Disclaimer: There are so many spoilers I am going to give away in this Batman: Caped Crusader Review, but if you need a verdict so you can make a decision, here it is: I loved the show! Read it after you are done watching to know why!
Amazon Prime’s new addition Batman: Caped Crusader takes us back to the 1940s in an alternate reality where our hero is still young and starting out. The world doesn’t know him yet, the cops, including Commissioner Gordon, see him as a villain. Sounds familiar- right?
Well, there’s a unique take on this origin story of our hero. Batman: Caped Crusader features some great villains that are rarely seen on screen after the infamous Batman: The Animated Series series. These villains, however, come with a twist- you might not know some of them if you are not a regular comic fan.
The Penguin, for instance, is a gender-swapped character. In this reality, we have Oswalda Cobblepot, a mother of two and younger than our typical Cobblepot’s on-screen presence, except Cobblepot from Gotham of course.
Oswalda fights back, has a ruthless charm, and can scare any supervillain in the city. Another familiarity of the series is with Matt Reeves’s The Batman Universe. Matt is also one of the executive producers of the series along with Bruce Timm of previous animated projects of Batman and J.J. Abrams, best known for his Star Trek franchise.
“Batman is so early in his career that in the first episode, he’s still an urban myth. It’s not ‘Year One. It’s more like ‘Week Two’.”
Timm explained in an interview with Empire he doesn’t want to bring the familiar Batman back to the screen, instead, this one is weirder and spookier. Probably that is why Bruce Wayne of this saga also attends therapy and takes us through his conversations with Dr. Harleen Quinzel.
And yes, she is on her journey to become a villain too, but not for the reasons you know and not the kind of villain you might have seen often on screens. Instead, she is Jester in this one.
Back to Batman, Timm added his latest version of Batman is someone you won’t feel comfortable with if you are in the same room. Whether you are Commissioner Gordon or even Barbara, the rule applies.
Even his relationship with Alfred is more complicated than you are habitual of. This Batman doesn’t see him as the surrogate father, instead, just after losing his parents, Bruce swears the revenge and commands Alfred to help him.
One thing that I need to mention in this Batman: Caped Crusader Review is, that the newer version of Batman is more focused and fights back. Most Batman adaptations often avoid conflicting with cops, but this one doesn’t. If you fire on him, there won’t be smoke-and-disappear kinda action, first, this Batman will hurt you physically, of course, won’t kill you, but might still save you if you are going to get hurt, but will beat you even if you are a cop.
Now, at the time of writing this review, the show stands at a 98% Rotten Tomatoes score and a 7.5 out of 10 IMDB rating. But if I have to be honest, I am kind of loving the series so far. And most of the Critics’ Reviews share my sentiment.
The show delivers a more complicated and mature approach to the Batman universe. If it was a Live-action show, people would probably lose their minds; I meant that in a good way! Timm’s vision to deliver a spookier universe is definitely doing well blended with the noir charm of the show.
The classic design of Batmobile, a vintage universe, well-dressed characters, and deeper backgrounds of popular villains have made the show a perfect treat for DC fans.
The tone of the show is getting as mature as its millennial audience is. While some changes it is bringing are often overlooked, some received mixed reviews. Oswalda’s existence in the show and the queer romance between Harley Quinn and Renée Montoya are two examples of the same.
After the recent return of X-Men ’97 and how well it was received by the audience- Batman: Caped Crusader Reviews depict another successful return of the trend. These returns, one after another, also deliver an exciting comparison that will give a glimpse of the future of both DC and Marvel.
While DC had some of the best animation classics, Marvel delivered more successful live-action projects. But both franchises are experimenting now to establish a future that is wealthier. With Downey’s return to the MCU and Gunn’s takeover of DC, the competition is tough.
The only difference is, that Marvel is keeping most of the stuff connected, while DC is playing in different realities with little to no hope of merging them in the future.
As for DC’s future animation projects, I am excited. I have a feeling DC has learned its lesson, and with successful experiments like Todd Philips’s Joker and Matt Reeves’s The Batman, there is so much to look forward to.
