The Zeta Project - 1st Season DVD Set Announced for this Batman Beyond Spin-Off ***UPDATE: EXTRAS, BOX ART, MORE!***

Within the last couple of months, fans of The Zeta Project got the great news that Warner Home Video was working on a DVD release for the animated series. This Kids' WB show was a spin-off of the Batman Beyond episode "Zeta." Now Warner has made the DVD release official, formally announcing that The Zeta Project - The Complete 1st Season will arrive on March 17th.

The 2-disc set will come with the 11 first-season episodes (per the studio's "production season"; note that not all online episode guides agree with this count!). Plus there will be bonus material, which has not yet been detailed. Cost will be $26.99 SRP. Package art and other details aren't available yet, but Warner DOES indicate that they are already working on their plans to release the second season of the series on DVD, later on in 2009, with the final fifteen episodes of the program. Here's the breakdown of episodes on each disc for the first season set:

• Disc 1
  1. The Accomplice
  2. His Maker's Name
  3. Remote Control
  4. Change of Heart
  5. The Next Gen
• Disc 2
  6. West Bound
  7. Hicksburg
  8. Shadows
  9. Crime Waves
  10. Taffy Time
  11. Kid Genius

The Batman Beyond episode "Zeta" can be found on the third DVD of Season 2 release for that program; this was the story which introduced the character of Infiltration Unit Zeta, a robotic construct that is meant to infiltrate criminal and terrorist organizations, and as such can project a holographic disguise to look like anyone. Zeta is heavily armed, given that his assignments from the NSA can include assassination. In the episode "Zeta," we learn that the robot has gone rouge, and the NSA is in pursuit, looking to destroy him in case his programing has been compromised.

After the events of the introductory episode in Batman Beyond, Zeta (voice of Diedrich Bader, "Oswald" on The Drew Carey Show) received his own series where he continues to be on the run from NSA agents such as Bennett (voice of Kurtwood Smith, "Red Foreman" on That '70s Show), West (Michael Rosenbaum, "Lex Luthor" on Smallville) and Lee (Lauren Tom, "Amy" on Futurama). Zeta teams up with Rosalie "Ro" Rowan (voiced by Julie Nathanson, who appeared in several episodes of Beverly Hills 90210).

On the day that the eighth episode of The Zeta Project aired, an episode of Batman Beyond titled "Countdown" was shown, featuring a cross-over in which Zeta returns to Gotham City, this time with Ro, and with the NSA in close pursuit. That episode can be found on the second disc of the third season DVD release for Batman Beyond. The title of the episode refers to the storyline in which Zeta has been turned into a walking time bomb, and Terry/Batman must find Zeta before he goes off! The screen shot at the bottom, of Zeta (with his holo-disguise on) and Ro on the run, is from this episode.

As you can see, no Zeta Project collection will be complete without the cross-over Batman Beyond episodes, so make sure you have them! In the meantime, stay tuned for updates about the details and package art for The Zeta Project - The Complete 1st Season.


UPDATE: This afternoon, Warner has just sent out an e-announcement for this release. It includes an early look at the box art, and we have both a crop of that packaging plus a look at the e-announce itself shown below (the "Countdown" screen shot mentioned above is still shown at the very bottom, for those interested). One interesting thing in this information, shown both on the box cover and in the e-announce, is that there will be 12 episodes instead of the 11 listed above (which is a copy-and-paste from the studio's original info provided this morning). The other episode that will be included is probably "Ro's Reunion," which several online episode guides (such as the one at TV.com) say was also part of the first season.

Bonus material mentioned in the e-announcement include both cross-over episodes of Batman Beyond (kudos to Warner for doing that!), and an all-new Featurette about the origins of The Zeta Project. While the e-announce doesn't specify the video format (it says "as originally aired," though) or audio format (although the Dolby logo is present in the lower right), it does mention that English SDH subtitles are included, and provides a running time of 254 minutes. An online trailer is also available for viewing!