Why Batman: The Animated Series Co-Creator Bruce Timm Rejected A Revival

2024 brought us back to Gotham City as drawn by Bruce Timm with "Batman: Caped Crusader." Timm was co-creator of the much-beloved "Batman: The Animated Series" back in the 1990s. "Caped Crusader" has the same art style and banks on nostalgia for "The Animated Series," but it's not a sequel, a prequel, or otherwise connected to that show at all.

"Batman: The Animated Series" modeled its Gotham City on the 1930s, from the cars, clothes, and architecture, but it was officially set in the present day despite the timeless feel. "Batman: Caped Crusader" goes one step further and is literally, not just spiritually, set in the 1940s. The overlapping characters also have different designs; Batman's costume looks more like the "Golden Age of Comics" suit (longer ears, smaller and purple gloves, etc.) and less like "Bronze Age" one (blue highlights, yellow oval Bat-symbol, etc.) as he did in "Batman: The Animated Series." This Caped Crusader has a new voice too (Hamish Linklater taking over from the late Kevin Conroy). 

It may not be surprising to hear that the earliest germ of the idea that became "Batman: Caped Crusader" was to simply revive "Batman: The Animated Series." Speaking to the Wrap in August, Timm recounted Warner Bros. approaching him: "They said, 'Hey, how would you feel about going back and making some more 'B:TAS' episodes?' And I'm like, 'Nah, we'd been there, we'd done that.' I wasn't interested in just revisiting that world."

Then Timm ruminated on the idea with producer James Tucker and they came to a pitch that did interest him. The original production bible for "Batman: The Animated Series" naturally had a lot of unused concepts. One of them was Batman as a grim loner anti-hero, "more like the Shadow or the Avenger," in Timm's words. When the series went into production, "it became something different."

While no-one will confuse Conroy's Batman for Adam West's, "The Animated Series" did originally air on Fox Kids. For every Gothic film noir-inspired episode of "Batman," there were goofy ones too: "I've Got Batman in My Basement," "Moon of the Wolf," "The Terrible Trio," etc. 

"Batman: Caped Crusader" would be exempt from that.

"Batman: Caped Crusader" season 1 portrays Bruce Wayne as more emotionally detached and rough around the edges than most Batmen. His choice to become Batman as a child is framed and acted as horrifying. Here, Alfred is no surrogate father or even confidante. Bruce treats him like hired help, even calling him by his surname "Pennyworth" instead of Alfred. This Batman is still no killer, but he's a ruthless vigilante who stays firmly outside of the law. Bruce Wayne even attends some (court-ordered) therapy sessions with Dr. Harleen Quinzel, underlining the theme that he's put up an uncrackable shield.

Batman slowly learns more compassion as the season goes on. Batman's journey intersects with the show's reimagined Harvey Dent, who turns from a corrupt politician to a repentant man trying to atone after he becomes Two-Face. In episode 8, "Nocturne," Batman saves the vampiric Nocturna from suicide, carrying her through the sunrise wrapped in his cape even when others say she's better off dead.

This is the sort of kindness you'd expect from Batman in "The Animated Series." Similar to 2022's "The Batman," we see how Batman starts as a lone wolf and becomes a true hero. ("The Batman" director Matt Reeves is an executive producer on "Caped Crusader.") This character arc is one of the reasons that Timm was right, and a reimagination was better than a revival. You also can't do "Batman: The Animated Series" without Kevin Conroy as Batman. Even if you could, Mark Hamill doesn't want to voice the Joker without Conroy to play his rival.

Plus, "Batman: The Animated Series" was already revived many times. The series beat the 65-episode limit most cartoons had, and got 20 extra episodes as "The Adventures of Batman & Robin." Then, in 1997, the series came back for another 24 episodes as "New Batman Adventures," which changed the art style but still produced several great episodes. Conroy's Batman then carried through into "Batman Beyond" and "Justice League."

Timm and his colleagues — like writers Paul Dini, Alan Burnett, and Dwayne McDuffie, and voice director Andrea Romano — wound up being stewards of Batman for 14 years and defined the DC Comics universe for a generation or two. When you're in one world that long, you need new challenges and ideas to keep the work from going stale.

"Batman: Caped Crusader" succeeded, and we at /Film were big fans of this new animated "Batman" — read our glowing "Caped Crusader" review here.