Fans of Batman: The Animated Series won’t want to miss the latest animated series centered on the Dark Knight. Matt Reeves’ upcoming Amazon animated series, Batman: Caped Crusader, takes inspiration from the iconic animated series as well as Reeves’ feature film The Batman (2022).
Reeves, who is producing the series with J.J. Abrams and BTAS co-creator Bruce Timm, describes Caped Crusader as “more Batman: The Animated Series than Batman: The Animated Series.” The show was announced in 2021 as an HBO Max series but was ditched after regime changes at Warner Bros. Discovery. Luckily, Amazon quickly snatched up the series with a two-season order.
The series synopsis reads,
“Welcome to Gotham City, where the corrupt outnumber the good, criminals run rampant and law-abiding citizens live in a constant state of fear. Forged in the fire of tragedy, wealthy socialite Bruce Wayne becomes something both more and less than human—the Batman. His one-man crusade for justice attracts unexpected allies within the GCPD and City Hall, but his heroic actions spawn deadly, unforeseen ramifications.”
The series is inspired by film noir and takes place in the 1940s. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Timm said, “James and I are both really big fans of movies from that era, so we decided to really lean into that in terms of the clothes, the cars, the architecture, and the level of technology, … Early on, we decided there would be no computers and no cell phones. That changed everything.”
Other big changes include Harley Quinn’s character, who is now Asian-American and has her own identity outside of the Joker. Timm said, “I co-created the character, so I have a lot of love and affection for her, but I thought there might be something interesting about bringing her on the show, just not as Joker’s girlfriend, … So how do we do that? A big part was just doing a basic flip. The original Dr. Quinzel was a little bit more serious, and then when she became Harley, she got really goofy and weird. So we thought, what if we reverse that? When she’s Dr. Quinzel, she’s a little bit more whimsical and fun, and then when she’s Harley Quinn, she’s scary.”
Batman: Caped Crusader premieres on August 1, 2024, on Amazon Prime Video.
(featured image: Prime Video)
