‘Batman: Caped Crusader’ cartoon is one of the best Dark Knights

Now that’s the Batman I remember.
There’s been no shortage of Batmen over the past three decades, from Michael Keaton to Christian Bale to Ben Affleck (“Batfleck”) to Robert Pattinson, and from big-budget movie franchises to TV shows set in and around Gotham City, spinoffs, villains, sidekicks and everything in between. In the age of Hollywood remakes and intellectual property grabs, Batman is king.
So perhaps it was only a matter of time until we got something like Amazon’s “Batman: Caped Crusader” (now streaming, ★★★ out of four), an animated, noir take on the iconic superhero in the vein of the beloved “Batman: The Animated Series” and produced by J.J. Abrams and Matt Reeves (director of Pattinson’s bat-outing). This Batman lives in a Gotham City that resembles 1930s Los Angeles, has a gender-swapped Penguin causing trouble for him (voiced by Minnie Driver) and puts the “dark” squarely back in Dark Knight. But we’re not talking Zack Snyder dark, with lighting so bad you can’t see anything, but instead a moody, melancholy and even emotional tone. Yes, this cartoon Batman might be the most sensitive, nuanced version of the hero you’re likely to see.
The setup of the series (originally developed for HBO but offloaded to its streaming competitor in an apparent cost-saving move) is pretty simple. There’s crime and Gotham and there’s a man dressed as a giant bat trying to stop it, this time wearing a more classic, version of the costume, yellow utility belt and all. As voiced by Hamish Linklater (“Midnight Mass”), this Batman is gravelly and gruff, like so many of his predecessors, and the unmasked Bruce Wayne is slick and smooth-talking. He’s a simple man of means and a strong desire to fight crime.
Helped by his butler Alfred Pennyworth (Jason Watkins) and lawyer Barbara Gordon (Krystal Joy Brown), Batman goes after villains big and small, with a few season-long storylines and villains to keep you coming back for more. Driver’s Penguin sings and dances, an absolute delight; a pre-villainous Harley Quinn, voiced by Jamie Chung, offers psychological advice; and a smarmy Harvey Dent (Diedrich Bader) oozes with corruption. The ambiance of old Hollywood permeates the whole series, and not just in the episode about a missing movie star. The fight between good and evil has an appealing simplicity, even in a town as filled with gray areas as Gotham.
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Linklater has a solid, predictable performance as the voice of Batman, but the real talents in the series are the weekly guest stars. As the credits roll on each installment you get to enjoy a game of “which very famous person just did the voice of a Batman villain?” My personal favorite was Christina Ricci as Selina Kyle/Catwoman, a big-screen casting I would relish if the role weren’t currently taken by Zoe Kravitz.
The most delightful thing about “Caped” is just how enjoyable and easy it is to watch. It embraces its noir tone without becoming so depressing as to be painful to sit through. The little vigilantisms-of-the-week are tightly edited and interesting, with Bruce and sometimes his counterparts at the Gotham PD working cases to a satisfying end. Easter eggs abound for super fans, as well as plenty of explication for the more casual DC Comics viewer.
Do we need another Batman? Of course, not. Plenty of versions of the comic book character have saved and will save Gotham (hello, “The Batman Part II” arriving in 2026). Colin Farrell has a show about the Penguin coming to HBO. We are very potentially all Batman-ed out as a culture. But “Caped” isn’t so showy or loud that it can’t fit in among all these big-budget, big-screen Batman stories. It found a niche in its setting and runs with it in the most entertaining way possible. If you want a low-key version of the character that feels a little less overblown, this is the Batman for you.
If you want something bombastic, your wait for a big-screen version isn’t very long.