With a lot of current superhero media, there’s this weird pull towards nostalgia, a reminder of things we used to have, or sometimes, things that were just rumored or teased that we never got. In some ways, I get it. I understand that pull towards familiarity, toward things that we’re used to. It’s comforting, but it’s also something that I feel we need to escape from, or else we can’t really grow.
Marvel Animation’s X-Men ‘97 was a show with a similar fear surrounding it. Questions of “Is it just nostalgia bait? Will it just be reheated leftovers?” floated around before eventually proving us wrong; turning out to be a great animated series in its own right. Admittedly, Batman: Caped Crusader, by showrunner Bruce Timm (of Batman: The Animated Series fame) and executive producers J.J. Abrams, Ed Brubaker (Batman: Bruce Wayne – Murderer/Fugitive, Catwoman, and Gotham Central) and Matt Reeves (The Batman) was another show that I had similar feelings on. Not much, obviously—I’m too big of a Batman fan not to be excited by something worked on by people whose Batman work I really love—but still enough where I was cautiously excited.
There’s a review by The Armchair Auteur where he talks about the exact feeling I felt when watching this show. It feels very “homey” for lack of a better term. Watching it evokes that same feeling of turning on Cartoon Network on a Wednesday afternoon and being greeted by The Batman (the cartoon), Spectacular Spider-Man, or Justice League Unlimited. It looks cool, and that’s enough to guarantee that you’ll have a great time.
Caped Crusader isn’t anything revolutionary. It’s operating on that same vibe as Batman: The Animated Series, but while also doing enough interesting things to help set itself apart. Where the 90s show was clearly set during that time, but with enough sci-fi elements to show off why the Batman was cool, this show is very focused on its 1940s aesthetics every step of the way. It brings in the artistic flair of Bob Kane’s Batman (and his cast) alongside Bill Finger’s writing but modernized for a present-day audience, and it works!
The beauty of this show is, again, replicating that vibe of watching superhero cartoons as a kid. Yes, it would suck if you missed an episode, but when you’re back, it’s like you didn’t miss out on much. Throughout the 10-episode runtime of its first season, only the last two are a two-parter, and the rest are largely standalone. There’s a bigger narrative that builds up in the background, but even then, you can watch any episode out of order if you’d like to, and you’d be perfectly fine.
On top of that, the animation is really good. The comparisons with the Animated Series will always be there, and while I don’t think it quite reaches that high, I do think it comes close to what it’s trying to do. It’s smooth, it’s sleek. However, I do think it ends up a little too modern with its clean lines and muted color choices. I would’ve loved to see a greater attempt at trying to look like a show out of the 40s, maybe with some of the film grain that populates the beautiful opening credits, some different colors, or anything to really help capture that vibe more. The art direction really sells when the show is set, but the animation needs more work in that regard.
I quite love the writing, too. The thing about Batman as a character or idea is that he transcends the limitations of a ‘comic book character’. He’s as much of a pop culture icon as someone like Sherlock Holmes (a comparison that’s also apt given the very Holmes and Watson dynamic of Bruce and his butler Alfred in this season), timeless, and can be placed in any circumstance. The writers of this show (which include comic book writers like Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka) understand this and make full use of it. You don’t need any knowledge of previous Batman material to dig into this. Hell, even if you have absolutely no idea who Batman is, you’ll still be perfectly well-equipped to dig into this show as it introduces you to the wonderful cast of the Caped Crusader.
To expand on that dynamic between Bruce and Alfred, I love the subtle ways in which they show the growth of that relationship. One of the key components that make this show work is how effectively they have Batman be a constant within the chaos of Gotham, and so to have him constantly show emotion or “grow” would be antithetical to that very idea, as well as the structure of the show itself. With that in mind, they’ve very expertly crafted a version of the mythos that is not “Year One” but not too deep into his career. It’s just right there, and a big part of expressing that is showing how Alfred assists Bruce in doing what he does, but also by having him be vital to giving a layer of humanity to the titular protagonist. It’s quite fulfilling to see that arc run its course through the season, and I can’t wait for how they build on it even further as we move towards the next season.
The shining star of the new reinventions has to be this take on Harleen Quinzel. Considering that Timm co-created the character in her original incarnation, I was interested in seeing how he would transform her, and I was really into how they did it. Without spoiling the twist, I think this harlequin is a monster of her own creation that allows her to stand on her own next to her original counterpart, but also from the Telltale version of the character, who existed independent of the Joker as well.
It was also great to see this show’s commitment against falling into the pitfall of saying that maybe the system (law enforcement) works, while also showing the GCPD as incompetent and corrupt (sans Gordon and Montoya). Admittedly, it’s not surprising given that Brubaker and Rucka wrote Gotham Central, a comic all about this very idea, but, with the way Batman media tends to slip into that tendency of defending the police system, it was refreshing to have this stand its ground, something I expect it to continue to explore.
My only gripe would be that overarching arc. Through the first eight episodes, they build up District Attorney Harvey Dent, who’s gunning for mayor, until the end of the eighth episode, where he finally gets the acid thrown at his face. Harvey should have been built up more and certainly made more sympathetic, given that the show expects you to be sympathetic to him as he falls into a life of crime by the very end, but Caped Crusader doesn’t do quite well enough of a job at that. It doesn’t help that mid-way through the show, it is put on the back burner, so as I was watching, I forgot that was a thing until it switched from being the B-plot to the A-plot. I hope that the overarching arc for season 2, whatever it may be, is fleshed further, while still retaining that semi-standalone episodic structure.
The voice acting is also phenomenal. When we got that initial reveal that Hamish Linklater is voicing Batman, I was put off immediately, but hearing his voice for the character within the show is an absolute delight. He’s not trying to emulate the late Kevin Conroy, and is all the better for it, bringing his own spin on the brooding Dark Knight. I especially love how he differentiates the Bruce persona from the Batman persona, with one being dark, brooding, and serious and the other being very airy and having this facade of how he doesn’t care. Jamie Chung, Diedrich Bader, Jason Watkins, Christina Ricci, Krystal Joy Brown, Eric Morgan Stewart, and Michelle C. Bonita are also absolute delights. I have no complaints on the voice-acting front whatsoever.
My other big problem is the release schedule for this show. Caped Crusader would have benefitted tremendously from a weekly release given the format of the episodes, yet they released all of it in one go. Why? The way these episodes are presented would have given it heaps of cultural staying power in the same vein as X-Men ‘97 and My Adventures with Superman, and I was left sorely disappointed. I can only hope that Season 2 shifts to a weekly format.
Overall, this is a strong showing. Yes, it is, in essence, more Batman: The Animated Series by the people you know and love, in a similar style to one that you know and love, but Batman: Caped Crusader makes its attempt to stand out regardless and succeeds. It’s a phenomenal time, and I’m glad we have a Batman cartoon again, a great one at that.
