Of all the superheroes owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, it used to be the case that Batman was regarded as their crown jewel. They would zealously protect the brand, only have his content in-house, but now, things are changing a bit due to Amazon Prime Video.
Thanks to Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav’s laxer attitude about the company’s legacy content, the rival streaming service has been able to acquire the previously shelved Batman: Caped Crusader animated series and IGN is reporting they are also adding the Merry Little Batman film to their catalogue as well as a follow-up to the project focusing on the Bat-Family, too. The Merry Little Batman piece takes place around the Christmas season and will follow Bruce’s son Damian as he battles Batman’s rogue’s gallery at Wayne Manor in a style reminiscent of Home Alone while Bat-Family will look at everyday hero life as a child.
While some are happy about the projects finding a new home and not getting the Batgirl movie treatment, others are less than impressed. One Batman fan suggests the character would brood if he could see the work and another says the art is just awful and he cannot even tell what sort of vibe they were going for when the animators got together and began to assemble the production.
Others say they like the art style and are happy to be seeing more positive than negative comments surrounding the project’s first look. For a different fan (or critic, depending on how you look at it), it is not so much the project has any major issues, but instead, it is worth pondering why Alfred looks like the kind of animal people eat with their relatives during the winter season.
None of the projects have release dates as of this story’s filing. Batman: Caped Crusader will receive a two-season commitment and is intended to continue the legacy of Batman: The Animated Series. Bruce Timm, J.J. Abrams and Matt Reeves are involved behind the scenes and the show is apparently aiming to reinvent the character with strong storytelling and more nuanced roles. Whether that will be good enough for those who get angry at the existence of a one-off cartoon remains to be seen, however. As for Batman on the big screen, he will be in The Flash in June and The Batman 2 when it comes swooping into cinemas in 2025.