Steven Moran
Social Media Editor
“Phantom 2040” was a two-season, 35-episode animated sci-fi superhero crime drama that aired from 1994 to 1996. It is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video and Sling TV and is available to watch for free on YouTube.
The series is loosely based on Lee Falk’s “The Phantom,” a newspaper comic strip first published in the New York Journal in February 1936 and distributed by the King Features Syndicate, which still runs today.
The Phantom, the titular character of the comic strip and animated series, is often credited as the first costumed superhero, predating Superman’s first appearance in 1938 by two years.
WARNING! This article contains spoilers for the first few episodes of “Phantom 2040”
What is Phantom 2040 About?
“Phantom 2040,” as the title suggests, takes place in the not-so-distant future year of 2040 in the technologically advanced city-state of Metropia, implied to have once been New York City before the “Resource Wars” devastated much of the planet.
The series’ main protagonist is Kit Walker Jr., an 18-year-old Metropia University student who lives with his great-aunt Heloise and hopes to leave the decaying city-state to become an ecological engineer.
Walker’s quiet, normal life is turned upside down one evening when Guran, an associate of the Phantom and longtime friend of the Walker family, appears at his aunt’s doorstep. Guran believes it is time for Kit Walker Jr. to learn the truth about his 500-year-long lineage and that it is his destiny to take up his father’s mantle as the legendary vigilante known as The Phantom, much to Heloise’s dismay.
Unfortunately, Guran is followed by a group of armed Maximum Inc. Bi.O.T.S. (Biological Onboard Transputer System), sent by Maximum Inc.’s corrupt CEO, Rebecca Madison, to hunt down the Phantom. Rebecca claims the vigilante is responsible for a chemical incident in Sector Zero 16 years earlier that left the area uninhabitable and killed dozens of people, including her husband, Maxwell Madison Sr.
An intense gunfight leaves Heloise hospitalized after being shot in the heart by a stray laser — non-lethally, thanks to futuristic medical technologies and 1990s TV censors. Meanwhile, Kit discovers a ring with a skull engraving hidden in one of his great-aunt’s antiques. He also discovers a secret jungle made of a pollution-eating plant called Ghostwood in Sector Zero.
After meeting Guran in a replica of the Phantom’s Skull Cave in this “Ghost Jungle,” Kit Walker learns that his father, Kit Walker Sr., was the Phantom. He was the 23rd son of the Walker family to take up the mantle of “the Ghost Who Walks,” since the first in 1566. He intends to teach the young Walker the ways of the Phantom.
Kit initially refuses to take his place as the 24th Phantom, but changes his stance when his friends Tran and Jenna are caught in the crossfire of a violent riot. The chaos is incited by Maximum Inc.’s mind-control programming embedded in a virtual reality arcade game. Kit ultimately dons the guise of the purple crusader to save his fellow students and stop the riot.
Despite saving his friends, Kit is still reluctant to continue as the Phantom. However, after uncovering Maximum Inc.’s numerous criminal dealings and its plot to bring about the “Maximum Era” — an attempt to end world pollution by eradicating 99% of all life on earth — Kit takes the Phantom’s oath to devote his life “….to the destruction of piracy, cruelty and injustice” and stop the Maximum Era at any cost.
Along the way, he gains allies in college professor-turned-detective Jack Archer, Enforcer Sagant Cruz and her trusty canine partner DVL, and 12-year-old orphan and computer expert Daniel “Sparks” Aguilar. With their aid, Kit sets out to stop the Maximum Era and uncover the truth behind the Sector Zero incident that claimed his father’s life.
Does this futuristic version of “The Man Who Cannot Die” still hold up?
“Phantom 2040” is a surprisingly entertaining and well-written show, with plenty of action, excellent characters and good lessons to learn from each episode.
While not quite as artistically “edgy” as other superhero shows from its era like “Batman The Animated Series” or “Gargoyles,” the series takes its subject matter seriously and still delivers its share of dark and disturbing moments.
However, viewers may find that the series comes to an end a bit too quickly, with only 35 episodes across its two season run.
Because of its short run, several characters including Professor Archer and Kit’s friends from the university are severely underused, and some concepts, such as the lore of the previous Phantoms, are not explored to their full potential.
Overall, “Phantom 2040” ranks a solid 8 of 10 as a well-executed series with great characters that suffers from being incredibly short.
