Phantom 2040 is an animated series that is loosely based on the comic strip superhero The Phantom, created by Lee Falk. The central character of the series is said to be the 24th Phantom. It was aired from September 18, 1994 to March 3, 1996 in syndication.
"The year is 2040. The place is Metropia. Here, a new hero prepares for action. The man who cannot die. The ghost who walks. The Phantom. The Phantom's pledge: To fight evil and injustice wherever they may be found. In this future world, in this dying city with the fate of the earth and all humanity in the balance. The Phantom is there!"
- opening narration.
It is the year 2040, all environmental disasters and the economic Resource Wars from the early 21st century have decimated the fragile ecosystem balance of an Earth once teeming with life. Everywhere, the privileged and wealthy continue to thrive in expensive real estate developments that tower above the suffering masses. The victims of Earth's misfortune have been forced to subsist on scavenged refuse from the past on the mangled streets of forlorn city-states.
In Metropia (once known as New York City), the largest and most powerful of the city-states, the powerful robotics manufacturing corporation Maximum Inc. has slowly shaped a cold, steely urban center, consisting of huge, residential towers intertwined with TubeTrain tunnels. Maximum's robotic "biots" (Biological Optical Transputer System) have replaced enormous amounts of human labour, and the corporation is illegally producing prohibited combat biots to form Maximum's private underground army. Under this guise of efficient progress, Maximum has own plans for the future, all known as the Maximum Era. Through the construction of the fortress of Cyberville, an immense survival shelter where only the wealthiest and most elite humans will retreat, and the take over of Metropia by Maximum's biot armies, their plans all ultimately involve the dark path of decline and extinction as the culminating result of man's prior errors and efforts, once Earth finally succumbs to its slowly deteriorating state.
The only hope for the survival of humanity is the Ghost Jungle — thousands of square miles of mutated vegetation that may be the planet's salvation. This secret source of life is submerged beneath Metropia, unseen by most. College student Kit Walker Jr. is chosen by fate to save the world, donning the black mask and purple suit of his people's savior, the 24th Phantom.
The role of the Phantom has been passed on from father to son since the 16th century, leading the world to believe that the Phantom is a single immortal individual. Kit, the 24th in the line, is young, unsure, and inexperienced, but he finds within him the courage and might to battle the evil that threatens to destroy the Earth.
Phantom 2040's voice cast included Scott Valentine, Margot Kidder, Ron Perlman, Leah Remini, J.D. Hall, Alan Oppenheimer, Richard Lynch and Jeff Bennett - while Mark Hamill, Debbie Harry, Rob Paulsen and Paul Williams had recurring roles.
The show was developed for television by executive producer David J. Corbett and executive story editors Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens. In addition to story-editing both seasons, the Reeves-Stevens devised the show's writers' bible, and scripted numerous episodes, including the two-part pilot (Generation Unto Generation). Other key writers on the show included Brynne Chandler and Michael Reaves.
The unusual character designs were the distinctive work of Peter Chung, creator of Aon Flux.
The art director/conceptual designer on the show was Thom Schillinger, who created all of the background designs and technical concept designs to complement Peter Chung's distinctively elongated character design.
The show debuted in 1994 to rave reviews, though it survived only 35 episodes before it was relegated to weekend repeats in 1996. Along with action sequences, stories focused on intelligent plotting and character development, winning the series praise for its subtle teaching of such values as individuality, freedom and the volatility of humanity.
Along with Andrea Romano's equally pioneering work on Batman: The Animated Series, Stu Rosen's voice direction on Phantom 2040 had a lasting impact on animated adventure television. Romano and Rosen cast accomplished dramatic actors and introduced a new level of maturity and complexity to their show's vocal performances that set the standard for all TV animation that followed.
A Phantom 2040 video game was produced for Sega Genesis, Game Gear and Super NES, and like the animated series, it received very positive reviews despite its obscurity. It is possible to play as both the Phantom and, in the Game Gear version, his alter-ego, Kit Walker. The game has over 20 different endings, depending on the choices the player makes while progressing through the story, and revolves around Rebecca Madison's attempts to create a biot army, revive her dead husband and seize control of both Metropia and the world.
Phantom 2040 was adapted into a comic book series by Marvel Comics in 1995 (cover dated May-August 1995). Only four issues were published, released as a mini-series. The stories were only loosely based on the TV series, and was notably different in tone from the dark, complex animated show. The comic book was written by Peter Quinones, pencilled by Spider-Man co-creator Steve Ditko and inked by Bill Reinhold. Each issue featured a free poster drawn by such artists as John Romita Sr.
Family Home Entertainment VHS Releases 1994/1995 (USA)
A straight-to-video compilation titled Phantom 2040: The Ghost Who Walks was released in the USA on VHS by Family Home Entertainment in 1994 (and re-released on May 21, 1996). It is made up of the first five episodes of season 1 edited into a single movie.
Family Home Entertainment subsequently released eight first-season episodes across four commercially available VHS tapes (in the USA) on August 22, 1995:
1) Generation Unto Generation Parts 1 and 2
2) Fire and I.C.E. / The Sum of the Parts
3) Dark Orbit Parts 1 and 2
4) The Ghost in the Machine / The Biot in Red
Lions Gate DVD Release 2004 (USA)
Phantom 2040: The Ghost Who Walks was re-released on DVD by Lions Gate on September 21, 2004 and remains available for purchase in most counties as a US import.
Via Vision Entertainment DVD Release 2013 (Australia)
In Australia (where the popularity of Lee Falk's original Phantom comic strip has never waned), Season One was released as a four-disc DVD collection (containing the first twenty episodes of the show) by Via Vision Entertainment on 6 November 2013.
The Complete Phantom 2040 on YouTube
All 35 episodes of Phantom 2040 (33 original episodes plus the first and second season "bridging" compilation episodes Rite of Passage and The World is My Jungle) are officially available for viewing on YouTube via the Comics Kingdom channel. Comics Kingdom is the official YouTube channel of King Features Syndicate, who hold all rights to The Phantom. The Comics Kingdom channel also features all episodes of the Phantom 2040 production team's later Flash Gordon show and all episodes of Defenders of the Earth (starring Flash Gordon, The Phantom and Mandrake the Magician).