krypto the Superdog*, Krypto prevents a ship from sinking by pulling up a ladder and using it to cover the hole in the ship with his heat vision similarly to how Superman used a lifeboat to cover the hole in the SS Atlantic with his heat vision to prevent its sinking in this episode.
* The comic book adaptation of this contains an extra moment on Page 26 where Bruce mentions to Alfred how he believes that Superman doesn't understand the problem of using brute strength against a foe with a warped mind like The Joker.

## Quotes

**Lois:** Lane.
**Terrorist:** Lane? Lois Lane? The one Superman always saves?!
 **Superman:** I hope I didn't shake you and the others up too bad.

**Harley Quinn:** (*disguised as Mercy*) Swell, Mr. L.
 **Luthor:** What makes you think you can kill Superman when you can't even handle a mere mortal in a Halloween costume?

 *[Carlini is lying in a hospital bed, laughing uncontrollably.]*
**Dan Turpin:** We found him like this at the city dump. (*waves a hand in front of Carlini's eyes*) The lights are on, but nobody's home.
 **Bruce:** So he just appears when there's trouble? No special signal?

**Lois:** He's not like your Batman, thank goodness!
**Bruce:** Then how do you contact him?
 **Clark:** So just keep your ears open. Let me know if you hear any buzz about the Joker.

 **Batman:** Where's the Joker?

 **Superman:** (*looks through Batman's mask*) Bruce Wayne?

**Batman:** You peeked.