In fact, no...
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| Pictured: creature of the night posing on a giant neon sign. |
I am NOT looking forward to the new Batman: Caped Crusader animated series.
Oh, I will watch it (particularly since I already have Prime); I will probably enjoy it. But I'm not sure this "Mazzuchelli and Timm have a baby delivered by Batman: Brave and the Bold" approach is the best idea.
I am, frankly, weary of Bruce Timm telling us that BTAS (Batman: The Animated Series) -- which was almost absurdly influential on a generation of Batman fans-- wasn't His Perfect Vision and he wants a do-over. It's 30 years later, people. I think we all deserve to move on from the crude drawing style that disappointed me in 1992 certainly interests me even less in 2024.
There are definitely elements in the trailer that do interest me. There finally seems to be an innovative take on Two-Face, Catwoman in her original costume is always a plus for me, a non-annoying Harley Quin would be a deep breath of fresh air, fat Alfred is a bold Golden Age touch, and the like.
But, really... "THIS time it's Batman EARLY in his career!" as if that's something we haven't seen a hundred times before (including Batman's ACTUAL original adventures, which are more accessible today as any current comic book, if not more). I actually heard a YouTube reviewer say, "This is a new take on an Alfred we've never seen before, one who's not Bruce's surrogate father, but an active partner in his war against crime!" Yes, "we" have never seen that before if "we" have never read a pre-Crisis Batman story or seen an episode of Batman '66; such is the depth of knowledge of YouTube reviewers.
Batman is a character created in 1939, who continues to have a very large following, both deep and broad, some 85 years later. In that sense, complaining about "nostalgia" in treatments of the character can sound a bit hollow, perhaps even hypocritical. The character is INTRINSICALLY nostalgic.
However, my concern here isn't nostalgia for the character, but for one particle interpretation of the character: Bruce Timm's BTAS (and all the '90s/'00s related projects). I don't wish to be harsh, but it was a highly un-even series, viewed with rose-colored glasses by people who watched it when they weren't yet adults. I still remember CRINGING the first time Batman's "I am vengeance" speech aired; I still do every time it's mentioned.
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| And I'm not easily embarrassed by Batman Stuff. |
All that said, it's not like this is the ONLY version of Batman currently going on. The days when a comic book character (at least as one as popular as Batman) would only be allowed to appear in one version at time are gone. And, as Bat-Mite pointed out in Batman: Brave & The Bold, a mythic concept like Batman is strengthened, not weakened, by the fact that it is open to multiple interpretations.
But I just feel like I've already seen this one. Over thirty years ago.
"Hey, remember that highly popular thing from 30 years ago that made us a bunch of money and won a lot of acclaim? We should totally legacy sequel/reboot it so it reminds everyone how great that thing was despite the fact that it'll basically be the exact same thing, only 30 years later!"
ReplyDelete- Top Gun/Star Wars/Batman/Frasier/Etc directors over the last 3 years.
However, as you point out, I relish a Harley Quinn that isn't a sex-fueled, annoying, force-fed pinup girl irritant.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if much of the irritation here comes from the hype. Like, suppose the ad campaign were just an insecure guy announcing "w-we made a Batman cartoon, and, and we hope you like it, w-we decided to set it in the 1930s". I wonder if the eyes, they would roll a heck of a lot less.
ReplyDeletePeople forget, by the way, that BTAS did give us a Batman earlier in his career. Dude was getting knocked out all the time like in Bronze Age comics. As the DCAU went on, Batman increasingly shifted into god mode, to the point where the Legion of Super Heroes could have him bound head and foot in their HQ and he still bested them. (with a little help from the Ultra-Humanite and a donation to PBS)
Im ho, maybe they should take a lesson from "My Adventures with Superman", and make sure the human interaction stuff is right, above all else. Don't worry so much about the setting and redesigns, make sure they're characters we can take an interest in.
- HJF1 (who has opinions on how to make Hal interesting in the movie in his head)
"the irritation here comes from the hype." A good question, which I had not considered But then we'd be saying; "How unoriginal! All these people can do is ape a beloved cartoon from 30 years ago!!"
ReplyDelete" Batman increasingly shifted into god mode, to the point where the Legion of Super Heroes could have him bound head and foot in their HQ and he still bested them"
ReplyDeleteYou mean, in the episode where the Joker captured him by simply sneaking up behind him and hitting him with a carpet bag full of rocks...?
Oops! Also, the Legion of Doom, not the LSH.
ReplyDelete- HJF1
Also, don't underestimate how absolutely devastating it is to get hit on the head. Being knocked out by a blow to the head is the one way a hero goes down and we still respect them.
ReplyDelete- HJF1
Alfred as Batman's partner was a big part of Beware the Batman, the animated series that aired from 2013-2014. Alfred is an MI-6 agent and Bruce's bodyguard, kind of like Diggle on Arrow. It was also noteworthy in that Alfred was bald and jacked: https://batman.fandom.com/wiki/Alfred_Pennyworth_(Beware_the_Batman)
ReplyDeleteSo no, it's not an earthshaking new concept.
"Being knocked out by a blow to the head is the one way a hero goes down and we still respect them."
ReplyDeleteTruly you ARE Hal Jordan's Number 1 Fan.
I've read a fair amount of Pre-Crisis Batman (but remember very little that isn't '50s neo-surrealism or Brave and the Bold) but I don't remember Alfred as active partner much? He had his own series where he "fought" "crime" but those were differentiated from the Batman stories by being entertaining and good. Just completely different in every particular. I guess he died in the Silver Age saving.... Robin(?) from... a.... rock(?) ... that can't be right. Is that right? Was he on a horse? I hope he was on a horse.
ReplyDeleteAlthough that doesn't contradict Bryan L's point based on a Batman cartoon I didn't know existed.
He was on a motorcycle.
ReplyDeleteAnd, yes... from a rock.
ReplyDelete@MarkAndrew Most people never knew about Beware the Batman. I watched it and I have trouble remembering anything much about it, except for the Alfred characterization and the fact that Katana had a major role.
ReplyDelete