BATMAN: CAPED CRUSADER Season 1 Review

BATMAN: CAPED CRUSADER — the first new animated Batman TV series since BEWARE THE BATMAN briefly aired over a decade ago — has finally debuted…and it’s well worth the wait!

Set in Gotham City sometime in the early 1940s (and feels a lot like old Hollywood/Los Agneles of that era), we follow an almost rookie Batman (Hamish Linklater) as he begins to make his mark on the city as a masked vigilante.

Gotham is a virtual cesspool of greed and corruption.  A place where it seems that the bad people by far outnumber the good. Other than Alfred (Jason Watkins) he’s alone and essentially gadgetless, other than the Batmobile, Batarangs, smoke bombs, and a grappling gun. And a Bat-Sub…yes, he’s got one.  This is a young Batman doing it old-school relying on his wits and detective skills as much, or maybe even more, than fisticuffs (even though he is a badass).

As I’m sure you already know, BCC was developed for TV by Bruce Timm — one of the co-creators of the classic BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES.  While BCC and BTAS share some aesthetics, the former is totally its own thing.  Timm has said that BCC is what BTAS might’ve been if they (himself, Paul Dini, Alan Burnett, and others who worked on BTAS back in the day) had they not been restrained by the network and Warner Bros. Also serving as executive producers are J.J. Abrams, comic book vet Ed Brubaker, animation vet James Tucker, and the Batman-Boss himself, Matt Reeves.

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All 10 episodes are essentially self-contained and tell one complete story.  However, several subplots and storylines are woven throughout Season 1.  Will The Batman — who is being hunted by the Gotham City Police Department led by Commissioner James Gordon (Eric Morgan Stewart) — ever find any allies other than “Pennyworth?” (Once you watch the entire series, you’ll understand why I referred to Alfred here by his last name.)  Possible future Bat-friends include public defender Barbara Gordon (Krystal Joy Brown), Gotham Dististric Attorney Harvey Dent (ex-Batman Diedrich Bader), GCPD Detective Rene Montoya (Michelle C. Bonilla), Bruce Wayne’s personal attorney Lucius Fox (Bumper Robinson), as well as the aforementioned Commissioner Gordon.

No allies (yet), but plenty of enemies and bad guys though, like…

Oswalda “The Penguin” Cobblepott (Minnie Driver), Boss Rupert Thorne (Cedric Yarbrough), and several others (a classic Batman rogue or three and several more obscure ones) including some that are supposed to be part of “the good guys.”  I know that The Penguin being female in BCC had some people all up in arms, but after you see her right off the bat (pun intended) in episode 1, you’ll see that their version of the character works really well. Think Ma Barker with a mix of Mae West.  As Minnie Driver said, “she’s properly evil.”

When it comes to this new animated version of Batman, I saw a bit of Matt Reeves’ version of both Batman and Bruce Wayne (as played by Robert Pattinson in THE BATMAN) in him.  As Batman, both are detectives first and foremost.  As Bruce Wayne, the private one that no one sees but Alfred, both are aloof, disconnected, and essentially in “Batman mode” all the time…unless Bruce has to be seen in public.  This Bruce certainly has the rich/partier/ womanizer/playboy douche thing down pat.  Hamish Linklater’s Batman voice is a whisper that comes from the School of Keaton.  But it’s his Bruce Wayne voice, in particular the one he uses as public Bruce Wayne, that stands out.  And I love the 1939/DETECTIVE COMICS #27 look that they gave Batman…sans the purple gloves.

One last thing a bout the portrayal of Batman/Bruce Wayne before I wrap this up.  Also like his counterpart(s) in THE BATMAN, there’s a bit of a character arc here and even some personal growth.  I’ll let you see that for yourself during season 1’s 10 episodes.  The moment it happens in the final episode gave me the same feels that the hospital scene with Alfred and Bruce in THE BATMAN.

If you prefer solo, grounded, street-level, detective, noir Batman, BATMAN: CAPED CRUSADER is definitely right up your alley.  With that said, if you prefer the fantastical (I’d say that BCC is 75% grounded/25% fantastical), best friends with other superheroes, Bat-God Batman with every gadget and piece of technology known to man, and regularly goes into space, it may not be for you.  My only quibble is with the 2 “fantastical” episodes as they felt out of place. Not a dealbreaker, but cost it a tad with my overall grade. (They would’ve worked as Scooby-Doo/Batman team-up stories though!)

I absolutely loved it!  Granted, it’s right on par (for the most part) with my personal Batman sensibilities, but it is a well-done production.  Props to all the cast and crew.  Also…

It also serves as a bit of a love letter to Batman history and the Batman mythos, so be on the lookout for all the little winks and Bat-Easter eggs.  Some are very obvious (the nod to the Robins in one episode), some are tremendously subtle (won’t give any hints on those!).  Lots of Batman-ness here, which is appropriate with 2024 being the 85th anniversary of Batman. Oh yeah…

Team BCC is already hard at work on season 2 and there’s a little teaser for it right after the conclusion of episode 10.  So don’t turn it off once that last episode fades to black.  And yes, I’m very much looking forward to what’s next…I just hope it doesn’t take as long to get here. – Bill “Jett” Ramey

GRADE: A