Warning: SPOILERS for Batman: Caped Crusader Season 1 are ahead!
A little over three years ago, Warner Bros. Animation announced that Bruce Timm, one of the main creative minds behind Batman: The Animated Series, one of the best animated TV shows of all time, would be delivering a new take on this DC Comics superhero’s mythology with Batman: Caped Crusader. Now that series is finally available to watch, provided you have an Amazon Prime Video subscription. Though it never slips into an R-rated territory, Caped Crusader is definitely a more mature and intense exploration of the Hamish Linklater-voiced Bruce Wayne’s mission to protect Gotham City compared to BTAS.
One of the best ways this is exemplified is through the season-long arc chronicling Harvey Dent’s fall from grace and becoming Two-Face. Frankly, it reminded me of how The Dark Knight handled Aaron Eckhart’s version of the character in 2008, and I’m pleased with how Caped Crusader stuck the landing with this story. But for as great as this aspect of the show was, I’d argue it doesn’t come anywhere close to the the ending of Caped Crusader Season 1, because another prominent member of Batman’s rogues gallery has been set up to wreak havoc in Season 2.
Two-Face Isn’t A Supervillain, He Just Wants Revenge
In sharp contrast with how Harvey Dent is usually depicted, Batman: Caped Crusader’s version of the character doesn’t start out as the squeaky clean district attorney who the people of Gotham see as their knight in shining armor. Instead, this Harvey, voiced by Diedrich Bader (who’s previously voiced Batman in Batman: The Brave and the Bold and Harley Quinn) is rather corrupt, frequently uses his job to help rich criminals avoid getting jail time in exchange for favors and boosting his political profile. But as it turns out, there are lines even Caped Crusader’s Harvey won’t cross, and he ends up paying for it.
Shortly after the season’s halfway point, Harvey Dent’s mayoral campaign takes a major nosedive, leaving him one of two choices: drop out of the race or accept crime boss Rupert Thorne’s money and resources to help him win the election. While Harvey initially balks at Thorne’s proposition, as he doesn’t like to dive that deep into the corruption pool, eventually he feels has has no other choice but to accept it. However, when Harvey refused to drop a case on Thorne’s orders, Thorne sent his henchman Tony Zitto to throw acid in the district attorney’s face for double crossing him.
Obviously Harvey Dent survives the attack and finds himself with a half-scarred face, and while his friend Bruce Wayne tries to coax him back out into the world, Harvey has grown mentally unstable and paranoid. This leads to him embarking to on a mission to exact revenge on those who hurt him, starting with setting Tony’s apartment on fire while he’s still inside. He’s even bold enough to try to kill Rupert Thorne (and his son) at his mansion, but Batman stops him just in time.
Batman: Caped Crusader’s Harvey Dent never goes so far as to don a weird-looking suit and commit crimes revolving around the number 2. This is a much more sympathetic portrayal of the character who still has that duality added to his personality because he occasionally expresses remorse at the crimes he’s committing. Ultimately, this Harvey never actually uses the Two-Face name, and instead dies a hero in the Season 1 finale when he takes a bullet meant for Barbara Gordon. I appreciate that the series went this route with him instead, and it’s now one of my favorite Two-Face portrayals.
The Joker Is Already On A Murder Spree In Gotham City
Before Batman: Caped Crusader Season 1 ends, we look in on a remote shack where a man is heard laughing uncontrollably. Inside, there are four bodes with different types of mangled expressions on their faces, and then we see the man laughing, strapped to a chair and clearly in agony until he dies with a horrific grin on his face. Yes, folks, The Joker is in town, although as seen above, only his eyes are shown as he lurks in the shadows, and all we hear him say is “Perfect,” a reaction to finally getting the right kind of facial expression with his poison.
Going into Batman: Caped Crusader Season 1, it was unclear if Joker would have any role to play considering that this show’s version of Dr. Harleen Quinzel came into the Harley Quinn identity on her own. In hindsight though, perhaps it was foolish to think that this show wouldn’t involve the Clown Prince of Crime in some way, even though it came at the last minute… literally! No actor is listed for Joker in the credits, so it’s unclear if the person who voiced him here will continue doing so in Season 2 or if this was just a placeholder voice.
In any case, I’m already unsettled by Caped Crusader’s Joker after just a few seconds. This is one of the most disturbing versions of Joker venom I’ve seen, on par with the animated film adaptation of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and the TV series Gotham. Now that he’s perfected his formula, you know he’s going to start dispersing it across Gotham City, so by the time Batman learns about this new villain and tries to stop him, there will already be major casualties. And don’t forget, this is just one of the many weapons at Joker’s disposal, including electric joy buzzer, acid-spraying flower and the lethal ‘BANG!’ dart gun, if not just shooting people the old fashioned way or beating them to death with a crowbar.
Amazon Prime Video hasn’t announced yet when Batman: Caped Crusader Season 2 will be released, but we’ll share that information, along with any other key details about the next batch of episodes, once it’s available. In the meantime, look through the other best Amazon Prime original shows to check out once you’re done watching Caped Crusader Season 1.
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