What makes a good Batman story? The character has been around for over 80 years, with each iteration vastly different from the last. Be it the wonderful campy-ness of theAdam Westclassic or the highly-stylized gothic lens ofTim Burton’sBatmanandBatman Returns, the character has proven to be a mainstay of pop culture, one who can adapt to serve the audience of that particular era. Yet the most beloved take on the character is none other thanBatman: The Animated Series.
BTASstarted as a tie-in to the Burton films but stood out on its own, thanks to the beautiful direction ofBruce Timm,Paul Dini, andEric Radomski. It also featured generational performances fromMark Hamillas the Joker andthe lateKevin Conroyas Batman. Over 30 years later,The Animated Seriesis still regarded as the definitive take on the character, even in a world that sawChristopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy change the landscape andMatt Reeves’The Batmanreboot the character for the next generation. Now, Bruce Timm is back, alongside Matt Reeves, with a brand-new take on the World’s Greatest Detective, the first animated Batman series in nearly a decade. But can lightning strike twice withBatman: Caped Crusader?
Batman: Caped Crusader
In Gotham City, where corruption and crime are rampant, wealthy socialite Bruce Wayne transforms into Batman following a personal tragedy. His relentless pursuit of justice attracts unexpected allies within the GCPD and City Hall, but also spawns deadly consequences. This series reimagines Batman’s mythology through the creative lenses of J.J. Abrams, Matt Reeves, and Bruce Timm.
What Is ‘Batman: Caped Crusader’ About?
Batman: Caped Crusadertakes place in a version of Gotham City that is clearly inspired by Batman stories from the 1940s and 1960s. There, we meet Bruce Wayne (Hamish Linklater), who’s still in the early stages of his life as a vigilante, as he faces new threats. Not unlikeBatman: The Animated Series,Caped Crusaderis mostly serialized, as Batman battles different villains in each episode. Whilethe episodes are self-contained, each one offers us more insight into the characters leading up to the finale.
Like most Batman tales, Bruce is a loner. After his parents' deaths, he vows to stop crime in Gotham so no child will ever experience the same pain he did.This version of Bruce is cold and distant, to the point where even his relationship with Alfred (Jason Watkins) is less of a father-son dynamic and more of a standard arrangement between employer and employee, evokingthe original comics byBill FingerandBob Kane.
This world feels familiar, still featuring Bruce Timm’s iconic art style — the dark deco aesthetic that madeBTASis known for returns and larger-than-life character designs — but the reasonCaped Crusaderstands out is its tone. In this new series,the detective noir aspects of the character shine throughas he faces more grounded versions of Catwoman (Christina Ricci), Clayface (Dan Donohue), and other iconic villains.Caped Crusaderreinterprets the Batman mythology in unexpected ways, including an entirely new origin for Harley Quinn (Jamie Chung) that fits within this universe.
‘Batman: Caped Crusader’ Takes Us Back To The Character’s Beginnings
WhileCaped Crusaderechoes a lot of what fans have come to love about the character, it doesstruggle to carve out its own identity. Sure, there are new takes on Harley ora gender-swapped Penguin(Minnie Driver), and while those moments are memorable, they don’t really make the show stand out on its own. Hamish Linklater delivers a solid performance as both Batman and Bruce Wayne, and the series attempts to dive into the character’s psyche more than ever before. What makes Batman tick? Does the way that Bruce processes his trauma hurt Gotham more than it helps? This introspective of the Batman is one that we’ve seen glimpses of in previous iterations, butCaped Crusaderis the first to make it a main plot point, and while it does offer a unique perspective, it’s a bit shallow. We can never actually deconstruct who Batman is as a character because, at the end of the day, we don’t want him to hang up the cape and cowl; instead, we justify his existence so we can continue to follow his adventures.
Batman’s battles against Onomatopoeia (Reid Scott) or Clayface are just too awesome to give up, right? In a way, you’re able to also interpret this dilemma as us feeling the same as Bruce. We know he might not actually solve Gotham’s crime issue, but at least it’s a short-term solution. Yetthe grander themes ofCaped Crusaderbecome lost here and there, and while the episode count or runtime can play a small factor, it’s a problem you can easily look past.Each episode serves as a 22-minute-long caperwhere the detective solves a case — be it large-scale, mystical, or a cat burglary. Through that lens, this new series delivers, but you can’t help but wish it took things a tad further.
Part of what limitsBatman: Caped Crusadercould have been the boundaries of its score and art design. The character has always had incredible music, from the Burton films all the way up toMichael Giacchino’s outstanding workonThe Batman. While the series' art style is in the vein of the Timmverse, there are brand-new designs for characters like Alfred, Penguin, Clayface, and Harley Quinn, and these changes are a highlight of the show. However, Batman looks largely the same, aside from slightly flared ears and much shorter gloves, which serve as a direct translation of his original costume (sadly, they did not commit to the purple gloves).Yet seeing this Batman design whilenot hearing Conroy’s iconic voicemight be hard to acceptfor longtime fans. Meanwhile, an overall new art style for a new generation of viewers might have helped the show stand out more from its predecessors.
Overall,Batman: Caped Crusadermanages to tell 10 intriguing detective stories that bring the Dark Knight back to his roots, while Timm’s iconic art style and approach to the Batman mythos are the best they have been since the end ofJustice League Unlimited. Although this new series favors the originalBatman: The Animated Seriesstyle a bit too heavily at times andcould have pushed even more boundariesthan before, this new interpretation does manage to distinguish itself in places. If you enjoyedBatman: The Animated Series, Reeves’ take on Batman, or simply want a new crime drama to watch,Batman: Caped Crusaderis still worth your time.
Batman: Caped Crusaderwill be available to stream on Prime Video on August 2.
Batman: Caped Crusader sees the Dark Knight returning to his roots in a new interpretation that struggles to carve out its own identity.
