TV Series Review: Batman: Caped Crusader (2024) *Very Minor Spoilers*

I'm not a huge fan of DC animation in general, despite owning a lot of their movies and TV series on DVD.

It may be because they tend to stick to adaptations of the comics a little too much, or it may be that the over exaggerated action that cartoons allow makes it feel like there's never any real stakes for the characters.

With that in mind, if I'm going to like anything from DC Animation it's likely to be Batman related.

I recently watched the entire Batman: The Animated Series when it came to Netflix, having never seen the whole series when it originally aired. Which I'm obliged to mention since Batman: Caped Crusader is helmed by the same creator, Bruce Timm.

Just like that series, Caped Crusader is set in an undisclosed time period but the look, style, and lack of tech used, even by Batman, suggests somewhere around post World War II era, possibly stretching into the 1950s. It could even be 1930's but I feel the vehicles look a little more modern than that.

Beyond that it's a straight forward Batman, mostly self contained story each episode, kind of series. Not too many plotlines stretching over multiple episodes.

It's most notable for mixing up the villains race, gender, and back stories, as well as some of Batman's key allies as well. I feel you get a lot more Bruce Wayne in this than you did in BTAS too.

It kind of feels like a year one or two Batman, since we don't get Robin at all, but at the same time Bruce and Batman are both depicted as very capable and sure of themselves. It's a fully formed version of the characters.

If you're a fan of BTAS there's no reason not to enjoy this. You may bump up against some of the changes if you're into the classic versions of the various characters but it's not like anything here is so impactful that it's going to resonate out into the wider Batman lore (like Harley Quinn did from BTAS).

It's a solid collection of Batman stories that exist within this series. Hamish Linklater does a great job voicing Batman/Bruce Wayne, and the rest of the cast is also pretty strong with their efforts too.

For me, I found it to be a little slow at times. Which was also a problem I had watching BTAS, which I don't put on a pedestal like some fans do, because I didn't grow up with that series (I wasn't really watching Batman through the 1990's outside of the movies).

I would have preferred more connection between episodes like they did with the 3D animated series, Beware the Batman, which I've come to like quite a lot despite it's short comings. I'd actually love it if DC was to have another crack at a Batman 3D animated series.

Aside from that, Batman: Caped Crusader was enjoyable enough. I'd watch a second season just to see how they treat characters we've yet to see, and to see if any stories carry over (because a few episodes definitely leave plenty of loose ends to pick up on).