Of all the Batman content available, choosing your next piece of Dark Knight media to consume can be challenging. However, if you haven’t yet watched Caped Crusader, you’re in for a treat!
Batman is one of the most popular characters in all of fiction. The iconic DC hero has showed up in all sorts of media beyond the comics medium, where he was introduced to the world in the late ’30s. Be it animated or live-action, movies, TV shows, games, novels, and even audio dramas — no matter where you turn, the Dark Knight is there, waiting.
So naturally, when it comes to consuming Batman stories, there’s a gluttony of options to choose from. Of course, you’ve got innumerable graphic novels, for which I recommend Year One, The Dark Knight Returns, The Long Halloween, and The Killing Joke. Then there’s many stellar movies, such as Batman (1989), Christopher Nolan’s seminal The Dark Knight trilogy, and The Batman (2022). Not to mention the original Animated Series, the award-winning games, etc, etc.
I could talk for hours about the excellence and domination of Batman in the media, but it’d take me forever to actually get to the point I am making.
Amid the vast, almost labyrinthine, array of Batman stories out there, it can be hard to find out which ones are worth your time, and conversely, which ones aren’t. For every The Dark Knight there’s a Batman & Robin. Today, I want to shine the spotlight on Prime Video’s superb 2024 animated series Batman: Caped Crusader.
Batman: Caped Crusader is a show you need to be watching!
So what is Batman: Caped Crusader? The 10-episode series is written by comics legend Ed Brubaker, and produced by Matt Reeves (The Batman), J.J. Abrams and Bruce Timm (creator of Batman: The Animated Series). So from the outset, you know you’re in safe hands.
It sets the scene in 1940s Gotham, chronicling the earlier days of Bruce Wayne’s facade. Unlike other more modern Batman stories, which favour a contemporary setting, Caped Crusader relishes in the atmospheric, dark noir setting of its old-school Gotham. In taking place at this time, it harkens back to the roots of the hero; of course, the first Batman comics were written in the 1940s.
The titular character is voiced excellently by Hamish Linklater, who delivers some truly brooding voice work, although noticeably not quite as grizzly as other incarnations of the character. Linklater’s terrific performance comes as no real surprise. I mean, he’s the son of esteemed vocal coach Kristin Linklater, who mentored some of the world’s finest voice actors, including Sir Patrick Stewart.
In season 1, Batman is still in his infancy, with Wayne very much getting to grips with his newfound persona. As a result, the GCPD, including Police Commissioner Gordon, are still notably intimidated by his presence.
And no Batman story is complete without equally good villains. This series reimagines the Batman mythos, but not in a bad way; instead, it weaves together stories that are novel, while still retaining a sense of familiarity. For instance, in episode 1, we learn that The Penguin is no longer Oswald Cobblepot. Now she’s Oswalda Cobblepot. I welcomed this change, although it wasn’t my favorite aspect of the show. Even so, Caped Crusader shone as it went on, with frankly outstanding episodes featuring such villains as Clayface and the Gentleman Ghost.
In terms of reviews, Batman: Caped Crusader boasts an illustrious 94% on Rotten Tomatoes. It also holds a respectable (but in my opinion, quite low) 7.3/10 on IMDb. In my personal opinion, I think it could well be the best piece of Batman media we’ve seen since the seminal Christopher Nolan trilogy. There’s so much to love about this show, and it still feels like we’re only just getting started.
In the last few years, we’ve seen some incredible animated superhero shows. I mean, they’ve been around for decades, but with shows like Caped Crusader, X-Men ’97, and Invincible — it feels like we’re entering a new golden age.
Caped Crusader returns for its second season in 2025!
Late last year, we got confirmation (and a little script tease) that season 2 is officially on the way. There’s no official release date yet, but we can expect the next batch of episodes to drop sometime in 2025. When the series was first announced, it was picked up for two seasons. Whether we’ll get more beyond season 2 is a mystery, but if we don’t, it’d be a travesty in my mind.
Batman: Caped Crusader season 1 is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video. You can find it here.
