The idea of robots taking control of our world is one that has provided many storylines to multiple franchises over the years. Even major comic franchises like Marvel and DC have also written storylines and characters on these storylines as we have witnessed in many series and movies over the years.
Once in Batman: The Animated Series, a duplicate robot of the Caped Crusader appeared in the series and tried to create more of his kind to take over the world. The episode seemed to resemble the plot of the 1982 science fiction film, Blade Runner.
This Batman: The Animated Series episode resembled the plot of Blade Runner
Over the years, we have seen many versions of Batman in animated series, live actions, and video games. However, not many of them have been able to make an impact as huge as Batman: The Animated Series did on a whole generation of people.
In the episode titled, ‘His Silicon Soul’, we saw the appearance of a duplicate Batman which was a robot created by the A.I., H.A.R.D.A.C. Throughout the episode, we see how the duplicate is completely convinced that he is the real deal because his program came with the memories and feelings of the original Batman aka Bruce Wayne.
After the duplicate meets the creator of H.A.R.D.A.C., Karl Rossum, he realizes that he is indeed the duplicate and goes to the Batcave to try and create an army of duplicates all around the world by using the Bat computer.
After the duplicate faces off and presumably kills the real Batman, he realizes how creating an army of duplicates is a bad idea and will mean the end of the earth. Therefore, he tries to stop the upload into the Bat computer and ends up sacrificing himself in the process.
The plot of this episode was exactly like that of Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner in which the replicant, Roy is looking for a way to survive throughout the whole movie, but when he realizes that he is only destined for death in the long run, he saves the life of Rick Deckard, portrayed by Harrison Ford.
Loren Lester opens up about Batman: The Animated Series
Batman: The Animated Series lives on in the hearts of every kid from the 90s and is considered one of the most popular Batman animated series. After the end of the series, Warner Bros released The New Batman Adventures, which served as the continuation of the original series.
Loren Lester, who voiced the character of Dick Grayson aka Robin in both the series, once opened up in an interview with Star Burst Magazine and talked about why Batman: The Animated Series, is still so special for so many fans. He said,
“People love comic books because comic books create three-dimensional characters with backstories and reasons for what they do, including the villains. They have reasons for what they do, and the show was very concentrated on that.
All of the villains – except for The Joker, who’s just insane and we don’t know what his story is – everyone had a backstory for what they did and why the did it. It was three-dimensional characters, living, breathing human beings. That’s what makes a great comic book, and that’s what makes a great animated series.”
Batman: The Animated Series is often regarded as the greatest animated series of all time. At the time of its release, the series was appreciated by a lot of fans for being as close as possible to the source material.
All episodes of the series are currently streaming on HBO Max.
