The new Batman animated series on Prime Video will speak to all those nostalgic for the 1990s

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The Dark Knight is back on Prime Video with an all-new animated series: Caped Crusader (Or The Masked Vigilante). But this old-fashioned variation around Batman hides many secrets. Here are five details to know about this already cult series.

We grant you: Batman is everywhere, all the time. When he’s not taking on the dark features of Robert Pattinson in The Batmanhis shadow lurks over the excellent animated series Harley Quinnavailable on Max, or on the highly anticipated film Joker: Madness for Twoin theaters October 2, 2024. But let’s face it: we never tire of following the adventures of the Dark Knight, and a new production continues to fuel the myth with panache. Here are five details to discover about Batman: Caped Crusaderavailable on Prime Video since August 1, 2024.

Batman: Caped Crusader will remind you of your childhood

If you grew up in the 1990s, chances are you Batman the animated series punctuated your childhood. Broadcast on France 3 in 1994, this adaptation is considered one of the best dedicated to the Black Rider. Dark, violent, mature, complex: the series, also available on Prime Video, clearly stood out in a landscape where animation was rather reserved for young people. These two seasons, commissioned following the success of Tim Burton’s films in 1989 and 1992, are inspired by Gothic and Art Deco, with a credits designed by Danny Elfman, faithful composer of Burton’s films.

Batman the animated series is thus a pioneer in more ways than one: the music is played by an orchestra for each episode, most of the cast is made up of actors with little experience in the world of animation (including Mark Hamill, aka Luke Skywalker), and above all, we witness the birth of an iconic antagonist, who will later join the comics: Harley Quinn. Caped Crusader is part of this mythical heritage since it is a direct sequel, centered on the corruption and crime that devour Gotham.

A series produced by fans, for fans

If Caped Crusader is so eagerly awaited by DC Comics fans, it is precisely for its links with Batman the animated series. Both productions were created by Bruce Timm, considered one of the pillars of the universe of Batmanwith a very “square” animation style, easily identifiable. Alongside him, two other prestigious names are in charge of production: Matt Reeves (the film’s director The Batman), as well as JJ Abrams (creator of Lost and postlogy Star Wars).

Harley Quinn returns in another form in Caped Crusader // Source: Prime Video
Harley Quinn returns in another form in Caped Crusader // Source: Prime Video

Initially intended for the Max platform, before finally being distributed by Prime Video, Caped Crusader is thus a series produced by specialists of the Dark Knight, which obviously reassured all the fans of the superhero, ready for a shot of nostalgia.

Two iconic characters from Batman have changed a lot

All the iconic Gotham characters are obviously back in the ten episodes of Caped Crusaderfrom Batman to Catwoman to Harvey Dent (who provides an exceptional finale to the series). But one of the most famous villains in the universe is getting a second youth.

The Penguin, a cult antagonist who will soon be entitled to a spin-off series on Max, thus changes gender: Oswald Cobbelpot becomes Oswalda Cobbelpot, with colorful cabaret-style influences. A major change, which breathes new life into this character, while modernizing the animated series, which does not hesitate to bring more diversity to its casting in general (Barbara Gordon has thus become a black woman).

The Penguin reinvents himself in Caped Crusader // Source: Prime VideoThe Penguin reinvents himself in Caped Crusader // Source: Prime Video
The Penguin reinvents himself in Caped Crusader // Source: Prime Video

Harley Quinn, meanwhile, establishes herself as an independent antagonist, without the Joker. She thus becomes a therapist who tortures and hypnotizes her richest and most pitiful clients. It must be admitted that Harley Quinn lesbian version, in a frontal crusade against capitalism and patriarchy, we had not really seen it coming, but it is an excellent surprise.

The series is set in the 1940s

True to the legacy of Batman the animated series, Caped Crusader draws heavily on film noir, a particular genre of detective cinema that often features tortured characters, in natural settings, sometimes in black and white, and regularly punctuated by unbearable suspense and a voice-over. This style emerged in the 1940s, the period in which Caped Crusader.

A Batman darker than ever // Source: Prime VideoA Batman darker than ever // Source: Prime Video
A Batman darker than ever // Source: Prime Video

Where recent adaptations of Batman tended to situate the superhero in a modern context, the animated series therefore takes a more ambitious stance. This is the perfect opportunity to discover the Dark Knight in a more vintagefar from the high-tech gadgets that usually characterize it.

Batman is not really a superhero anymore

From The Dark Knightit is commonly accepted that the famous Gotham hero is no longer really one. Sometimes on the verge of crossing the line into the villain camp, Batman has thus seen his image of an indestructible man gradually shatter over the course of recent adaptations, until The Batmanin which Robert Pattinson played a deeply depressed character.

Caped Crusader continues on this less Manichean path, with an almost loser version of the superhero. Far from being the most effective Batman, this reinterpretation clearly does not shine in its missions, sometimes even making the situation worse without wanting to. And frankly, it feels good to see the cracks in this man in tights, more human than ever.

Source: Numerama MontageSource: Numerama Montage

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