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Review: ‘Batman: Caped Crusader’ On Prime Video
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Review by James Lindorf
Batman is no stranger to animation. Not only that, but the 90s cartoon “Batman: The Animated Series” is likely the most universally beloved iteration of the character. Fans of the now 30-year-old show can rejoice as its creator, Bruce Timm, is teaming with J.J. Abrams and Prime Video for a new series. “Batman: Caped Crusader” premiers August 1st and is a must-watch as it manages to be both a retro treat for long-time fans and a reimagining of several iconic characters.
Reuniting Timm and Batman seems like an easy sale to any studio. However, after first being announced as an HBO Max series in 2021, WB eventually passed on the project, giving Amazon’s Prime Video a chance to swoop in and be a hero. Overall, this is another rehash of the story that has been told dozens of times. After a family tragedy, socialite Bruce Wayne transforms into The Batman, where his crusade for justice spawns unforeseen ramifications. Still, Timm, the rest of the creative team, and a talented cast help the show stand out from the crowd through its setting and its receive on the characters.
“Batman: Caped Crus
Batman: Caped Crusader Review — They Still Call Me Bruce
Ever since Mark Millar started a hoax that Orson Welles was at one time considering making a Batman movie, a certain segment of fandom has been enamored with the idea of a Batman story set in the ’30s or ’40s. After all, Batman made his comics debut in 1939, yet the only filmed adaptations we own of him in that era are two serials with really cheesy costumes. Those early Bob Kane stories have an era-specific dark tone to them that’s distinctly different from the Frank Miller ’80s version of a gloomy tone, one that went away after World War II and the arrival on the page of Robin the Boy Wonder.
Batman: Caped Crusader attempts to take this on, but with a modern twist. Set at the starting of Batman’s career, it takes Bruce Timm‘s retro-futurist style and removes all the “futurist” parts, while making his character designs slightly less triangular. (If McFarlane makes action figures, they’ll have thicker legs to stand on.) The year is not specified, but it’s not our Earth anyway. Gotham looks to be 1930s-ish, minus bigotry — every profession is fully racially integrated, and at least three characters are openly queer .
The repressed homosexuality of Batman
It would not be controversial to say that Batman is kind of lgbtq+. But why is the origin of this imputed homosexuality? Is it the form-fitting spandex? The perpetual bachelor lifestyle? The reality that Bruce Wayne’s only confidants are also confirmed bachelors: one, who seems to possess a preternatural lifelong devotion for Bruce and his expensive hobbies, and the other, the so-called ‘boy wonder’, whose claim to fame is wearing of short-shorts over tights?
But let us not confuse the man, Bruce Wayne, with the Bat. After all, the Batman is a symbol. As the Caped Crusader says in Christopher Nolan’s 2008 adaptation, The Dark Knight, “I’m whatever Gotham needs me to be,” or something like that anyway. Of course, “what Gotham needs” is an inherently subjective inquiry, whose address is shaped by the specific outlook of the Bat Brain. For Tony Meatballs of the Parmesano crime family, Gotham needs more organized crime. For the Joker, Gotham needs more absurdist, clown-themed terrorist activity. For Batman, the answer might be ‘order’, ‘safety’, ‘no criminal scum’, or some other pedantic and fascistic statement. Though, on second thought, it is hard
Batman: Caped Crusader Makes a Major Change to Harley Quinn and She's Terrifying
Summary
- Batman: Caped Crusader reimagines Gotham City as classic film noir with 1940s technology and fashion.
- The show reinvents Harley Quinn as a menacing psychiatrist with a disturbing background and goon squad.
- Harley becomes a formidable foe for Batman and Barbara Gordon, moving away from her past with the Joker.
Batman: Caped Crusader delivers a new take on mature favorites in more ways than one. In returning the character to his early roots, the showrunners have re-imagined Gotham Municipality as classic film noir, complete with 1940s technology and fashion. It draws inspiration from the famous Batman: The Animated Series, and even shares a co-creator in Bruce Timm. Its true origins stretch in the character's earliest days, and the often-weird adventures Bob Kane and Bill Finger came up for him.
Along the way, the series has reinvented many of Batman's supporting cast, including Commissioner G
.