After originally being developed for the HBO Max streaming service, Batman: Caped Crusader found a new home on Prime Video early last year, and we finally have a first look at the highly-anticipated animated series.
Bat-fans have been anxiously awaiting a teaser for the show, and while we may have to wait a little longer, EW has now debuted a batch of images spotlighting the Dark Knight and some very different takes on several of his villains.
While speaking to the site, Bruce Timm and character designer James Tucker noted that they decided to make the new show a '40s-set period piece in an effort to set it apart from the original '90s Batman: The Animated Series.
“James and I are both really big fans of movies from that era, so we decided to really lean into that in terms of the clothes, the cars, the architecture, and the level of technology,” said Timm. “Early on, we decided there would be no computers and no cell phones. That changed everything.”
Another big change is this show's incarnations of some of Batman's most popular bad guys, including an Asian American version of Harley Quinn - who also happens to be Bruce Wayne's therapist!
“I co-created the character, so I have a lot of love and affection for her, but I thought there might be something interesting about bringing her on the show, just not as Joker’s girlfriend,” Timm says. “So how do we do that? A big part was just doing a basic flip. The original Dr. Quinzel was a little bit more serious, and then when she became Harley, she got really goofy and weird. So we thought, what if we reverse that? When she's Dr. Quinzel, she's a little bit more whimsical and fun, and then when she's Harley Quinn, she's scary.”
“He's a really weird human being,” says Timm of Wayne and his need for therapy. “He's not obsessed with his parents' murder, but it changed him in a way where he’s still not adjusted to being a human being. He's literally Batman; inside, that's who he is. Whenever he's Bruce Wayne, that's not just him with a mask off, that's him wearing a person suit. He's trying to pretend to be something that he's not.”
Clayface and Catwoman will also be quite different to modern interpretations, but in their case, the makeovers will actually bring them more in line with their original comic book appearances.
"We didn't want to do the B:TAS Catwoman or the version that Ed Brubaker and Darwyn Cooke did in the early 2000s with the practical leather jumpsuit, which has become her default look in the comics and movies," Timm continues. "That's great, I love that, but we wanted to do something different. So we thought, well, let's go all the way back to the beginning. I love the original look that she had in the '40s. It's purple!"
Check out the images at the links below.
Batman: Caped Crusader is set to premiere on Prime Video on August 1. The show has already been renewed for a second season.