We didn't get a first look at Batman: Caped Crusader today, but we learned a lot about the upcoming HBO Max animated series – including its adult themes, authentic '40s-style setting, modern approach to inclusivity, and how it will change familiar characters.
In a video presentation at DC FanDome 2021, executive producers Bruce Timm, JJ Abrams and Matt Reeves, as well as co-producer James Tucker, explained their vision for the show. Timm, who co-created Batman: The Animated Series gave a simple logline: "It's more Batman: The Animated Series than Batman: The Animated Series."
The idea, essentially, is that the show captures what Timm was originally aiming for with the classic animation, including elements he wasn't allowed to include at the time. "It kind of goes back to the original principles of the show that we originally came up with in the early '90s," Timm explains. "There were certain limitations on what we could do in terms of adult content; in terms of violence and adult themes."
He continued, "My idea is basically to say, 'OK, it's 1990 again, I get to do what I want to do this time, and I got JJ and Matt backing me up."
Abrams added that Caped Crusader, "Really is an incredibly complex psychological story about someone who, in a way, needs to be redeemed – and that's kind of what at least this first season is about."
While we don't know any inidividual storylines for the first season, we do know that the show will be set around a version of Batman who is entirely alone in his fight against crime. As Reeves puts it, "There's not the Justice League. It doesn't exist. There aren't any other superheroes. It's Batman. You're watching this lone figure swimming through the cesspool of Gotham. It's Batman, alone."
To make things more difficult, this is also a version of Batman who hasn't yet poured his wealth into gadgetry: "So he's going to be very low-tech, initially. You know, 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. That's part of the fun of this series is we're finding him discovering these things that, [in] most other Batman series, they already were there."
And to cap things off, Batman won't even have many of his non-superhero friends to help either. Tucker continues: "We're starting before Batman has earned their trust, and they've earned Batman's trust, so there's nothing assumed. We don't know that Commissioner Gordon will be Batman's ally […] Nothing is assumed in this series as far as what we're used to seeing in the world of Batman."
This leads to another major point about the show – while this continues in the spirit of The Animated Series, it's very much telling a new story. And that includes some of Batman's most famous adversaries. As Timm explains: "What this does is it gives us the opportunity to say, 'OK, the versions of Joker and Catwoman and Penguin, those versions that we did on Batman: The Animated Series were really great and iconic, but there's lots of different ways that we can take those characters that we hope will be just as iconic and just as powerful."
We've yet to see any imagery from the show aside from an announcement poster, but we did learn a little about how the show will look. Timm originally pitched the idea using his own Batman: Strange Days short, which was a noir-inflected, black and white animation.
While Caped Crusader won't be in black and white (unless, as Tucker explains, they do it for a special episode), the show will lean heavily on film noir and German expressionist tropes for its look. Timm's also aiming to recreate an authentic world based on the 1940s Batman was originally created in, including the clothes, hairstyles, hats, vehicles, and architecture included.
But the show will embrace more modernity in its approach to inclusivity and representation among characters. JJ Abrams adds that, in terms of the animation itself, the show will also use techniques that didn't exist when the original '90s animated series was created.
The show still doesn't have a firm release date, but will be headed to HBO Max and Cartoon Network.
Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].