Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins and its subsequent sequels were some of the best Batman content to come out of the late 2000s and the early 2010s and remain the definitive version of the character for an entire generation.
However, the Batman in Christopher Nolan’s trilogy set out to be a figure that inspired fear. By the beginning of The Dark Knight Rises, Batman had largely become a figure to be hunted and scoffed at, putting aside what Nolan initially set out to do. However, Bruce Timm’s new Batman show, Caped Crusader, might finally make good on the promise of a Batman that genuinely inspires fear in everyone, regardless of who they are.
Bruce Timm wanted Caped Crusader‘s Batman to be “spooky”
Speaking with Empire Online, Bruce Timm, responsible for some of DC’s greatest animation work, talked about the vibe that he wanted for this version of Batman. Regarding the portrayal of the character in Caped Crusader, he said:
I wanted to make him kind of weird, and spooky. If you’re stuck in a room with Batman, whether you’re Commissioner Gordon or Barbara Gordon or Renee Montoya, you don’t feel comfortable. You’re kind of like, ‘What is this guy? What’s this all about?’
The version of the character exists in the 1940s, which makes a lot of things that make the character identifiable and detectable wholly absent from his immediate surroundings. For the lack of a better word, this version of Batman might as well be a man dressed as a Bat, beating up criminals in the night, with no Kevlar vest, no Batarangs, and no police car flattening Bat Mobile.
Batman: Caped Crusader is a period piece
In the real world Batman in the 40s introduced a lot of the staples of the character, while some parts of him fell through the cracks, never to be seen again. Dick Grayson, Alfred Pennyworth, and his membership of the Justice Society of America were all products of the 40s, along with Bruce Wayne’s fiance, Julie Madison. The Batman of the 40s, also known as the Golden Age Batman, residing on Earth 2, carried a gun into battle and had no qualms about using it against his opponents.
While Batman: Caped Crusader is going to be set in the 40s, it is highly doubtful if Timm is going to adapt the character as he was then, instead of taking a modern iteration of Batman’s character, one with no guns or fiances, and setting him in the 40s, without his gadgets and gizmos. Caped Crusader could provide a truly nuanced look at the character, given that it also brings modern entries of Batman’s supporting cast (like Harley Quinn) into a time period that is closer to Batman’s origin.
Batman: Caped Crusader makes landfall on Amazon Prime Video on August 1st, 2024.
