Batman: The Animated Series co-creator Bruce Timm is back in the DC TV shows space, only rather than reviving the long-beloved DC Animated Universe, he’s delivering a new take on Gotham City’s shadowy vigilante. Originally set to be a Max original, Batman: Caped Crusader moved to a new streaming home, and today it was announced that Amazon Prime Video subscribers can look forward to the show finally premiering in just a few months time.
Accompanying that information were the first official looks at Batman: Caped Crusader, which Timm developed with J.J. Abrams and Matt Reeves. This series is leaning even more into the ’40s aesthetic that BTAS (one of the best animated TV shows of all time) played around with, and this is especially evident with how Caped Crusader is adapting villains like Harley Quinn, Catwoman and Clayface. I was already looking to this upcoming DC TV show, but now my interest has soared even higher after absorbing these new details.
We’re Getting A Personality-Flipped Harley Quinn
Bruce Timm created Harley Quinn with Paul Dini for Batman: The Animated Series, and now he’s getting the chance to revamp his character for Batman: Caped Crusader. In addition to this version of Dr. Harleen Quinzel being Asian American, she’s also donning a drastically-different looking costume that’s ditching the classic red and black color scheme. Additionally, her personality traits have been flipped between her civilian identity and costumed personas. As Timm explained to EW:
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. 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.
Batman: Caped Crusader’s Harley Quinn also won’t be working at Arkham Asylum as is traditionally the case, but is rather a general psychiatrist who ends up being assigned to treat Bruce Wayne. This will give her the opportunity to interact with this “stranger version of Batman” that Caped Crusader features, which we’ll talk more about later. Interestingly enough, there’s no direct mention of Joker in this EW piece, making it sound like this Harley will embark on her life of villainy without the Clown Prince of Crime’s influence.
Catwoman’s Back To Her Classic Purple Look
While it remains to be seen if Batman: Caped Crusader will return Catwoman to her straightforward supervillain roots or if she’ll more of an antihero like other modern depictions, her appearance definitely harkens back to how she was illustrated in the comics for much of the 1940s. Bruce Timm said:
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. 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!
Timm also named Golden Age actress Barbara Stanwyck’s performance in The Lady Eve as a major inspiration for this show’s Catwoman, and he described the character as “playful and charming,” but not to be underestimated.
Clayface Won’t Be A Shapeshifter
When one thinks of Clayface, the image that comes to mind for most is a hulking, blobby monster capable of shapeshifting into various forms. Well, that’s not who we’re getting in Batman: Caped Crusader, with the show instead drawing on the character’s earliest comic book appearance in 1940 and “classic horror movies.” This Clayface may still be a master of disguise, but if that’s the case, think of that being handled with a more grounded approach, akin Spider-Man villain The Chameleon.
You can head to that EW story to see more images and read more details about Batman: Caped Crusader, including how the show is leaning into the ‘40s era with “the clothes, the cars, the architecture, and the level of technology,” as well as how this Bruce Wayne is “still not adjusted to being a human being” and is “literally Batman; inside, that’s who he is.” It hasn’t been announced yet who’s voicing any of these characters, but Caped Crusader will premiere Thursday, August 1 on Amazon Prime Video. Look through the 2024 TV schedule to see what other shows are on the way.