Summary
Batman: Caped Crusadermade a big splash with a solid first season that featured a few unexpected changes to the canon set up by its much-beloved predecessor, and the talent behind one of the more prominent benefactors of these changes weighs in.
Batmanhas been the focus of several adaptations throughout his now 85-year history, each giving a slightly different take on the iconic character that appealed to different groups and demographics over the years. Of all these adaptations, the general consensus was that the 90s-eraBatman: The Animated Seriesis the only non-comic iteration that got the character rightand cast a shadow on every iteration of the character that followed. While this standard wasn’t very fair in many cases, a new show featuringBatman: The Animated Seriescreator Bruce Timm would seemingly invite these comparisons, withBatman: Caped Crusaderbeing billed as a spiritual successor toThe Animated Series.
While there were heavy expectations forCaped Crusaderto live up to an astronomical standard, it was also clear thatthe newBatmanseries would have to set itself apart from previous worksin some way. The series would deliver on this in many big ways, making significant changes to the canon of the original animated series and even comic lore to deliver drastically different takes on several iconic characters in the Batman orbit. One of the most glaring of these changes, other than the gender-swapped Penguin rechristened Oswalda Cobblepot, was the change in the origins of Harley Quinn.The Directwould report on the voice actress for the role, Jamie Chung, giving her view on the new iteration of the iconic villainess. “Well, I mean,” Chung said in opening the statement. “I kind of love the fact that it’s, it’s kind of a feminist role, I guess you could say.”
But I love that her pure existence, like you said, doesn’t revolve around a man. You know, I think they really flipped the switch with that, but I kind of loved hearing the origin story of her becoming, you know, a psychiatrist, and learning the ins and outs. I mean, that’s pretty common, right?
The voice actress also expressed her approval of the show letting fans in on Harley’s motivations in a big way. “I mean, in terms of the history of Harley Quinn, but, you know, you get to understand why she does the work, and she does the work because she wants to use and take all that information to manipulate her clients,” Chung says. “She really is like a Robin Hood of Gotham and you know, she takes from the rich and gives to herself, so she doesn’t need a sugar daddy. She’s just mind f——- all these people. She’s my hero.” This more complex character is one of the many outpourings ofthe creative freedom that got Timm so excited to work onCaped Crusaderfor a more mature audience, for better or worse.
The clean start offered to Harley inBatman:Caped Crusadersidesteps potentialcomplaints that her independence feels forced a laSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice League,which saw the Arkhamverse version of Harley take on a similar degree of independence with no explanation, shuffling fans from her mourning the loss of her Joker straight to this irreverent, unaffected attitude. However, this and every other change in the series will have to fight twice as hard to justify their existence when compared to Timm’s earlier work.Batman: The Animated Seriesdeviated from its source material often, but this was usually met with critical approval, and would even go on to create a new canon that was reflected in the comics going forward. The reworked origins of Mr. Freeze and Harley’s entire existence are the two most prominent examples of this. However, times have changed and fans aren’t quite so optimistic about change, nor any less precious about the iconic series.
Many fans hoped thatBatman: Caped Crusaderwould keep certain elements from the original animated series, and it would be disingenuous to assume that Harley’s original characterization wouldn’t be one of those things. Time will tell how this new Harley goes down with fans in the long run, but the new take on the iconic character is yet another point against the idea of Caped Crusader as a true successor toBatman: The Animated Series, for better or worse.
Batman: Caped Crusaderis currently available to stream on Prime Video.
Batman
Batman is one of the most popular and well-known superheroes of all time. Created in 1939 by Bob Kane and Bill Finger, Batman has evolved over the decades into a cultural icon.As a child, Bruce Wayne’s parents were murdered in front of him. Since that day, Bruce made it his mission to fight back against the criminal element in Gotham City. Taking on the appearance of what scares him most, Batman faces off against powerful villains like the Joker, Two-Face, Bane, and the Penguin.
