A New Batman Is Less a Dark Knight Than a ‘Weird and Creepy’ One
“Batman: Caped Crusader,” a new animated series, is not concerned with making its hero likable — either to the citizens of Gotham or to its audience.The story of Batman has been told in comic books and onscreen many times. But if there’s one person who should get the chance to tell it again, it is Bruce Timm.Timm is a veteran artist, animator and producer who helped create “Batman: The Animated Series,” which made its debut in the Fox Kids programming block in 1992. Following on the heels of Tim Burton’s hit 1989 film, this “Batman” show — often abbreviated as “BTAS”— brought a somber atmosphere and sophisticated storytelling to the adventures of Gotham City’s costume-clad vigilante.The show dove deep into the colorful rogues’ gallery of its title hero and helped stoke the flames of Bat-fandom when the movie franchise started to run aground. There were more than 100 episodes in its initial Fox Kids run and further installments titled “The New Batman Adventures” that ran on Kids’ WB.So a few years ago when Timm was asked if he would like to develop a new Batman animated series that would rekindle the spirit of that venerated, foundational show, he knew exactly how he felt.“I went, ‘Not really,’” Timm said in a recent interview. “I was terrified of it. People love the old show so much that I didn’t want to mess with it. You know, it’s not 1992 again.”Even so, Timm was eventually persuaded to make “Batman: Caped Crusader,” whose 10-episode first season will be released Aug. 1 on Amazon Prime Video.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More
