DC TV Series ‘Batman: Caped Crusader’: Animated Series From Bruce Timm, J.J. Abrams, Matt Reeves Greenlit

[Sawyer]

Holy ****.

I had been wondering about things on the writing side. All we had to go on so far is the writer of The Last of Us.

 

[Sawyer]

From the man himself…

”Here’s something few people know, but the original Batman: The Animated Series was one of the things that made me want to write superhero comics in general, and Batman in particular,” Brubaker told THR in a statement. “If not for what Bruce Timm and all the talented writers and artists did with that show, things like my revamp of Catwoman with Darwyn Cooke (who worked on BTAS) and Gotham Central with Greg Rucka and Michael Lark, would never have happened. So when Bruce Timm offered me the chance to come work on this new reimagining of Batman with him, James Tucker, J.J. Abrams and Matt Reeves, I jumped at it.”

He continued, “Their vision for the show, with a slightly more pulpy take on the character, and a new way of looking at the world of Gotham, set in the past but viewed through a modern lens really sold me, and so far every part of it has been a blast to work on. I can’t wait until the rest of the world can see what we’ve been building the last few months in the writers room. All I can say is, it’s not what anyone is expecting … but in a good way.”

 

[Gothamsknight]

I'm so hyped! There's so much talent involved with this thing, and I love the early concept art too. Can't wait to see what the cast looks like! I'm expecting Conroy to return.

 

[Gothamsknight]

 

[LifesEnd]

gonna be interesting what differentiates this form the many prior and upcoming bat universe stuff

 

[Boom]

The Brubaker news coupled with that concept art is totally sending me right now.

Ten episodes ain't enough though.

 

[Sawyer]

Ten episodes ain't enough though.

That’s my only criticism. Seems like a bit of a wait for only ten episodes. At least give us 13-15. We’re STARVING.

 

[WatchProtect]

That concept art is fire tbh, I'm fine with 10 episodes too its nice and compact.

 

[Slick]

That’s very dope.

 

[Slick]

Ed Brubaker will be the headwriter on the show!

Pretty cool. Can’t wait to get footage from this.

 

[I Am The Knight]

Looks beautiful. Can't wait to see if the animation delivers. The fact that it's only ten episodes for the season hopefully means they can probably pour more resources into each episode.

 

[Sawyer]

Based on the Golden Age character design and the period setting, I’m interested to see if the show only slowly rolls out the classic rogues gallery and instead has Bats mainly going up against the likes of the Mad Monk and Hugo Strange.

 

[Gee]

Brubaker as head writer on this has me hyped as ****.

 

[The Lazarus Pit]

This is very near the top of my list of most anticipated superhero films/shows. Can’t wait.

 

[Pfeiffer-Pfan]

Ed Brubaker will be the headwriter on the show!

WOW...



That concept art is glorious as well. I couldn't be more hyped for this show. Hopefully those 10 episodes will be the first of many more...

 

[Gothamsknight]

I'm curious, do you guy think this show will be marketed as a spiritual prequel to Batman TAS or no? They seemed to have done that at DCfandome, but I'm unsure if they'll continue to do so.

 

[Loden Greatstorm]

Is this Batman design for the show?! If so I LOVE it!

 

[Pfeiffer-Pfan]

I'm curious, do you guy think this show will be marketed as a spiritual prequel to Batman TAS or no? They seemed to have done that at DCfandome, but I'm unsure if they'll continue to do so.

They definitely aren't marketing it as a prequel, but are most certainly claiming it as a spiritual successor to Batman: The Animated Series, in terms of tone and approach. Heck, they can't put out a piece of news about the show without mentioning B:TAS in there somewhere (''Hey aging millennials! Remember that show you loved? Well this is just like that, but different!!). Promoting it with clips from the show, using Shirley Walker's music and using the iconic font for the title and introducing the talking heads bit at DC Fandome.

This is most certainly a vague reboot/reimagining of B:TAS. An ''Elseworlds - Batman: The Animated Series'' if you like. Some people involved with the show have even acknowledged it as such (WB Animation careers used the BTAS hashtag when promoting it on their instagram).

I would wager that between the Blu-Ray sales for the show and their desire to get subscribers on HBO Max, WB Animation approached Bruce Timm about doing a proper continuation of the old show. Rather than risk competing with himself in such a direct way, this was his counter offer.

 

[Pfeiffer-Pfan]

A little more information from Ed Brubaker's newsletter (might be worth signing up to as he could throw out little tidbits over the course of production):

Okay, so what else is going on...? One of my Hollywood things finally got announced...

Although this headline makes it seem like I just got this gig, I actually have been working on it for several months, and we already wrapped the virtual writing room and are barreling ahead towards production right now.

I had no intention of going back to superheroes at all, but I was a big fan of the original BTAS show, and when this came along, it just sounded like it would be too much fun to pass up. And I was right. We spent a couple months on zoom for half the day, kicking around ideas and laughing and coming up with some very cool episodes that I can't wait to see animated. The show is a complete reimagining of the character, not a sequel to BTAS, but like that cartoon it feels like it takes place in a kind of timeless 1940s or early 50s - no computers, no cell phones, yay -/ and it's really pulpy. Hopefully more adult at times, but still something kids can watch too. Like the Marvel movies or Star Wars, ratings-wise, I guess. PG? I'm not sure what they rate things as on streaming actually...

Anyway, I think you'll all dig it, and it was a lot of fun creating this first season, and I hope we get to do several more. Here's a tiny photo of our writing zoom room, on wrap day...

Clockwise from top left corner - that's Halley Gross, writer and Consulting Producer (who I have now worked with on a bunch of TV shows), then Sean Lee, our writers assistant, Jase Ricci, coEP and writer, Julie Osborn our line producer (who was just popping in to hang out on the last day), Adamma Ebo, another writer and Consulting Producer, James Tucker, our coEP and one of the main designers of the show, Adanne Ebo, also a writer and Consulting Producer (pay attention to the Ebo twins - they've already made their own movie and have two TV series in development) and then there's me laughing about something, and in the center of it all, Bruce Timm.

I wish I could tell you more about the show, but Warner Bros is like Fort Knox about this stuff, so that's all I can share for now.

Lordy, how many producers does this show have?

 

[LifesEnd]

A little more information from Ed Brubaker's newsletter (might be worth signing up to as he could throw out little tidbits over the course of production):







Lordy, how many producers does this show have?

it'd be amazing if this had a big budget. stuff like into the Spiderverse and arcane hell invincible(less budget I believe) show there is potential for a breakout.

 

[Slick]

I can’t wait for more of this.

 

[Kane52630]

Ed Brubaker will be the headwriter on the show!

 

[Sawyer]

With a period setting and a pulpy feel, I wonder if the creative team might have decided to revisit one of BTAS’s key inspirations while they were cooking this new series up…

 

[Shinobi Shaw]

Happy to see black creatives on that virtual call.

 

[I Am The Knight]

Oh yes. I was just thinking how cool it would be if this had the look and feel of the Superman Fleischer shorts Some of the most beautiful animation I've seen.

BTW, they've said that STAS also was naturally inspired a by Fleischer Superman.