Among the many animated projects getting attention at DC FanDome, one new series that has been very light on details is the upcoming Batman: Caped Crusader. In the most part, other than knowing it comes from Bruce Timm, co-creator of Batman: The Animated Series, who is joining forces with J.J. Abrams and Matt Reeves, who is already creating his own Batman world in The Batman. However, it looks like this newest addition to the DC HBO Max slate is going to take is back to the same feel of Timm’s 90s series, which is seen by many as the greatest Batman animation out there.
Timm himself described the series as being “more Batman: The Animated Series than Batman: The Animated Series.” Of course, much has changed in terms of what can be put in an animated series and the technology that can now be used to make it, and it seems like Timm is hoping to make Caped Crusader a kind of The Animated Series Mark II, with the same style and edge but without the limitations of the time. You would think that this can only mean good things for the series.
As the press release states, “Utilizing state-of-the-art animation techniques and technologies available, this powerful creative partnership will once again reinvent Batman and his iconic rogue’s gallery with sophisticated storytelling, nuanced characters and intense action sequences all set in a visually striking world.”
“We are beyond excited to be working together to bring this character back, to tell engrossing new stories in Gotham City,” said Abrams and Reeves. “The series will be thrilling, cinematic and evocative of Batman’s noir roots, while diving deeper into the psychology of these iconic characters.”
In many ways similar to Matt Reeves’ The Batman, Batman: Caped Crusader will take us back to the early days of Batman’s time as the guardian of Gotham City. Reeves himself said, “In this new iteration, it’s just Batman. The Justice League doesn’t exist, there aren’t any other superheroes. You’re watching this lone figure swimming through the cesspool of Gotham. It’s Batman alone.”
While we are still to see any footage from the show, everything is leading towards this being almost a prequel to Batman: The Animated Series, with the show taking on the same style and tone of the 90s series, while dialing back the timeline to a place where the Dark Knight is seen getting to grips with his role, his weapons and doesn’t even have the backing of Jim Gordon, something that executive producer James Tucker made clear.
“We’ve reconfigured some of the roles some of the characters have. We’re starting before Batman has earned their trust and they’ve earned Batman’s trust,” Tucker said. “We don’t know that Commissioner Gordon will be Batman’s ally. The journey of the show is to see how they eventually grow together and learn to trust or not. Nothing is assumed in this series as far as what we’re used to seeing in the world of Batman. As he develops as a character, we’ll start introducing those gadgets, and the audience can see how he developed the Batmobile using different prototypes. Part of the fun of this series is that we’re finding him discovering these things that [in] most other Batman series they already were there.”
Batman: Caped Crusader has a lot more secrets to reveal in time, but as of now, it has no release date other than to say it will air on HBO Max and Cartoon Network, most likely sometime next year. Quotes come to us from Collider.
Source: movieweb.com