Bruce Timm turned down Warner Bros after they approached him about making more episodes of Batman: The Animated Series.
Batman: The Animated Series creator Bruce Timm has returned to the world of the Dark Knight with Batman: Caped Crusader on Prime Video, but he once had the opportunity to do a proper revival of The Animated Series. If you’re wondering why that didn’t happen, it’s because he turned it down.
While speaking with The Wrap, Timm said that Warner Bros. approached him four or five years ago with the idea of bringing back Batman: The Animated Series. At the time, the studio was about to launch its own streaming service and clearly saw the draw of new episodes. “They said, ‘Hey, how would you feel about going back and making some more ‘B:TAS’ episodes?’ And I’m like, ‘Nah, we’d been there, we’d done that.’ I wasn’t interested in just revisiting that world,” Timm explained.
Timm did consider developing a Justice League animated series with executive producer James Tucker, but all of their ideas kept coming back to Batman. After going back to the early production bible of The Animated Series, Timm became intrigued by the thought of getting to incorporate all of his original ideas for a pulpy, film noir Batman series. “I wanted to blend the atmospherics of Universal horror movies and the drama of Warner Bros. gangster movies and the action of Republic serials and mix it all together with a lot of film noir on top,” Timm said. Thus, Batman: Caped Crusader began.
“Welcome to Gotham City, where the corrupt outnumber the good, criminals run rampant and law-abiding citizens live in a constant state of fear,” reads the Batman: Caped Crusader synopsis. “Forged in the fire of tragedy, wealthy socialite Bruce Wayne becomes something both more and less than human—the BATMAN. His one-man crusade attracts unexpected allies within the GCPD and City Hall, but his heroic actions spawn deadly, unforeseen ramifications.” The series stars Hamish Linklater as Batman/Bruce Wayne alongside an all-star cast which includes Christina Ricci, Jamie Chung, Diedrich Bader, Minnie Driver, Mckenna Grace, Eric Morgan Stuart, Michelle C. Bonilla, Krystal Joy Brown, John DiMaggio, Paul Scheer, Reid Scott, Tom Kenny, Jason Watkins, Gary Anthony Williams, Dan Donohue, David Krumholtz, Haley Joel Osment, and Toby Stephens.
The first season of Batman: Caped Crusader is now streaming on Prime Video and has received rave reviews. Our own Jessica Dwyer enjoyed the series despite it not meeting her expectations. “Did my hopes get dashed with this latest animated Dark Knight when I finally watched it? No, but I also wasn’t overwhelmed either,” Dwyer wrote in her review. “As I said, there’s something really special about the original series that would be hard to recapture. Batman: Caped Crusader is trying really hard to do that, and there’s hope that it will eventually get there.” She also had plenty of praise for Linklater’s performance, saying, “I can’t say enough how much I love Hamish Linklater’s voice here. I’m not ashamed to say I teared up a little bit. I hope he knows how much that means to fans of the OG.” You can check out the rest of Dwyer’s review right here.