Never watched BEWARE THE BATMAN?
Yes?
Well, apparently, you weren’t the only one…and that’s a shame.
BEWARE THE BATMAN was a different type of animated Batman TV series for a lot of reasons.
First and foremost, it was computer-animated as opposed to traditional, old-school animation like its predecessors.
Secondly, it featured new and/or obscure villains such as Professor Pyg and Toad, Magpie, and Anarky. Ra’s Al Ghul would eventually make an appearance, but none of the other A-list Batman villains such as The Joker, Two Face, Catwoman, etc. ever were never featured.
Maybe if the series had lasted longer, that would’ve changed.
But alas, that ship has sailed.
Additionally, while Batman and Bruce Wayne (voiced by Anthony Ruivivar) on BTB were both depicted as pretty-much the classic Batman and Bruce Wayne, his supporting cast/allies were a bit different than their comic book counterparts…except for Jim Gordon (voiced by Kurtwood Smith).
BTB‘s Jim Gordon was totally Jim Gordon and his relationship with The Batman was spot-on The Batman/Jim Gordon.
RELATED: The History of BEWARE THE BATMAN
Alfred (voiced by JB Blanc) was more like his BATMAN: EARTH ONE counterpart and who was formally British military/intelligence. (Though it should be noted that this aspect of Alfred’s background has now been included as canon in the mainstream Batman continuity.) Furthermore, he looked more like an older Jason Statham than William Austin.
Also, in BTB, Batman’s first sidekick/partner was not a Robin.
No, it would turn out to be Tatsu Yamashiro (voiced by Sumalee Montano), AKA “Katana.” Tatsu was a martial arts swordsmaster/ninja hired by Alfred (who was also her godfather) as Bruce’s bodyguard.
Over time, they became a dynamic, crime-fighting duo (see what I did there?).
Maybe Robin would’ve eventually shown up on BTB if there had been additional seasons to the series. But like The Joker (and others), we’ll never know.
Finally, I’m of the belief that BTB‘s time slot — Saturday mornings on Cartoon Network — did it no good and was a big mistake. It should’ve aired in the evenings in primetime and not alongside shows that want a younger audience. Friday nights — on [adult Swim] perhaps — would’ve been a much better choice for its airing.
I’d love to see an animated BTB movie, but I’m pretty sure that’s never going to happen. However, I do have all episodes of it on Blu-ray, so that’ll have to suffice.
If you’ve never watched BTB, I highly recommend that you throw down and a few bucks and pick the series up on Blu-ray (see below).
I was going to suggest the new DC UNINVERSE app, but after investigating, it’s not featured on there as of yet, sadly.
(UPDATE: BOF’s Pete Vera says that you can find BTB on iTunes and Apple TV FYI.)
If this article inspires you to give BTB a look, I’d love to know what you think. So feel free to hit me up with an email.
Oh BEWARE THE BATMAN, we hardly knew ye. – Bill “Jett” Ramey
