Batman celebrated his 85th birthday this year, and his legend shows no signs of slowing down. Prime Video’s Batman: Caped Crusader takes the Dark Knight back to his detective roots while updating Gotham’s demographics. Familiar names come at us with modernized sensibilities and motivations. The writers have dug deep to innovate around established characters, and it pays off.
With Hamish Linklater anchoring the voice cast as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Season 1 is a 10-episode series told as an introductory anthology of villains, painting a solidly crime-ridden Gotham City in need of saving by a caped vigilante in cahoots with heroic, everyday people.
Prime Video’s Batman: Caped Crusader
Some of the biggest changes to the canon were announced at the Batman: Caped Crusader SDCC 2024 panel, such as Minnie Driver’s role as a gender-swapped Penguin and Jamie Chung’s Asian-American Harley-Quinn-sans-Joker Dr. Harleen Quinzel. Driver is fabulous as Oswalda Cobblepot. My only gripe is that the villain-of-the-week format means we only get her for the one episode.
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Chung’s Dr. Quinzel, on the other hand, is prevalent throughout the series as everyone’s favorite (or court-mandated) therapist until her twisted, psychological villainy gets the better of her. Of the vast variety of baddies, Quinzel’s motivations are the most accessible. If you squint, she and Bruce Wayne walk parallel paths on either side of a very fine line. Whether that line is between sanity and sadism or lawful and chaos is up for debate.
Villains Galore
With executive producers like J.J. Abrams, Matt Reeves and Bruce Timm on board, Batman: Caped Crusader has attracted a top-notch cast of voice performers. Besides Driver and Chung, look forward to Christina Ricci as Selena Kyle/Catwoman and Diedrich Bader as Harvey Dent in his role as District Attorney before his disfiguring transformation to Two-Face.
With a catalog as deep as Batman has for opponents, some of the ones spotlighted here are a pleasant surprise, and others have had their backstories tweaked in interesting ways. For example, as techy and sciency as Bruce Wayne’s arsenal is, I certainly didn’t have Batman tangling with the supernatural on my bingo card. And when was the last time either persona allied with a voodoo practitioner?
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Lawful Ladies
The most delightful evolution in Batman: Caped Crusader is the space they’ve made for Barbara Gordon (Krystal Joy Brown) and Renee Montoya (Michelle C. Bonilla). They often use their own connections and resources to investigate while Batman’s doing his swinging through the city bit. In fact, he comes to realize their value as allies pretty quickly.
As a public defender—and, yes, still Commissioner Gordon’s (Eric Morgan Stuart) daughter—Barbara’s fight against Gotham’s worst doesn’t involve a cowl and cape … yet. Meanwhile, Detective Montoya’s fighting both corruption and misogyny in the Gotham City Police Department. Because, as always, carrying a badge does not mean you’re a good guy.
A Pennyworth for Your Thoughts
Batman: Caped Crusader Season 1 chronicles the very early days of Batman’s crime-fighting career. While he’s effective to some extent, he also lacks the restraint and foresight we’ve come to expect. His methods are direct, and his powers of deduction and observation are considerable. But the overall impression is one of a well-intentioned hero who is more reactive than proactive.
The most troubling aspect of this version of the Winged Avenger is his utter disregard for Alfred Pennyworth’s input. Ever the loyal manservant, Alfred is the only person aware of Bruce Wayne’s dual identity. In his supporting role, he repeatedly offers advice from his considerable life experience, only for it to be dismissed or ignored by Master Bruce. It’s a strange and irritating way for Bruce to treat him, considering Alfred’s been with him since before his parents’ murder. One can only assume this is a part of Bruce’s character arc.
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In many ways, Batman: Caped Crusader is a return to a classic style of animated narrative. The art is all clean lines and solid palettes. The voice acting is clearly characterized and emotive. But it is a modern reframing of a well-known world. The villains have nuance (except maybe the ghost guy), and the heroes have flaws. Season 1 plays out an elegant long-arc plot through the one-shot adventures that culminate in the final two episodes, and it works well. Welcome back to Gotham, folks, but don’t expect the predictable. This show is something meaningfully different.
The entire 10-episode first season of Batman: Caped Crusader will drop on Prime Video at 3 am ET on August 1.
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