Was Batman Beyond shaped by The Mask of Zorro?

[Güicho]

Again while I think the obvious bigger visual setting influence was the Cyberpunk genera and the likes of Phantom 2040
The narrative character and story beats influence by nature seemed to borrow from the just released Mask of Zorro.




Last line in the show: "Just Like my Old Man"
Goes through the secret clock...

The End is the Beginning... Full Circle.

[John Venus]

I think the similarity with Mask of Zorro is a coincidence even with Batman's history of being connected to Zoro.

The story behind Batman Beyond has always been that the execs wanted a 'teenage Batman' show due to the popularity of shows like Buffy. Teenage or kid version of existing adult heroes weren't a new concept there was a kid Flintstones show, a kid James Bond show starring James Bond Jr and even more recent history there was a teenage Iron Man shows. It's rarer now but more common in the the past. The execs wanted a teenage Batman show, Timm was reluctant but they didn't want to make a typical show and wanted to break the mold so they decided that the 'teenage Batman' would be an original character and they picked up threads from TNBA to create the concept of an aging Bruce Wayne who ended up all alone because of his war on crime but got a second shot at life thanks to this kid who literally crashed into his backyard.

If anything Batman Beyond owes more to cyberpunk genre like Akira and Bladerunner. Neo Gotham was inspired by Neo Tokoyo. The Jokerz, the bike chase with Terry on a crimson bike was also a nod to that movie as well as the giant laser death machine in Return of the Joker. The cafe that Terry's old flames Ten/Melanie worked at was named 'Deckard'. There were also several references to Ghost In the Shell like the episode with the ghost AI taking over Terry's suit and some of the vehicles on the show.