World's Finest

World's Finest is a three part story arc from Superman: The Animated Series, episodes 29-31, written by Stan Berkowitz, Alan Burnett, Paul Dini, Rich Fogel, and Steve Gerber. It is the series' first crossover with Batman: The Animated Series. Originally, this three-parter aired back-to-back on The WB network as a movie event on October 4, 1997. It was later released on VHS and DVD as The Batman/Superman Movie, along with being included in the DVD release of the series.

It depicts the first meeting of Batman and Superman, 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 Joker's cunning and unpredictability, while Batman has trouble with the resources Luthor provides Joker with. Both heroes must agree to overcome their differences in order to put a stop to the Joker and Luthor.

The title "World's Finest" is a reference to World's Finest Comics, an anthology comic which often featured the team of Superman and Batman after their first meeting in Superman #76. Prior to that, the comic had simply printed Batman and Superman in separate, unrelated stories.

World's Finest premiered on Cartoon Network's Toonami block on November 17, 2000 at 5:00 PM. It also aired on Toonami on three other occasions: April 6, 2001, November 30, 2001 and September 6, 2002.

Part I
It's a dark and stormy night in Gotham City as the owner of an Antique Shop is about to close up for the night, but then a mysterious woman enters, allegedly to trade in a music box. The music box then springs open to reveal a jester head and douses the man with gas, which turns out to be Joker venom. Joker then unmasks her to be Harley Quinn and enters to "find a suitable trade for his Joke in the Box." The Joker then steals a green dragon statue, claiming that the statue "speaks to him". 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 hunting for funds. Batman examines a fragment of the statue that was left behind and takes it for further study.

Back in the Batcave, he runs tests 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 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 leave.

Lex Luthor sourly reads about the President thanking "Metropolis's Favorite Son" 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 Harley Quinn. Luthor then attempts to escape, but Harley locks the car and speeds off, driving quite recklessly. She then notices "a cute hitchiker" on the edge of the street, which is the Joker lifting his pant 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 offers Luthor a deal: for one billion dollars, he'll kill Superman. Luthor is initially skeptical as he wonders how the Joker has any chance at 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 the offer.

Bruce Wayne arrives in Metropolis to oversee a cooperative venture between Wayne Enterprises and LexCorp and Lois is immediately taken with him, Bruce returns her interest. Much to Clark Kent's displeasure, Lois accepts Bruce's invitation to dinner. 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. Bruce is pleased at how well his and Luthor's companies have collaborated in developing the 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.

That night, 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. Batman then pulls out the Kryptonite fragment and warns Superman of the Joker's plan.

Superman returns to his apartment and 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 sees a small homing device planted on his cape. Looking out his window, he sees that Batman has followed him to Clark Kent's apartment, and has now discovered his secret identity as well.

Part II
Lois and Bruce flirt with each other at the Daily Planet, much to Clark's chagrin. But out of her earshot they talk about Joker's location, and Clark drops a warning about Bruce's relationship with Lois, which Bruce dismisses. Over dinner at a rooftop restaurant, Bruce and Lois are getting closer, but Joker arrives and kidnaps Lois, and his thugs send Bruce falling off the roof's edge, though he manages to save himself.

Joker contacts Superman, inviting him to come alone to one of LexCorp's laboratories. Superman ignores Bruce's warning to "expect the unexpected" from Joker. While waiting for Superman, Joker breaks the statue in half, saving one half for later just in case. Superman arrives at the laboratory wearing his Anti-Kryptonite suit and Joker appears confused when the Kryptonite has no effect on him. Superman quickly gets the Joker to lead him to where Lois is, but just as Superman is about to save Lois, Joker uses his acid flower to destroy the suit. Exposed to the radiation, Superman is quickly defeated by Joker, who gleefully celebrates his victory by electrocuting Superman with his buzzer. Before he can kill Superman, however, Harley Quinn calls and warns that Batman has arrived. Joker leaves, and as soon as Batman enters the room, the doors are sealed and Joker Gas is vented in.

Batman examines the room's contents: barrels of hydrochloric acid, too weak to eat through the walls or door, but instead, Batman uses it to dissolve the Kryptonite. Recovering from its effects, Superman is able to smash their way out of the room, taking Batman and Lois with him. They confront Joker, who distracts them with grenades made to look like marbles. They flee the laboratory, which is destroyed in an explosion.

The next morning, Lex makes a public statement that the explosion was only a minor problem but is furious with Joker for destroying his property. Clark, among the reporters, hears Luthor mention of his deal with Joker. Luthor confronts Joker and gives him a second chance to kill Superman, but warns that it's his last.

In his apartment, Luthor is rudely awakened by Batman, who has learned about his connection to Joker from Clark. Luthor refuses to tell him anything, but realizes that Batman is a serious enough threat that he must be taken care of as well.

Lois tells Clark that she's planning a transfer to the Planet's Gotham City bureau, feeling that she and Bruce are serious enough that they're practically engaged. Joker makes his new move and fakes a distress signal from a cruise ship to lure Superman away. As soon as Superman arrives, the distress becomes real when a bomb is detonated on the hull, causing the ship to sink. Batman arrives at the dock after being "invited" by Joker, and is attacked by a now armed Wayne/Lex T-7.

Part III
Out at sea, Superman repairs the damage to the cruise ship and prevents it from sinking. At the same time, Batman flees the Wayne/Lex T-7 using his new Jet-wing until the machine damages it. In desperation, Batman heads for the Daily Planet building to find Superman, but he is not there, and Lois happens to be working late. With her in danger of being caught in the crossfire, Batman snatches her up and together they try to run. The pair are cornered by the robot in the printer room. As it tries to push him into the press, his cape and cowl are caught and pulled off, revealing his identity to Lois. Lois manages to distract the robot from killing Bruce, long enough for Superman to arrive and destroy it.

Luthor is informed of the Wayne/Lex T-7's failure and realizes that he'll be connected to the crime. He decides to cut his losses and orders one more meeting with Joker. Back at her apartment, Lois treats a wound on Bruce's shoulder. She is fuming because Bruce deceived her, and also because she honestly cares for him enough that she can't release the story of Batman's true identity. Superman arrives and asks Bruce for a partnership so that they can take care of both their enemies. Batman agrees and the duo leaves.

Meanwhile, Joker and Luthor meet at a LexCorp aeronautics factory, where Luthor informs Joker and Harley that he intends to kill them and frame them for all the mayhem that's been going on. Joker turns the tables and takes both Luthor and Mercy prisoner. Since he can no longer collect his billion dollars, Joker decides on a "consolation prize": Luthor's gigantic and heavily armed Lexwing airship (having Harley paint it so that it resembles a grinning mouth, as it is built in the shape of a crescent moon). Luthor offers to pay for his release, but Joker says he isn't interested in money anymore. Instead, he wants to destroy everything Luthor built, just as Batman destroyed everything that he, Joker, built.

Batman and Superman arrive but are attacked by giant versions of the Wayne/Lex T-7's before they can stop Joker from taking off. Working together, they destroy most of the robots, but then are faced with one that has Mercy strapped to its side as a shield, preventing them from hitting it. Batman manages to get the robot off the ground and Superman deactivates it without hurting Mercy. Mercy tells them of Joker's plans, which Superman realizes means destroying half of Metropolis. The group is confronted by a larger, more advanced robot. Superman tells Batman to go after Joker while he takes care of the robot. Unfortunately, this one is equipped with the other half of the Laughing Dragon, rendering Superman unable to fight back.

While Batman deals with the wing, Superman is pummeled by the robot until it tries to smash him with a heavy door. The door, which had been lined with lead to block Superman's x-ray vision, protects him from the Kryptonite and he destroys the robot, in the process shattering the last of the Kryptonite to pieces. Superman heads off to help stop the Joker.

Batman confronts the Joker, leaving Harley to fly the wing, but she only succeeds in shutting off its engines. Fortunately, Superman arrives just in time to steer the wing away from a collision with a building. In the fight, Joker accidentally drops his entire bag of marble grenades while going for his gun. As the grenades start to explode, the heroes save Luthor and Harley but are unable to reach the Joker in time. As the Joker goes for a parachute, he is trapped by the grenades rolling towards him. In the face of death, the Joker starts laughing maniacally. The grenades go off, setting off an explosion, destroying the wing as it crashes into the ocean.

With the troubles over, Angela Chen reports on the incident: the Joker's body has not been found; Luthor is under investigation, but it is unlikely he will be charged with any crime. However, Bruce Wayne, discovering that Luthor has been developing military versions of their robots, terminates his deal with LexCorp. Harley is returned to Arkham Asylum, much to the amusement of a beaten up Mercy Graves, who is watching her public arrest on TV and enjoying the last laugh at her expense.

Sadly for Bruce, Lois changes her mind about moving to Gotham as she can't get over his secret activities as Batman. Bruce understands and says goodbye, then he exchanges a good natured farewell with Clark before returning to Gotham, leaving Metropolis and Lois in Superman's care once again.

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Toonami Broadcast History

 * November 17, 2000 at 5:00 PM
 * April 6, 2001 at 5:00 PM
 * November 30, 2001 at 5:30 PM
 * September 6, 2002 at 4:00 PM