NOTE: This article obviously contains SPOILERS. Proceed at your own risk!
Official Summary
When children start going missing at a Harvey Dent campaign event, Batman’s sleuthing into the underbelly of a local carnival […] uncovers something far more sinister.
My Summary
Investigating the disappearance of several children at a local carnival, Batman uncovers a sinister conspiracy among the carnival’s performers. Meanwhile, Harvey Dent experiences the consequences after a crisis of ethics motivates him to double cross his criminal benefactor, Rupert Thorne.
Voice Cast
Hamish Linklater as Batman / Bruce Wayne
Mckenna Grace as Natalia Knight / Nocturna
Diedrich Bader as Harvey Dent
Jason Marsden as Gorman
Vincent Piazza as Tony Zito
Jason Watkins as Alfred Pennyworth, Carnival Baker
Cedric Yarbrough as Rupert Thorne, Waylon “Killer Croc” Jones, Judge
Donna Lynne Champlin as Dr. Leslie Thompkins
Sungwon Cho as Morris, Matt Milligan
Grey DeLisle as Julie Madison, The Bearded Lady
Juliet Donenfeld as Carrie
Amari McCoy as Stephie
Haley Joel Osment as Anton Knight
Carter Rockwood as Dickie
Henry Witcher as Jason
Commentary
It has been previously established that, in creating Batman: Caped Crusader, Executive Producer Bruce Timm was motivated by second chances. When discussing the reboot with fellow Executive Producer James Tucker, he was asked if “there [was] anything that you didn’t get to do the first time that you would rather do this time if you had the choice?” (qtd. in Schedeen). Upon reflection, Timm realized that the answer was yes and, as a result, Caped Crusader became a notably different animal than Batman: The Animated Series (BTAS), including anchoring the series firmly in the past, using more mature themes in the storylines (such as police corruption and brutality), and the inclusion of characters rejected previously, including Nocturna and the Gentleman Ghost. There is one other major deviation from the previous DCAU series, however, and that is the absence of Robin and other sidekicks.
In the comic books, Batman was originally a solo act for his first year of crimefighting, but in the interest of broadening the appeal of the character, the first Robin was introduced in 1940. Arguably, this decision was instrumental in establishing Batman’s enduring popularity, and the Dynamic Duo became a mainstay in the comics industry (in fact, the concept of the kid sidekick became almost mandatory at DC Comics, considering how the majority of their major characters had at least one). However, even as Robin made appearances with Batman both in comics and on television, it took away from the original concept, as the smiling, “old chum” Batman in the bright blue and gray suit was a far cry from the original Dark Knight. You know, the one intended to inflict terror upon the criminal scum of Gotham City? How scary can a crimefighter be when he’s got a twelve-year-old boy in green hot pants and elf shoes following him into battle?
Things began to take a turn in the 1970s, when the creative team of Dennis O’Neil and Neal Adams attempted to return to the character’s darker, noir roots, and this was expedited following the release of Frank Miller’s 1986 miniseries The Dark Knight Returns, which would go on to be a major influence on Tim Burton’s 1989 feature film. And while the Boy Wonder was considered in early drafts of both Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992), he was eventually written out. In Batman ’89, the abandoned storyboard sequence was later released as a special feature on the 2005 DVD (with BTAS veterans Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill providing the voices):
And, later, actor Marlon Wayans was cast in Returns as an adult auto mechanic who would become Robin to aid Batman, but he was eventually cut, as the script was already overstuffed with characters (though Wayans would still receive royalties on what would have been a two-picture deal had Burton done a third movie; Swann).
(This “will he or won’t he” drama did cause some problems for the creative team for BTAS, as—like with Catwoman and the Penguin—they would have most likely had to model Robin after the movie version. Said Executive Producer Alan Burnett, “For the longest time, Warner Bros. wasn’t sure if Robin would be in Batman Returns, so we waited. When they finally cut Robin from the movie, we went with Dick Grayson, the one with whom most people are familiar” [Jankiewicz].)
The Tim Burton movie aside, it is also worth mentioning that Bruce Timm was divided on the inclusion of Robin in BTAS from the beginning. In a 1993 interview with Wild Cartoon Kingdom, Timm admitted to the reporter “that if it were the animator’s choice, they wouldn’t have put Robin in the series in the first place” (Alvarez and Gore), and he would go on to discuss his trepidation with the Boy Wonder in the 2004 book Modern Masters, Volume Three: Bruce Timm:
MODERN MASTERS: I know you weren’t hot on using Robin in the show, but being a kids’ show the higher-ups wanted him there. How did you go about settling on his costume and which identity he would have?
BRUCE TIMM: Well, at the time, they had just updated Robin’s costume in the comics—maybe a year or two before. Neal Adams’ had designed the modern day outfit, which took him out of the…
MODERN MASTERS: It gave him long pants instead of the briefs.
BRUCE TIMM: Yeah, it gave him long pants and the ninja boots, the black cape, and all that stuff. We thought that was definitely a step in the right direction. If we had to use Robin, if we could give him a little more dignity, that would be a good thing. The little fairy boots and the bare legs is just— [LAUGHS] —it’s just too weird. That was our starting point.
MODERN MASTERS: Then you did what Denny O’Neil had done and sent Robin off to college.
BRUCE TIMM: We tried to keep him out of the show as much as possible. Ultimately, Robin’s a big part of the Batman mythos, and you kind of have to deal with him, but we really wanted to keep Batman a loner, and I think he works best that way. If he’s got Robin, then he has to talk, and we didn’t want that. We wanted to keep him as this creepy, remote, almost mythological figure—really more like a shadow than anything else.
Ultimately, I think Robin was a good thing for the show. It did the job that Robin’s supposed to do: he’s kind of an audience surrogate character. With his sense of humor, he brings a lighter touch to the show. Otherwise, it would have been just grim, grim, grim. It turned out okay. (qtd. in Nolen-Weathington)
In the end, Timm relented, and Robin became part of the supporting cast of the series, but his logic was mirrored elsewhere in said cast, as Batman / Bruce Wayne voice actor Kevin Conroy revealed in a 1993 Comics Scene interview:
[Voice actor Loren Lester is] great. I’m not sure how many episodes Robin has actually been in—about a dozen. I think he would like to have Robin in more episodes. He’s a very good guy; he’s a very good actor, and [he] does the role very well.
But they wanted to concentrate, as the movies have, on the Dark Knight aspect of Batman. It makes it more dramatic when he’s alone, in many of these situations. The lone hero kind of thing. Robin is a great character to have, periodically, but I don’t think you would want to make him a constant, because it diffuses some of the drama for Batman.
Initially relegated to a small handful of the first 65 episodes, the Fox network requested that for the second season—when the series shifted to Saturday morning and was renamed The Adventures of Batman & Robin—that Robin appear in every episode. Said Executive Producer Paul Dini in his 1998 book Batman: Animated, “they laid down the law—no story premise was to be considered unless it was either a Robin story or one in which the Boy Wonder played a key role” (qtd. in Dini and Kidd). This would be expanded when the property shifted to Kids’ WB! and became The New Batman Adventures (TNBA), as the new network wanted expanded roles for both Robin and Batgirl. As Timm recounted in the aforementioned 2004 interview:
The inclusion of Batgirl and Robin [into TNBA] was, again, influence from above. The consumer products division and the people at the WB wanted to make sure kids would watch the show, so they strongly suggested that we include Batgirl and Robin as a way of courting young girl audiences as well as young boys. At first, we were a little reluctant to do it, but then we started thinking why not? We liked the Batgirl character, and I certainly didn’t mind putting her in the show.
At that point, we reimagined Robin. Rather than just bringing Dick Grayson back, we reversed ourselves on our theories about Robin from the first season. The first season, we thought it didn’t really make sense to have a little boy going out into battle with Batman, so that’s why we made him older. It was the current trend in the comics as well. But we started thinking less literally and less logically about it and thinking more viscerally, that—going back to the original concept of Batman and Robin—Robin was supposed to be an audience surrogate so kids could imagine what it would be like to fight alongside Batman. It doesn’t make any logical sense—there’s no reason Batman would actually put a young boy in that kind of jeopardy—but viscerally there’s something about it that works.
So, we took that idea, and taking a cue from the comics, we used their current incarnation of the young Robin, Tim Drake, and incorporated him into the show. Which left us with “If we’ve got the new Tim Drake Robin, what happened to Dick Grayson?” And obviously the answer is he’s grown up and become Nightwing.
Strangely enough, I think that version of the Robin character, by splitting him up into two characters—one younger and one older—is much more interesting than the Robin we did in the original Batman: The Animated Series. I always felt like the original Robin we did was neither fish nor fowl. He wasn’t a little kid, and he wasn’t a grown-up, and he wasn’t dark, and he wasn’t light. By having a very young Robin, who’s a real smartass and a real ball of fire type of character, and having an older, more disillusioned, a little bit more pissed off Nightwing makes him a much more interesting character.
It certainly gave Loren Lester, the actor, more to work off of and a much more interesting character to play. I think his performance improved drastically as well. It was serendipity—it worked out really well. (qtd. in Nolen-Weathington)
In the end, the inclusion of the Robin characters proved beneficial, especially as it resulted in the Emmy Award-winning, two-part BTAS episode “Robin’s Reckoning” and the 2001 direct-to-video film Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, the latter dealing with the consequences of Batman utilizing child soldiers in his crusade. At best, Timm’s thoughts on the subject were mixed, saying in a 1993 interview that “[p]ersonally, I like Batman alone—the mysterious dark avenger of the night […] but, on the other hand, there’s just something classic about it when he and Robin team up” (qtd. in Funk). Regardless, when given the opportunity to take an alternate road in Caped Crusader—one featuring a more adult storyline that was not at all under the sway of children’s programming and toy companies—he finally had the opportunity to return Batman to being a solo act.
I say this with absolute certainty: Caped Crusader would not have worked had Robin been in the series. Among other things, the very presence of sidekick characters like Robin are meant to humanize the protagonist by allowing the audience to better relate to them. And while that may work for certain incarnations of Batman, it would be impossible here, as Timm intended this Dark Knight to be “aloof and almost inhuman” (qtd. in Breznican). He later added further clarification in a June 21, 2024 Anime Superhero post:
I just want him to be spooky. Unsettling. For me, it’s not enough to have his costume doing all the heavy lifting to inspire fear in the hearts of superstitious and cowardly criminals. I want his whole persona to feel weird and vaguely unearthly. (b.t.)
This version of Batman is supposed to be remote (or, at least, remote in at the beginning of the series). He has great difficulty connecting with allies like Jim Gordon, Barbara Gordon, and Renee Montoya. Even Alfred Pennyworth—his surrogate father—is kept at arm’s length for the entirety of Season One. Based on his lifestyle and general disposition, there’s no way he’s mentally capable to even care for a child, let alone train and team up with one, so being a court-appointed guardian for a kid sidekick is out of the question.
That said, while costumed appearances are a no-go, “Nocturne” was an excellent opportunity to reference a number of the Robins to appear over the course of Batman’s history. Also, by having four of them show up as victims of the villain of the week—the adolescent energy vampire, Natalia Knight—it reminds the audience that this not the Gotham City one would find in children’s daytime programming. There is no Broadcast Standards & Practices to plot armor them and protect them from all harm, and it’s likely that any Boy Wonder to hit Caped Crusader’s streets would eventually find themselves a red, green, and yellow smear on one. So, while Batman may be a protector of children, I wouldn’t expect him to be leading any into battle on this show.
Stray Observations
As previously discussed, Natalia Knight—better known as Nocturna in the DC Universe—first appeared in Detective Comics #529 (August 1983). A Bronze Age Batman villain, she was originally considered for BTAS, but the censors at Fox Kids objected to the creative team’s intended storyline, which would have involved vampirism and bloodletting.
Though identified in the closing credits as “Nocturna,” the character is never connected to that name in the episode.
The character of Dickie is obviously an analog for Dick Grayson, the first character to wear the mantle of Robin. First appearing in Detective Comics #38 (April 1940), he would later take on the costumed identity of Nightwing in Tales of the Teen Titans #44 (July 1984). He previously appeared, as both costumed identities, in BTAS and TNBA.
It is also worth mentioning that Dickie’s character design resembles the young, flashback Dick Grayson from the two-part BTAS episode “Robin’s Reckoning.”
Jason refers to Jason Todd, the second character to be Robin. First appearing in Batman #357 (March 1983), he would later adopt the Robin identity in Batman #366 (December 1983). Originally a carbon copy of Dick Grayson, the Post-Crisis Jason Todd became a street urchin who Batman took in after catching him attempting to steal the tires off the Batmobile. Infamously killed by the Joker during 1988’s Death in the Family storyline, he was later resurrected via the Lazarus Pit and returned as the Red Hood, purposely adopting the comic book Joker’s original costumed identity.
Originally having red hair in his initial appearances, Jason Todd was later designed to have black hair like Dick Grayson. During Grant Morrison’s Batman run, it was established that Batman made him dye his hair to resemble the previous Robin.
Attending the carnival as Bruce Wayne’s date, Julie Madison has the distinction of being the character’s initial, substantial love interest. Established in the Golden Age as a Gotham socialite and actor, she first appeared in Detective Comics #31 (September 1939).
Once again, we get a “cameo appearance” by the background characters that resemble Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen. They appeared previously in “The Night of the Hunters.”
Originally appearing in Detective Comics #457 (March 1976), Dr. Leslie Thompkins is presented here as head of Gotham City’s orphanage. Much like her comic book (and BTAS) counterpart, she is a doctor who worked previously with Thomas Wayne and, most likely, kept an eye on Bruce following his parents’ murder. Shown to be able to see through Bruce Wayne’s façade, it is possible that she may know of his secret life as Batman, as she does in other media.
Appearing alternately as Thief of Night, Night-Thief, or Night-Slayer; Anton Knight is presented here as a [possible] scientist, a [definite] carnival huckster, and a brother to Natalia. Making his comic book debut alongside Nocturna in Detective Comics #529 (August 1983), he was depicted as her criminal accomplice.
Later, when confessing to Batman, Anton Knight reveals that “[s]he has a rare affliction. I found a way for her to manage it. Draining others made her strong.” It is unclear whether she naturally grew up with this ability, or whether he changed her with his stage show science. We also don’t know whether she’s an actual vampire or just someone who drains energy and just happens to be allergic to sunlight.
In regard to her energy absorption abilities, it appears that Natalia Knight’s powers follow Parasite rules (as depicted in STAS episodes such as “Feeding Time”) and not Morgaine Le Fay rules (as depicted in the two-part Justice League episode “A Knight of Shadows”). Like the Parasite, Natalia can temporarily steal another’s energy, leaving them stunned and lethargic, but her borrowed power will fade around the same time that it regenerates within the original victim; it is unknown if prolonged contact is fatal. However, Natalia only gains physical strength from the transaction, and she does not appear to steal abilities, memories, or superpowers. In contrast, Morgaine Le Fay steals a person’s life force, literally draining them of their youth and vitality, reducing them to an elderly husk.
Natalia’s ability to ”unhinge” her jaw is reminiscent of a snake, or perhaps the Reapers from Blade II.
To really hammer home the vampiric connection, the highlight in her black hair resembles a bat silhouette … or Batman’s logo.
Stephie refers to Stephanie Brown, the daughter of longtime Batman villain Cluemaster who adopted the costumed identity of Spoiler in Detective Comics #647 (August 1992). While most often operating as Spoiler, she has also briefly served as the fourth Robin, starting in Robin #126 (July 2004), and the third Batgirl, starting in Batgirl #1 (October 2009).
This Bruce Wayne’s inability to communicate with people is what got him beat up by the carnival workers. He was looking for a missing girl on behalf of Dr. Leslie Thompkins, but he came off sounding like a pervert looking to abduct a girl.
Waylon is, of course, Waylon ”Killer Croc” Jones, the longtime Batman enemy who made his first appearance in Detective Comics #523 (February 1983). Often depicted as having a background that included a stint in a freak show, his presence at the carnival is a natural fit. On a final note, as he is voiced here by Cedric Yarbrough, this is the first time that this traditionally Black character is voiced by a Black actor in a Bruce Timm-produced Batman television series (he was previously voiced by Aron Kincaid on BTAS and Brooks Gardner on TNBA).
Alfred’s book—Alias the Gray Ghost—is a reference to the Gray Ghost, The Shadow analogue from the BTAS episode “Beware the Gray Ghost.” In addition, the author Max Grantwell refers to Maxwell Grant, a pen name used by multiple authors who wrote The Shadow pulp magazine stories from the 1930s to 1960s.
Armed with her trademark slingshot, Carrie is obviously Carrie Kelly, the girl who took on the identity of Robin in Frank Miller’s seminal 1986 miniseries, The Dark Knight Returns. A slightly older version of Carrie also made an appearance in the TNBA episode “Legends of the Dark Knight.”
I like how Carrie holds onto the edge of Batman’s cape as they walk back to the carnival.
In Harvey Dent-related news, this episode saw the district attorney accept a large “campaign contribution” from crime boss Rupert Thorne, as well as a promise to plant some compromising material about Mayor Jessop in the press prior to the election (considering how Jessop is in league with the mob, God only knows what dirt Thorne has on him). In exchange for this eleventh hour “October surprise,” Thorne asks Dent to drop charges against Matt Milligan, a conman who is apparently in the mobster’s employ. However, with Thorne’s donation in his pocket, Dent either has 1) a moment of conscience or 2) a moment of hubris, and he decides to pursue the case against Milligan anyway. Unless he was planning to give the money back, my only thought is that he was hoping to win the election and to take Thorne out quickly before their connection could be revealed. Unfortunately, Tony Zito got to him first, thus setting up the season’s final two episodes.
Works Cited
Alvarez, Gabriel and Chris Gore. “Batman Reanimated.” Wild Cartoon Kingdom. 1993. 52-65. Print.
Breznican, Anthony. “Meet the New Voices of Batman, Harley Quinn, and Catwoman: Exclusive.” Vanity Fair. Condé Nast. 20 Jun. 2024. Web. 20 Jun. 2024. <https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/story/batman-caped-crusader-voices>.
b.t. Comment on “’Batman: Caped Crusader (Amazon Prime)’ Animated Series News & Discussion Part 2 (Spoilers).” Anime Superhero. XenForo Ltd. 21 Jun. 2024. <https://animesuperhero.com/forums/threads/batman-caped-crusader-amazon-prime-animated-series-news-discussion-part-2-spoilers.5797216/page-16#post-87952981>. Accessed 3 Jul. 2024.
Funk, Joe. “The Dark Knight Returns … Again!!!” Hero Special Edition—Batman: From Dark Knight to Knightfall. 1993. 60-69. Print.
Jankiewicz, Pat. “Animated Knights: Grim & Avenging, Batman Returns to the Cartoon Night.” Comics Scene. Oct. 1992. 33-40, 60. Print.
Miller, Bob. “The Noble Voice: In an Animated Gotham City, Kevin Conroy Speaks Up.” Comics Scene. Feb. 1993. 36-41, 60. Print.
Nolen-Weathington, Eric. Modern Masters, Volume Three: Bruce Timm. Raleigh: TwoMorrows Publishing, 2004. Print.
Schedeen, Jesse. “Batman : Caped Crusader Exclusive Trailer.” IGN. IGN. 26 Jun. 2024. Web. 27 Jun. 2024. <https://www.ign.com/articles/batman-caped-crusader-trailer-plot-cast-release-date-interview?utm_source=twitter>.
Swann, Erik. “The Story Behind How Marlon Wayans Nearly Played Robin in Tim Burton’s Batman Returns.” Cinemablend. Future US, Inc. 22 Oct. 2023. Web. 3 Dec. 2024. <https://www.cinemablend.com/superheroes/batman/marlon-wayans-nearly-robin-tim-burton-batman-returns>.
Images courtesy of Prime Video, Warner Bros. Discovery, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, and DC Comics. YouTube video courtesy of the 1989BatmanMovie channel.
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