An animated Batman is coming back, but it's not like anything we've ever seen before. We talked a bit with producers Glen Murakami and Mitch Watson about the new show Beware The Batman and how different it will be.
First up, Mitch answered the question about how the show is differentiating itself from previous shows. He said "the show will differ in three prominent ways. One, it's the first CGI Batman series that's been done. Two, we're taking Batman further back into his history as a detective. And three, you're not going to see any villains that you've seen before. There are all new villains that have been pulled from the DC Universe. Some well know, others not so much."
Talking about the detective part a little more, he also added that the show will be more like a procedural and although Batman still has his gadgets and fights and "kicks major ass" it's really about a guy putting together pieces of a puzzle to ultimately solve a crime.
In Beware the Batman, the two say that their timing sees Bruce about 5 years into his work as batman and essentially he has three personalities. There's public Bruce Wayne, an altruistic guy, who they say is based on Richard Branson, who is just trying to do good with his company. Then there's the private Bruce who is introspective and only really talks to Alfred. Finally there is Batman, who they say is obsessed with being a crime fighter. He's super focused, concise, and is almost machine like in trying to solve everything.
At all points though "he can't turn off the aspect of his personality that makes him see crime everywhere." They mentioned one scene where he is at a dinner and is unable to hold a conversation because he's looking over their shoulder. Murakami said that ever since his parents died "he's put all his time, effort, and resources into becoming Batman.
Although he may be more of an introvert they also made it clear that this is not a dark and brooding Batman that we've seen in the past. He is "more positive and trying to deal with what has happened to him rather than being sad or sulking." He's very proactive and actively solving crimes. He chose what he did [becoming Batman] and in their version of the story is saved his life.
One big addition that is being made is the character Katana, a sidekick of sorts that comes from Batman and the Outsiders. Why did they make this decision? The simple answer they say is that they "wanted to do something different, not trying to really change the canon but give it a new dynamic" that would be something people haven't seen before.
Katana is a new character and they completely deconstructed her storyline, why she's in the show and they say mention that there is a real reason she's in the show that fits with the whole story. Murakami, who's previously worked on other batman shows was also looking at what other people were doing with character that decided that their show needed to be completely different. He said "You can't keep doing the same thing."
With so many iterations of Batman, they said the reason that he keeps coming back in different ways is because "the core of the character is solid," and "he's relatable". The story is "pure good vs. evil and people gravitate to it." They think its amazing that there can be so many takes on the character than prevent it from every getting stale.
Beware the Batman joins the DC Nation block on Cartoon Network in Spring 2013.
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