Batman: The Animated Series’ spiritual successor gets August release date on Prime Video, and it looks gorgeous

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Batman: Caped Crusader, a spiritual successor to beloved 1990s animated classic Batman: The Animated Series (B:TAS), will swoop onto TVs globally in August.

The Dark Knight’s latest animated adventure, which will air exclusively on Prime Video, is set to stealth its way onto Amazon’s main streaming service on Friday, August 1. All 10 episodes will arrive on launch day, as confirmed by an Amazon MGM Studios press release.

Alongside Batman: Caped Crusader‘s release date announcement, Prime Video also revealed a batch of first-look images – via the X/Twitter thread below – that show which iconic Batman characters will appear in the series:

Billed as a reimagining of the legendary vigilante’s mythology, Batman: Caped Crusader has some serious talent attached to it.

Bruce Timm, who co-created the hugely popular Batman: The Animated Series alongside Eric Radomski, is the sole showrunner on this pseudo-sequel. Renowned director J.J. Abrams (Star Trek, Lost) is also on board as co-creator and executive producer. Matt Reeves, who helmed 2022’s The Batman and is currently overseeing The Batman cinematic universe – which sits independent on James Gunn’s rebooted DC Cinematic Universe (DCU) – joins Abrams as co-creator and another executive producer. Esteemed comic book writer Ed Brubaker, who also penned episodes of Westworld, is head writer on the project.

As for what the show is about, here’s a story synopsis, courtesy of Amazon: “Welcome to Gotham City, where the corrupt outnumber the good, criminals run rampant, and law-abiding citizens live in a constant state of fear. Forged in the fire of tragedy, wealthy socialite Bruce Wayne becomes something both more and less than human – the Batman. His one-man crusade for justice attracts unexpected allies within the GCPD and City Hall, but his heroic actions spawn deadly, unforeseen ramifications.”

Why Batman: Caped Crusader won’t debut on Max

Some fans might be confused about Batman: Caped Crusader‘s exclusive launch on Prime Video. (Image credit: Warner Bros/HBO Max)

For those with, at the very least, a passing interest in one of DC’s most famous superheroes, the idea of seeing a Batman project on a platform that isn’t owned by Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) might come as a surprise.

So, why won’t Batman: Caped Crusader make its debut on Max, aka HBO Max’s successor, in the US? It was originally due to launch on the super streamer following its initial HBO Max reveal in May 2021. Both streaming platforms are owned by WBD, the parent company of DC Studios and DC Comics – and, by proxy, the entertainment behemoth that owns the rights to Batman. So far, then, so good.

However, in March 2023, it was confirmed that Batman: Caped Crusader wouldn’t be moving forward on Max following its apparent cancellation. WBD didn’t publicly comment on the show’s apparent shuttering but, with the studio hemorrhaging money at the time of the announcement, many observers took it as a sign that WBD was cancelling projects as a cost-cutting measure. Just look at the other anticipated productions it’s shelved over the past year, including its Batgirl film and Acme vs Coyote, as proof of that.

Thankfully, Caped Crusader was snapped up by Amazon, alongside some other Batman projects, such as Merry Little Batman, which arrived in November 2023, for Prime Video last April. Viewers who thought they’d never see Batman: Caped Crusader, then, were delighted that it didn’t suffer the same fate as its contemporaries. After this latest reveal, we don’t have much longer to wait for it to punch its way onto one of the world’s best streaming services, either.

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