Warren McGinnis was the ex-husband of Mary McGinnis and the legal stepfather of Terry McGinnis and Matt McGinnis.
History
At some point in his life, Warren met and married Mary. When Warren was given a routine flu shot, it was actually a nanotech solution programmed to rewrite his reproductive material into a copy of Bruce Wayne's reproductive material as a part of Amanda Waller's plan to create Batman's successor.[1]
Almost a year later, their son, Terry, was born. Unbeknownst to them, he was biologically the offspring of Mary and Bruce. Warren remained Terry's legal father, none the wiser about what had been done to him.[1]
Warren gets a fake flu shot.
Eight years later, Warren accompanied his wife and eight year old son to see a movie, The Grey Ghost Strikes. Warren and his family were unaware that, as they walked through the parking area, they were targeted by an assassin, who was to kill Warren and Mary in order to put Terry on the path to becoming Batman. However, the assassin refused and spared the unknowingly Warren and his wife.[1]
Some time after the near-assassination, Mary gave birth to Warren's second son, Matt, who was also the biological son of Mary and Bruce.[1]
At some point during Terry and Matt's childhood, Warren took his family to the Wildlife Way Station.[2]
Eventually and for reasons unknown, Warren and Mary divorced. Terry moved in with his father, likely because of the boy's increasingly-rebellous behavior, while Matt stayed with Mary.[3]
At some point, Warren came to work at Wayne-Powers' research division. One day, he was contacted by Harry Tully, who asked that Warren meet with him. Warren noticed that Tully was looking "slagged" and observed a series of strange bruises on Tully's arm. Tully handed Warren a disc, but before he could explain further, their meeting was cut short by Mr. Fixx, who had Tully taken away. Warren's questions about Tully's condition went unanswered.[3]
Shortly thereafter, Derek Powers summoned Warren to his office, who explained that Tully had suffered an allergic reaction to a chemical compound in the laboratory. Powers assured Warren that Tully would soon make a full recovery. Warren accepted the explanation, though he was not entirely convinced, and on his way out, Powers asked him if he knew about a file that was missing from Tully's records. Warren denied any knowledge of it.[3]
Once at home, Warren investigated the disc Tully had given him. In the midst of this, Warren found himself embroiled in an argument with Terry. Their tempers flared at one another, and the argument ended with Terry scoffing at his father's life accomplishments and storming out of the apartment, flouting the fact that his father had grounded him on account of Terry getting into a fight at school. Shortly after Terry's departure, Warren was visited by Mr. Fixx.[3]
Some hours later, Terry returned home to find his mother waiting for him and that Warren had been murdered. The police blamed the crime on the Jokerz, since the hallway had been spray-painted with the word "HA!" The details of Warren's death remained undisclosed, though Mr. Fixx later confided to Derek Powers that he "took care of his [Terry's] old man". Sometime between Terry's departure and his death, Warren was able to hide the disc given to him by Tully in a picture frame, which was later found by Terry.[3]
Warren's murder had a profound influence on Terry's life, prompting him to take on the role of the second Batman; exactly what Amanda Waller had originally intended.[4]
Background information
According to episode writer Dwayne McDuffie, Bruce, as the World's Greatest Detective, became aware that Terry and Matt were his biological sons at some point after Terry became Batman. His subsequent decision not to reveal this knowledge to Terry was made, in part, out of respect for Warren, who had raised both boys since birth.[5]
Appearances and references
Batman Beyond
- "Rebirth, Part I"
- "Rebirth, Part II" (Mentioned Only)
- "Black Out" (Mentioned Only)
- "Shriek" (Mentioned Only)
- "Spellbound" (Mentioned Only)
- "Ascension" (Mentioned Only)
- "Earth Mover" (Mentioned Only)
- "Hooked Up" (Hallucination)
- "Revenant" (Mentioned Only)
- "Babel" (Mentioned Only)
- "Inqueling" (Mentioned Only)
- "Speak No Evil" (Mentioned Only)
Feature film
- Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (Mentioned Only)
Justice League Unlimited
- "Epilogue" (Cameo in flashbacks)