- Rating: 3.5/5 Stars
- Verdict: The stylish animated series “Batman: Caped Crusader” continues its unique approach to the iconic DC superhero in its second season. The show returns to its moody, noir-inspired version of Gotham City for a season of exciting and creative superhero adventures.
- Premiere date/time: All 10 episodes of season 2 streaming July 31
- Where to watch: Stream on Prime Video
I wouldn’t disagree with anyone who argues that we don’t need more versions of Batman in pop culture. Yet that theoretical person would be missing out on one of the best takes on the legendary DC Comics superhero by skipping the Prime Video animated series “Batman: Caped Crusader.”
Even for fans who are suffering from Batman fatigue, “Caped Crusader” offers a clever, stylish and artistically ambitious take on the oft-adapted character, making smart changes to established Batman canon while sticking to the core of what makes the Dark Knight such an enduring figure in modern mythology.
The new second season continues that approach, with a balance of standalone stories and overarching plotlines in its 10 episodes. It’s been two years since the previous season premiered, but the new season quickly wraps up the hanging threads from the reign of crime boss Rupert Thorne (Cedric Yarbrough), allowing Batman (Hamish Linklater) and the Gotham City police force to move on to other threats. The supporting characters are a mix of familiar faces and new additions, all handled with the same combination of vintage and progressive sensibilities that worked so well in the first season.
‘Batman: Caped Crusader’ balances classic and modern superhero storytelling
The main precursor to “Caped Crusader” is the beloved 1990s show “Batman: The Animated Series,” whose co-creator Bruce Timm also created “Caped Crusader.” This is a more adult take on Timm’s moody, art deco-style Batman series, but it operates in the same nebulous time period somewhere between the 1930s and the 1950s, with retro fashions, technology and dialogue. The visuals also recall Tim Burton’s two live-action Batman movies, and the tone is serious without feeling overly somber. There’s deadly violence and occasional swearing, but “Caped Crusader” isn’t just edgy for its own sake.
This version of Batman is more aloof than brooding, and Linklater plays him with a gruff demeanor that splits the difference between Christian Bale in the Christopher Nolan movies and Kevin Conroy in various animated incarnations. He has no sidekicks and essentially no allies, even though he reluctantly collaborates with Commissioner James Gordon (Eric Morgan Stuart) and Detective Renee Montoya (Michelle C. Bonilla) of the GCPD, and Gordon’s public defender daughter Barbara (Krystal Joy Brown). His relationship with his butler Alfred Pennyworth (Jason Watkins) is similarly distant, although Alfred occasionally reaches beyond Batman’s rough exterior to the human side of his alter ego Bruce Wayne.
Those cracks are still fairly infrequent in the second season, even as Batman allows himself to accept more help from fellow crime-fighters. Both Montoya and Barbara frequently take the spotlight as fellow protagonists, engaged in their own investigations into nefarious activities.
Although it’s set in what looks like the past, “Caped Crusader” takes place in a more accepting world, where the openly gay Montoya can flirt with Barbara and also maintain a tragic romance with psychiatrist-turned-antihero Harley Quinn (Jamie Chung). Gotham City may still be plagued by constant crime, but it’s also a place of welcome diversity.
‘Batman: Caped Crusader’ offers exciting, intelligent adventures
With Rupert Thorne out of the way, the second season takes its time building up a new major antagonist, bringing in Batman’s most famous foe, the Joker (Matthew Needham), who makes brief, shadowy appearances before taking center stage in the two-part finale. Like all of the villains introduced on the show, the Joker has been slightly tweaked, and Needham’s take on the character speaks in a vaguely Germanic accent, making grand, gloomy pronouncements that sound a bit like Werner Herzog.
This season also features its take on the Riddler (Dave Franco) as more of a basic psychopath, who gets his name not from posing brain-teasers, but from the way he riddles crime scenes with bullets. He’s somewhat underwhelming, and the show often succeeds more with lesser-known characters.
One of the best episodes of the season features obscure antagonist Roxy Rocket (Wunmi Mosaku), whose jet pack-powered attacks play up the connections to classic adventure serials. Both Harley and potential kid sidekick Carrie Kelly (Juliet Donenfeld) make satisfying returns, slowly building up a set of recurring characters.
Lots of characters don’t recur, though, because “Caped Crusader” carries a real sense of danger, never hesitating to kill off either villains or their targets, which heightens the stakes. Like fellow Prime Video superhero series “Spider-Noir,” “Caped Crusader” embraces the seediness and moral ambiguity of film noir, playing up the connections to classic Hollywood via vintage-style title cards. It’s a perfect fit for Batman, who is at his core a detective, and it makes Gotham City a place that’s as alluring as it is scary.
Verdict: ‘Batman: Caped Crusader’ remains a top-notch take on the Dark Knight
Batman has a long history of comic-book stories that place him in slightly altered settings and time periods, and “Caped Crusader” builds on that tradition, with comic book veterans J.M. DeMatteis, Greg Rucka, and sisters Julie and Shawna Benson among this season’s writers. The show creates a fully realized world that is both timeless and fresh, while keeping its narrative gritty and grounded.
As Matt Reeves’ live-action film “The Batman: Part II” keeps getting delayed, and James Gunn puts off casting his own Batman for the DC Universe movies, “Caped Crusader” has quietly emerged as the greatest current onscreen version of the character. The confident and inventive storytelling continues in this season, proving that it’s always possible to make this iconic character feel exciting and vital again.
"Batman: Caped Crusader” season 2 premieres July 31 on Prime Video
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