Batman: Caped Crusader will be the latest take on the Dark Knight of Gotham by DC Animation extraordinaire, Bruce Timm. Timm has been responsible for co-creating works like Batman: The Animated Series, The New Adventures of Batman, and Batman Beyond. But perhaps the most significant contribution the creator has made to the Batman mythos is the original character that he made for his adaptation of Batman, the ever whimsical villain-turned-ally for Batman, Harley Quinn.
Harleen Quinzel was a simple psychologist at Arkham Asylum when she was assigned to and fell in love with The Joker, who turned her into his loyal and adoring girlfriend, despite all the abuses he hurled at her over the course of their relationship.
Ever since then, the character has become somewhat of an icon in her own right, headlining her own animated show as well, while making multiple appearances in a slew of DC projects, across live-action, video games, and animation. However, Timm’s latest spin on his creation might make the character a little less palatable for viewers.
Bruce Timm wants to make Harley Quinn a serious character in Batman: Caped Crusader
Dr. Harleen Quinzel, while not a grim creature like the Bat of Gotham, is generally considered a straightforward person, if not slightly serious. By contrast, Harley Quinn is a whimsical character with a mean streak, influenced heavily by the criminal insanity of The Joker. However, with Batman: Caped Crusader, Bruce Timm decided to flip the script. He said:
A big part was just doing a basic flip. The original Dr. Quinzel was a little bit more serious, and then when she became Harley, she got really goofy and weird. So we thought, what if we reverse that? When she’s Dr. Quinzel, she’s a little bit more whimsical and fun, and then when she’s Harley Quinn, she’s scary.
This change to the character is a fresh take, something that might not sit well with fans after all. The Harley Quinn that fans are familiar with, even in her anti-hero role, appeals to them because of her manic personality, the absence of which might cause fans to become disinterested in this version of the character.
A serious Harley Quinn is not the only change that is being made to Batman’s modern mythos
One of the things that Batman: Caped Crusader is doing, is stripping the character of all his modern-day gadgets, and keeping the narrative set in the 1940s. This means that Batman in this show will not have access to cellphones and computers, and must rely on his brain and brawn alone to fight the good fight.
Batman as a character deals with a lot of problems thanks to the technology at his disposal, but having that stripped from him makes for a more interesting story, as his entire mythos seems to be getting a 1940s downgrade for the show. In the absence of modern science and technology, and given the historical setting that the character is in, it would be interesting to see how the show handles the fan-favorite villains while keeping them period-accurate.
