The world's greatest detective returns to the animated television circuit with Prime Video's Batman: Caped Crusader. This maiden season comprises ten episodes that pay homage to the much revered and universally acclaimed Batman: The Animated Series from the early 1990s. Tapping into the art deco noir atmosphere, playfully dubbed Dark Deco, this show looks great, playing with shadows and light. This callback will be critical for inviting back fans of that older series, the same fans who are all adults now with Amazon Prime accounts. 

 

Hamish Linklater (Midnight Mass) assumes the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman, the playboy billionaire who moonlights as a vigilante in the cape and cowl, serving justice to the villains of Gotham City.

 

Diedrich Bader voices Harvey Dent/Two-Face, and Christina Ricci appears as Seline Kyle/Catwoman. There is no lack of talent in the acting pool here. Other notable names crop up for bit parts to fill out the allies and the villainous rogues gallery. But how does this new entry into this 80-year-old franchise stand out?

 

Well, it does not. I have loved watching and reading Batman stories across comics, television, film, and video games for almost four decades. This show is my first genuinely disappointing experience with Batman, and I don't say that lightly.

 

But I have to be fair to this show. Ingratiating kids into Batman lore is what Caped Crusader is designed for ultimately. These ten episodes fly by quickly, each featuring a new villain or aspect of the Batman canon. There are some puzzling choices made here by creator Bruce Timm. A few characters are gender or race-swapped, but not to the detriment of respect for what came before. The fact that this show is debuting on Prime Video - a streaming service not known for curating children’s content is a big gamble.

 

Although it is undeniably made for kids, Caped Crusader packs a few adult punches in the violent and terror categories to attract that older core fan base. Most of the violence is off-screen or heavily implied. However, murder, kidnapping, bribery, and other nefarious ethical breaches of society are overt and often glamorized. The TV-Y7 rating for this show is laughable; the first episode contains matricide and acts of terrorism against law enforcement. 

 

This leads me to the main issue I have with this series. Caped Crusader wants to have it both ways, but it falls flat as a result. To appeal to older Batman fans, who either grew up with the animated series or the plethora of live-action films from the last three decades, Caped Crusader must introduce more than making the penguin a woman to encourage new interest and excitement. As good as the show looks, it offers nothing wondrous or captivating. The older fans have seen all this before and in much better places.

 

For the younger audience, who are being introduced to the Dark Knight for the first time with this series, they won't be drawn in with just the fantastic animation. The story's complexities (I am being generous here) lean heavily on a base knowledge of the Batman canon. Some connective tissue between wonder and understanding is required to appreciate what happens from episode to episode.

This series' recommended viewership lands at those teens whose parents loaned them access to Prime Video. Caped Crusader involves enough Saturday morning cartoon atmosphere juxtaposed with profanity and violence to entice edgy middle-schoolers. Sadly, this series will likely be watched passively in small increments as those young teens look up from scrolling through their phones. Older Batman fans deserve more integrity; younger Batman fans deserve more consideration.