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In the spirit of the recent X-Men ’97 revival, Batman: Caped Crusader is a show that has nothing but reverence for its forebears. A sort-of sequel to the landmark Batman: The Animated Series, Caped Crusader appears to have pulled off something of a behind-the-scenes coup, bringing back not only the original show’s creator, Bruce Timm, but uniting him with the moguls JJ Abrams and Matt Reeves for an experience that feels at once familiar and fabulously out-of-the-box. And as if that weren’t enough, the show’s writers’ room is spearheaded by the legendary comics scribe Ed Brubaker, who knows a thing or two about crafting a neo-noir yarn.
That’s precisely the tone that Caped Crusader is going for; it’s an animated series that will appeal not only to the audiences that grew up with the original, but also their children, who will probably be old enough now to sample some of this show’s moody storytelling along with them. Caped Crusader is a departure from the Marvel-coded superhero narratives of our times; it’s admirable, for instance, of the team to tip their fedoras to the Warner Bros gangster films of yore over something like, say, Deadpool & Wolverine, or, God forbid, The Boys.
A still from Batman: Caped Crusader.
There isn’t a cynical bone in its body. Instead, Caped Crusader aims — without being obnoxious about it, mind you — to elicit true nostalgia. This is nostalgia for a particular time, when afternoons were reserved for Cartoon Network, and not for doom-scrolling on the internet; when a good show could teach a child about art-deco architecture and Humphrey Bogart movies — real culture! — and not merely distract them for 23 minutes while their parents got the chores done.
Set in a grimy, retro-futuristic Gotham City, Caped Crusader doesn’t offer a retread of Batman’s origin story, but introduces him as a hero taking his first steps as a crime-fighter. Forget having a Robin, he doesn’t even have allies in the police force yet. Even the ‘cowardly and superstitious’ criminals of Gotham don’t quite believe that he exists. He’s an urban legend of sorts. In Caped Crusader, Batman’s biggest enemies aren’t merely the scores of masked lunatics running around town, but the rampant corruption that has infected the very soul of Gotham.
These aren’t exactly fresh themes, especially in the context of these characters. Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises dealt directly with ideas of class-warfare and income-inequality, while Reeves’ own The Batman presented Gotham almost like a damsel in distress, desperately in need of saving from the gangsters that had been holding it hostage for decades. Like that movie, Caped Crusader explores the detective elements of the Batman mythos; every episode in the show, for instance, is centred around a self-contained investigation.
Each chapter also features a new villain, and not all of them are A-list members of Batman’s famous rogue’s gallery. While Catwoman makes a suitably seductive appearance, alongside a gender-swapped Penguin and a bi-curious Harley Quinn, other episodes feature more obscure villains, such as Firebug, who is humorously misnamed by a cop, and Onomatopoeia, who is someone that most audiences might never have even heard of. Episode two, framed around the disappearance of a movie starlet and a tragic anti-hero, is particularly memorable for its emotional plot. It’s this show’s equivalent of The Animated Series’ classic Heart of Ice episode.
But it’s the larger narrative that stands out. Caped Crusader might be episodic, but it’s also a sweeping epic about urban decay, and how societal collapse can fracture both minds and bodies. The characters aren’t merely disturbed; they’re grotesque to look at. Nearly everybody in a position of power, we are told, is beyond redemption. As is Gotham itself. Caped Crusader focuses not only on Batman — perhaps the city’s last line of defence against absolute annihilation — but also a handful of characters who remain, literally, uncorrupted. Commissioner Gordon, his daughter Barbara, and the resourceful Renée Montoya all serve as foils to the likes of baddies such as Bullock, Flass, and Rupert Thorne.
Read more – The Batman: Matt Reeves made a terrific Dark Knight movie, but we can’t ignore its third act problems
A still from Batman: Caped Crusader.
By denying itself the luxuries afforded by someone like, say, the Joker, Caped Crusader challenges itself to do better, to tell stories that lay the groundwork for more in-depth character work in future seasons. Bruce Wayne comes across as slightly entitled this season, and not just in a put-on way. But that’s only because the show revisits his past trauma only superficially. This isn’t a Batman who has become disillusioned or desensitised at all; the mere mention of ‘Crime Alley’ in one episode persuades him to punch a guy in the face. His anger hasn’t yet subsided. Maybe it never will.
Caped Crusader doesn’t offer too drastic a reinvention of lore that has arguably taken on the kind of popularity you’d normally associate with religious texts, but it’s a departure from the contemporary norm. And that’s more than enough.
Batman: Caped Crusader
Developed by – Bruce Timm
Cast – Hamish Linklater, Christina Ricci, Krystal Joy Brown, Eric Morgan Stuart, Jason Watkins
Rating – 4/5
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