Well, as much as I hate to end this series of profiles of Batman animated programs on a down note, I kind of have no other option. The most recent Bat-toon was a flop. Beware the Batman debuted on Saturday mornings on Cartoon Network in the summer of 2013. This was an all-CGI creation, similar to the prior show, Green Lantern: The Animated Series.
Check out the opening credits below:
Glen Murakami (who had worked as a producer on Batman Beyond), Sam Register (the former vice president of Cartoon Network), Mitch Watson, and Butch Lukic developed Beware the Batman. The creators intentionally avoided using Batman’s classic Rogues Gallery. Perhaps because Batman: The Brave and the Bold so embraced the past, the creators of Beware the Batman chose to more closely reflect the then-modern comic books.
However, like The Batman before it, this series depicted a younger Bruce Wayne (voiced by Anthony Ruivivar), just a few years into his crime-fighting career. James Gordon (Kurtwood Smith) was initially just a lieutenant but became commissioner over the course of the first (and only) season. Most interestingly, Alfred (JB Blanc, right) was depicted as a Jason Statham-like former MI6 agent and total badass, like an older version of his recent depiction on the HBO Max series Pennyworth.
Fans complained about an early poster touting the series because Alfred was depicted wielding two pistols. Many felt was too much of a change from his usual depiction. However, in more recent times, Alfred’s MI6 past has factored more heavily into the comics and in adaptations.
Barbara Gordon (Tara Strong) appeared. But rather than setting her up to become Batgirl, she was established as Oracle.
Beware the Batman did not have a Robin. Instead, the Outsiders character Katana/Tatsu Yamashiro (Sumalee Montano) was set up as Bruce’s bodyguard and Batman’s crime-fighting partner.
Throughout the first season, the character Metamorpho (Adam Baldwin) was introduced. In the end, it was hinted that this series would make The Outsiders a larger part in future episodes (which never materialized).
Michael Holt (Gary Anthony Williams) appeared in the first episode. In the comics, he is the superhero Mister Terrific, but he never adopted that guise in this series.
The character Paul Kirk/The Manhunter (Xander Berkeley) did appear. This character teamed up with Batman frequently in the 1970s, but this version also integrated references to the robotic Manhunters from the Green Lantern comics.
Robin Atkin Downes voiced Dr. Kirk Langstrom/Man-Bat, an anti-hero that has both fought and befriended Batman in the comics and in past adaptations. (Hey, now HE would make a cool character in the movies! Take note, Warner Bros.!) It’s implied that he would be part of The Outsiders in future episodes.
As far as the villains, some familiar faces showed up including Ra’s al-Ghul (Lance Reddick), Lady Shiva (Finola Hughes), Killer Croc (Wade Williams), Deathstroke (Robin Atkin Downes), and Harvey Dent/Two-Face (Christopher McDonald).
But the show mainly showcased foes that had never been depicted outside of the comics. Anarky (Wallace Langham), who was presented as an evil twist on Batman, was set up as the main villain.
The first episode pitted the Dark Knight against two characters that had only recently been introduced in the comics — Lazlo Valentin/Professor Pyg (Brian George) and Mister Toad (Udo Kier). The characters were considerably toned down from the comics with their activities influenced by the children’s novel The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame.
Another character influenced by a children’s story was Humpty Dumpty (Matt L. Jones). Essentially, he was a variation on the Toy Man, using giant toy soldiers in his crimes.
Catwoman and Poison Ivy never appeared on Beware the Batman. In their place, Magpie (Grey DeLisle-Griffin) was used as the seductive female villain who alternately wanted to shag Batman and kill him.
Mob boss Tobias Whale (Michael-Leon Wooley) also factored in heavily. In the comics and on The CW’s live-action series Black Lightning, he is mainly a foe of that character. But it just so happens that Black Lightning is a member of The Outsiders, so it’s pretty much a given that he would have been introduced in the second season.
But as I stated, there wasn’t a second season of Beware the Batman. In fact, it didn’t seem as though viewers would even get to see all of Season 1!
Beware the Batman and Teen Titans GO! both appeared as part of the Saturday morning DC Nation block, replacing two beloved programs, Young Justice and Green Lantern: The Animated Series, which were unceremoniously cancelled with cliffhanger endings. But both failed to sell enough toys, so Mattel pulled funding. (The Green Lantern: TAS toys never even got made because licensing based on the live-action movie was still clogging store pegs.)
At the time, there were no toys based on either Beware the Batman or Teen Titans GO!, so it seems that everything was based on ratings. Teen Titans GO! was an instant smash and is still running to this day and even got a theatrical movie, the shockingly great Teen Titans GO! to the Movies. And there have since been toys based on it.
Beware the Batman debuted on July 13, 2013. Eleven episodes aired until October 5 of that year. And then… it was gone.
Eventually, Cartoon Network aired the last 15 episodes as part of its Adult Swim/Toonami block from July-September 2014. There was no real explanation as to why the show was yanked in the first place. Ultimately, it was disclosed that the show was deemed a “financial failure.” There wasn’t much licensing, although there had been a McDonald’s Happy Meal tie-in, so it’s safe to assume just not enough people were watching it and CN wasn’t making enough from ad revenue.
The show performed so poorly even in the Toonami time slot (which was after midnight in most markets), that the final seven episodes were burned off as a marathon on September 28, 2014.
HOW did a Batman animated series fail? There is no quantifiable explanation. It may have been the CGI art style that viewers didn’t connect with. It may have been the lack of recognizable villains. That would be a shame, though, because the creators took a chance and tried something new rather than trotting out The Joker, Penguin, and Catwoman for the umpteenth time. The lack of a Batgirl or Robin could also be part of the lack of appeal.
It’s also possible that the heavy emphasis on organized crime was a bit too gritty for children.
Overall, this is a darker take than most, both in terms of tone and artwork. That was in keeping with the Christopher Nolan trilogy, but those weren’t suitable for kids either.
So what does that say about the future? The next Batman ‘toon will be Batman: Caped Crusader, produced by Matt Reeves, director of the upcoming live-action film The Batman (which also doesn’t look like kiddie fare) along with J.J. Abrams and Paul Dini. They have stated that Caped Crusader will have a “cinematic” and “film noir” feel, which sounds a lot like Batman: The Animated Series. It’s also likely that Reeves’ movie will be an influence. Comic scribe Ed Brubaker will serve as the show’s head writer.
Batman: Caped Crusader will be available next year on HBO Max and Cartoon Network.
Anyway, doubling back to the history of Batman in animation, the Dark Knight has also appeared on Static Shock!, Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs, Teen Titans, Krypto the Superdog, Young Justice, Robot Chicken, Teen Titans GO!, Justice League Action, DC Superhero Girls, Harley Quinn, and Scooby-Doo and Guess Who, but those were guest or supporting roles.
This basically covers all of the major animated iterations of Bruce Wayne. What do you think? Which Batman series is your favorite animated incarnation?
