The latest entry in the animated Batman pantheon doesn't shy away from making some big changes. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down the biggest changes to the Batman mythos in the latest animated series, “Batman: Caped Crusader”.
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00:00Whoever nabs Batman will make me very happy, and whoever doesn't is dead.
00:06Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down the biggest changes to the Batman mythos
00:11in the latest animated series, Batman Caped Crusader.
00:14It's Gotham, Pennyworth. Does the corruption really surprise you?
00:22The trend throughout comic books is to keep the setting moving so that the characters are always in the present day,
00:27but Caped Crusader opted for a much more retro approach, putting Batman back in the 1940s for this noir-inspired cartoon.
00:34Well, I say this Batman's got a lot of moxie. Now, times someone gave these cops a licking.
00:39It keeps a lot of the art deco leanings people loved in Batman the Animated Series and the Burton movies
00:44for one of the most stylish DC animated outings in recent memory.
00:48Who's behind those explosions?
00:50Oh, God. Who? What are you?
00:53People expecting another Batman cartoon updated for the modern day may be disappointed,
00:58but the show is so good that we doubt that disappointment will last for long.
01:02If you're lying to me, I'll be back.
01:07Who knew that sending Batman back in time to his original decade was the fresh take viewers were craving?
01:13Well, Bruce Timm, obviously.
01:16Number nine, The Penguin.
01:18This early change is one of the bigger ones that's had people talking,
01:21as Oswald Cobblepot has been gender-flipped to be a female crime boss, Oswalda Cobblepot.
01:37But the change isn't as drastic as you might think.
01:40She still looks and behaves like the penguin we're all familiar with,
01:43running the Iceberg Lounge from a yacht in Gotham's Harbor.
01:46If it isn't Detective Arnold Flass.
01:48Mm-mm, sugar.
01:50You can frisk me any day of the week.
01:53And in typical Penguin style, she uses an umbrella for a weapon
01:57and wants to be the city's biggest crime boss,
01:59kick-starting the mob storyline that runs through the entire season.
02:03Hey, Dracula, you asked for it.
02:08Penguin is arguably the last character you'd expect to be changed like this,
02:12which draws you in as you think, if they change this, what else is different?
02:16See that? And now we all...
02:21...lose.
02:22Number eight, The Gordons.
02:24It's not like I'm having fun here either, Barbara.
02:27But the commissioner can't exactly skip a police fundraiser.
02:30Jim and Barbara Gordon are different from their most often seen versions in a few ways.
02:35First, they're both black now.
02:36This isn't too surprising since both The Batman and the cancelled Batgirl movie
02:40already cast black actors in the role,
02:42with Jeffrey Wright and Leslie Grace respectively taking them on.
02:45Commissioner Gordon.
02:47Harvey, you know my daughter?
02:49Know her?
02:50If I had my way, this little spitfire would be working for me in the DA's office.
02:54Barbara is also a lawyer.
02:55It makes sense that her profession would need to be changed
02:58since she's usually a computer specialist
03:00and that wouldn't be too useful in the 1940s.
03:02Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, with all due respect,
03:06the prosecution's case is absurd.
03:09Interestingly though, Caped Crusader tackles Batman's early career,
03:12Jim Gordon is already the commissioner
03:14and widely regarded as Gotham's only trustworthy cop.
03:18Some things never change.
03:20Number seven, Catwoman.
03:22Now these are pearls.
03:25Hard to imagine anything more beautiful.
03:27Not that hard.
03:28Christina Ricci guest starred as Selina Kyle in this memorable episode
03:32as Batman's crime-fighting inadvertently inspires her to don a cat-themed costume
03:36and starts stealing Gotham's most coveted jewels.
03:39Selina, they're going to turn off the electricity soon.
03:42And I too would like to be paid again someday.
03:45Hey, it's not my fault Daddy left us here with Bubkis, is it?
03:49Usually, but not always, Catwoman is stealing for the thrill of it.
03:53But here, she's stealing because she actually needs the money
03:56thanks to her father being in prison.
03:58Though she definitely enjoys it too.
04:00In some other well-known versions of Catwoman's origin story,
04:03like in Year One or even in Gotham,
04:05she's never rich, instead growing up on the streets.
04:08Hi.
04:10Oof.
04:11You're a thousand times sexier than that sketch in the paper.
04:14Who are you?
04:15Catwoman, dear.
04:17Obviously.
04:18But the shallow rich girl who turns to cat-themed crime
04:21is definitely reminiscent of the character's pulpy beginnings in the Golden Age.
04:25What can I say?
04:26You inspire me.
04:29Number six, Firebug.
04:31When you think of arsonists in Batman's rogues gallery,
04:34you probably think of Garfield Lenz, a.k.a. Firefly.
04:38But as Firebug repeatedly points out himself,
04:40they are not to be confused,
04:42and in some older comics are actually rivals thanks to their similar gimmicks.
04:46Let's go, Firefly.
04:47It's time to take a ride.
04:49Actually, it's Firebug.
04:52Firefly predates Firebug by over 20 years,
04:55but Firebug is portrayed more like Lenz as a compulsive arsonist in Caped Crusader.
05:00Can't you feel it?
05:01All of those people out there longing for the flames,
05:05for the truth of the fire to show.
05:08Hey, Firefly, shut it.
05:09In his original comic run,
05:11the Joe Rigger Firebug doesn't just like burning down buildings.
05:14He actually wants revenge on three specific buildings
05:17he holds responsible for the accidental deaths of his loved ones.
05:21He's definitely been simplified for the show.
05:23Your lawyer was right.
05:25You are more dangerous than you look.
05:28Yes, but I used all my fuel now, so I guess I give up.
05:40Only the most devout DC readers will recognize Gentleman Ghost,
05:43a.k.a. James Craddock, when he first appears.
05:45But they'll also be aware that most of the time,
05:48Gentleman Ghost isn't a real ghost at all.
05:51So, what do you make of these so-called ghost robberies?
05:54Obviously, some lunatic in a costume.
05:56What does a ghost need money for?
05:58Not so in Caped Crusader,
06:00which brings DC's supernatural elements into the story.
06:03That's not surprising given the recent popularity
06:05of more out-there properties like Sandman.
06:07And it's always fun to put Batman, the eternal skeptic,
06:10against things that go bump in the night.
06:12Very well. You die first, then.
06:15Craddock did become a ghost in the post-Crisis comics,
06:18but returned to his earthly origins for the maligned New 52.
06:23Number four, Lucius Fox.
06:25Don't say anything else.
06:27Ah, there you are. This is Lucius Fox, my lawyer.
06:31Much like Barbara Gordon, Lucius Fox has also been turned
06:34into Bruce Wayne's lawyer and takes care of much of his personal finances.
06:38Portfolio's up. I'm still rich.
06:40You're too marvelous for words.
06:42Yes, yes, and yes.
06:44He also does not know that Bruce Wayne is Batman this time,
06:48though he usually does in other pieces of Batman media
06:51and is never called in to help Batman develop his gadgets.
06:54Not that he relies on gadgets much in Caped Crusader.
06:57Probably don't want to know what you use that money for, do I?
07:00Trust me, you really don't.
07:02Fox is still a key ally of Batman and turns up to help Bruce
07:06when he's briefly questioned over the disappearance of a young actress.
07:09Mr. Wayne isn't a suspect.
07:11And yet you dragged him down here instead of interviewing him at his estate.
07:14This career change also helps keep him in the show
07:17because Wayne Enterprises is rarely brought up or used by any of the episode's plots.
07:22Number three, Pennyworth.
07:24How was therapy, Master Bruce?
07:26Waste of an hour. Doctor thinks she can get into my head.
07:30That's not gonna happen.
07:31Though this sounds like a small change, in practice it's very jarring to hear.
07:36Alfred, as always, is doing his best to help Batman,
07:39but Batman seems to be ungrateful.
07:41He doesn't even call him Alfred, instead always referring to him by his surname, Pennyworth.
07:46I'm not sure which is stranger, Pennyworth believing in ghosts or that you two are so chummy.
07:51Well, I was raised to treat the staff like people, Bruce.
07:54We're sure this is to give Bruce opportunities to grow as a character
07:57and Lucius Fox actually calls him out for his treatment of Alfred in Night Ride.
08:01Batman often hides how important Alfred is to him as a surrogate father in the show,
08:05getting angry at him for being overcome by Gentleman Ghost during their supernatural ritual.
08:09We can't wait to see this develop in any future seasons.
08:12You fool. What the hell were you thinking?
08:15If...
08:18I can't do this job without you.
08:23While the first and most popular Batgirl, Barbara Gordon, is a main character in Caped Crusader,
08:28the same isn't true for the rest of the Bat family.
08:30We're gonna get in trouble.
08:32Don't be such a worrywart.
08:34How's Miss Tompkins gonna find out?
08:36This version of Batman doesn't currently have any sidekicks,
08:39but nearly all of his Robins appear in the episode Nocturne.
08:42Remember me?
08:43I was at the fence last night.
08:45My friend Dickie snuck in here with you.
08:47Oh, sure.
08:48Dickie, Jace, Steffi, and Carrie, the kidnapped orphans,
08:51are of course Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Stephanie Brown, and Carrie Kelly,
08:56the latter of whom is Robin in The Dark Knight Returns.
08:59Who's missing?
09:00Steffi. Steffi Brown.
09:02She was supposed to meet us by the merry-go-round, but she never showed.
09:05Making them all young kids living in the same orphanage
09:07is something we haven't seen before in the mythos,
09:09though it was a fun way to bring them all in, at least for a moment.
09:12Carrie even got to use her trademark slingshot.
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09:31Number 1. Harley Quinn
09:33How's our patient doing this morning?
09:36She's easily the biggest change in the entire show.
09:39Because the Joker doesn't appear at all, except for that cameo,
09:43Harley needed a new origin story completely divorced from the Clown Prince of Crime.
09:47Apparently a few weeks ago he donated his entire fortune to charity.
09:51He always seemed like such a selfish man.
09:54Perhaps I was wrong.
09:55She's still a psychiatrist, but she doesn't work at Arkham.
09:58Instead, she therapizes Gotham's rich and famous,
10:01including Bruce Wayne at one point.
10:03I don't believe you.
10:05No! No! No! No!
10:08No! No! No!
10:11The ones she can't help, she kidnaps and tortures in her Harley Quinn costume,
10:15forcing them to donate their fortunes to charity.
10:18Bruce Timm was the man who originally created Harley for the animated series,
10:22so seeing him get to reinvent her origin story
10:25to set her apart from other popular versions of the character
10:28is fascinating to say the least.
10:30How many criminals do you have to catch before you feel better, Batman?
10:34Ten? Twenty?
10:36Let us know in the comments which villains you want to see reimagined
10:39in Caped Crusader Season 2.
10:41Take the damn wheel!
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