🎆 :batman: Celebrating 20 Years of The Batman (Kids WB!) :batman: 🎆

Vroom · January 2, 2024, 11:22am

The Batman 2004 Matsudaverse GIF - The Batman 2004 Matsudaverse Dc Comics GIFs

2024 is the 20th anniversary of The Batman TV series! It aired on Kids WB! from September 2004 to March 2008 for 5 seasons and a total of 65 episodes.

The Batman was the first animated Batman TV series to follow in the wake of DC Animated Universe Batman-centric shows such as Batman: The Animated Series, The New Batman Adventures and Batman Beyond.

Unlike those shows however, The Batman is not part of the DCAU. Rather, it has a corner of the DC Multiverse to itself, which is often referred to as the “Matsudaverse” in recognition of the show’s Art Director and lead Character Designer Jeff Matsuda.

Following legendary DCAU hits like BTAS, TNBA and Batman Beyond (to say nothing of Kevin Conroy’s legendary vocal performances in all three shows and their related movies) was a high mountain for The Batman to climb when it debuted, but climb it did and in so doing, The Batman cemented itself as one of the more distinct animated iterations of Batman and his universe as seen on television.

Did you watch The Batman when it debuted in September of 2004 (September 11th to be exact)?

Were you a late-comer to the series after it added stalwart Bat-allies such as Batgirl and Robin?

Did you discover the series after The Batman debuted in 2022 and you needed your fix of more on-screen content titled “The Batman”?

Is this thread your first exposure to the series and you’re now inclined to check it out?

Wherever The Batman fits into your fan experience, chime in with your thoughts on it down below!

Fun Fact: U2 member The Edge composed the theme song used for seasons 1 and 2 of The Batman.

This was not the first time U2 had an association with Batman-related outside media, as they also performed the song Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me that played over Batman Forever’s end credits and appeared on the Batman Forever: Music From The Motion Picture album.

Reaganfan78 · January 3, 2024, 11:21pm

First reaction: This show suck!
After the series ended reaction: Love this show! Wish they kept making more episodes!
Right now on Max I’ve been watching at least one episode per day.
Wish DC Universe Infinite added more of their missing issues #22-#50! I would love to read those.
I had complain about the series in the first year, but got over it. It was a shame that the Scarecrow, Two-Face & Ra’s Al Ghul never made it to the series, thankfully Joker, Bane & Catwoman did!
This series is the top 3 best Batman animated series along with Batman The Animated Series & 1967 Adventures of Batman cartoon, I enjoy watching those the most.

Zontar_of_Pellucidar · January 4, 2024, 1:59am

I thought, generally speaking, that the odd numbered seasons were poor, and the even-numbered seasons were good. The show had the tough job of following Batman the Animated series. In many ways, it was a step up in the terms of the animation. But simplistic plots, “kung fu Penguin” and a stark drop in number of voice actors used per episode were big strikes against it. There were clear & significant advancements in Batman’s relationship with law enforcement each season, which was well done.

The show’s chronology had Batgirl coming along as Bat’s original sidekick, before Robin the Boy Wonder, which I thought was a terrible channge, even though it seems to have been dictated by Teen Titans having sole claim to Robin until that show finished its run.

Vroom · January 4, 2024, 9:24am

In Wizard magazine, Duane Capizzi hinted at a Superman show that would have taken place in the Matsudaverse featuring the Superman seen in The Batman/Superman Story two-parter. I’m sure Batman would have guest-starred, especially given how the Justice League was coming together towards the end of The Batman and therefore had more animated adventures even after his own series had concluded.

Anyhow, that Superman series never happened obviously and Capizzi never made any further mentions about it after The Batman ended. Whether that was due to Batman: The Brave and The Bold coming up (as it debuted several months after The Batman ended) or some other reason, its a pity that a Superman series set in the world of The Batman didn’t ultimately happen as there was promise for it, no doubt.

I usually watch The Batman on Max (and HBO Max before it) when it isn’t streaming anywhere else at a given time.

However, Netflix has The Batman and in its correct 5-season order, so I’ve been watching it there since they present the show as intended in its proper order.

@Jitsu: Do you by chance have a way of letting the honchos at Max know that they have The Batman ordered and presented incorrectly?

The proper presentation is five, 13 episode seasons.

However, Max (and HBO Max before it) has incorrectly presented the show in four seasons, with seasons 1 and 2 smooshed together, while seasons 3, 4 and 5 are incorrectly labeled as seasons 2, 3 and 4.

What Max needs to do to correctly present/organize The Batman on their platform:

Take episodes 1-13 of season 1 and label that as Season One.
Group episodes 14-26 of “season 1” and label that as Season Two, as those are the 13 episodes for Season Two.
Re-label seasons 2, 3 and 4 as the correct seasons: 3, 4 and 5.

All of the other digital platforms that host The Batman for sale and streaming have the correct 5 season (with 13 episodes in each season) configuration.

Only Max has it wrong, which is noticeably bad when they should have it right above everyone else, especially since WBTV owns the show and is under the same corporate umbrella as Max and, of course, DC Comics.

TY.

Maybe later in the year?

I got into TBS around issue…30 or so and stuck with it until the end. It was pretty good.

What do you think of The Batman’s take on Bane?

I love The Adventures of Batman! It was my favorite Filmation DC joint whenever I caught it on VHS when I was little.

Have you seen the HD remaster of the series? It looks great!

I found the introduction of Batgirl before Robin to be a bit jarring, but I was ultimately fine with it.

I do however wonder what Resplendent @DC89 thinks of Batgirl’s portrayal on The Batman.

DC89 · January 4, 2024, 10:22am

Overall I have to say I was really impressed with the visuals and the stories in this series. I loved BG and Danielle Judovits voices her fantastically in it.

Reaganfan78 · January 4, 2024, 3:54pm

Yup, I do have the Adventure of Batman on DVD, I haven’t seen it in years, so maybe I’ll have to rewatch it again, I do miss it.
Anyway with Max mistakes on seasons 1 and 2 bother you, I don’t blame you, if any streaming service who put Star Trek Voyager season 1 and 2 together, would probably bother me.
Walker Texas Ranger DVD set did the same, only Season 1 had 4 episodes. So for The Batman there’s no excuse for Max to not fix their mistakes since we both know theres 13 episodes in season 1.
Sadly I don’t think they care at all.

Vroom · January 4, 2024, 4:28pm

If you haven’t seen The Adventures of Batman in years, there’s no better time to upgrade to its HD edition than right now…or, well, whenever’s good for you.

Trust me though, its worth the effort, as the show looks brand-spankin’ new and substantially better than it did when it aired as well.

They do, its just a mistake that hasn’t been corrected since Day One of HBO Max.

I’m sure Max will get The Batman straightened out at some point. We just need to politely keep tapping them on the shoulder to say “Please? We’ve asked nicely and been patient.” until they do.

Until then, viva la Netflix!

Agreed. Batgirl definitely got a good turn in The Batman (imagine if a The Batgirl spin-off had materialized).

Speaking of The Batgirl, let’s look at these spiffy pieces from Mattel’s core The Batman product line:

I had both of the above years ago. While I liked how show-accurate the first Batgirl was, I actually preferred Blaster Batgirl over it.

Blaster Batgirl was the very first time a Batgirl figure was centered around the idea of being Barbara Gordon and Batgirl in the same package, much the same as various Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson figures that came with clip-on Batman and Robin suits respectively had been in various lines by various companies in the years prior to Blaster Batgirl’s release.

AFAIK off-hand, Blaster Batgirl is still the only Babs/Batgirl combo in the mass market action figure scene.

DC89 · January 5, 2024, 7:59am

I have this one.

Reaganfan78 · January 5, 2024, 4:13pm

Never did got any of the toy from the series, at the time I lost interest getting toys and wasn’t that crazy about the series like I am now.
I did however got a useless batwave toy that was suppose to interact from the episode I was watching on DVD. That was it.

Vroom · January 6, 2024, 7:31am

Oh, Batwave.

You know, its reminiscent of Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future which, like The Batman, had toys by Mattel.

With Captain Power, several of the toys could interact with what was happening on-screen.

The Batwave was supposed to follow that same idea and activate in-hand when it also activated on-screen, thus pulling the one playing into the narrative seen on-screen.

However, like Captain Power, I don’t believe the Batwave worked out toy-wise, as Mattel seemed to drop it pretty quickly and focus on traditional play patterns instead.

Here’s one of the cooler toys from The Batman (I never had it, but because of how often I looked it over at Kay-Bee Toys, I felt pretty familiar with it):

42 inches of pure play/display nirvana!

Its definitely one of the taller Batcave playsets, ranking alongside Mattel’s own Batman v Superman Batcave (a favorite of mine), as well as this beast from Spin Master:

Now, let’s talk villains and how they were interpreted on The Batman, which was known for some fairly wild interpretations of Batman’s rogues gallery.

My favorite villain on the show was The Riddler, voiced by Freddy Krueger himself, Robert Englund.

His was a creepy Riddler, one with a slightly more David Fincher bend, which I felt added a refreshing dimension to the character and set the tone for creepy Riddlers in entertainment titled “The Batman” long, long before Paul Dano played his Riddler to a similar degree in 2022.

Reaganfan78 · January 6, 2024, 1:39pm

Want to talk about the villains? Then let’s talk. Here’s my top 5 most favorite villains of The Batman series.

The Penguin: It was this Penguin that brought me back to being the fan of the character, I just love everything about this villain including the voice acting from Tom Kenny.
Mr. Freeze: Clancy Brown! Beside his chilling voice, the design look awesome!
Catwoman: I like everything about her, from the design and voice acting, I also like that Bruce never knew her real identity, and she’s a bit of a mystery to him.
Harley Quinn: when Quinn first came on, I like how they brought Paul Dini on to the show and write her episode, The actress who played Starfire on Teen Titans did a awesome job voicing her.
Killer Croc: Ron Pearlman voice him, and with his design he actually look like a crocodile, also Leatherhead from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! His first episode was really good.

And now, my top 5 least favorite villains, which I didn’t care for.

Joker: The voice actor was ok, he was good, but the design was even worst! Why does the villain needed to be barefooted? And the outfit design in the first episode was far worst, so this was one of the reasons why I didn’t like the show at first. Glad they change the outfit, that help.
Bane: I think you ask me what I thought of Bane, and I just didn’t like it. He might as well turn iinto a red Hulk, you just can’t beat his original comic design.
Riddler: Sorry @Vroom, mostly I didn’t like how weird he look, does he really have to look like a rock star? I do however like this Riddler far better then The Batman (2022) Riddler. At least we can see his face.
Maxie Zesus: I was never a fan of the character, even in Batman The Animated Series. He was alright.
Cluemaster: At the time, I thought he was just a copy of The Riddler, didn’t know he was a actually a villain from the comic book. But his episode was good.

And there you have it, I also liked Clayface 1 & 2, Black Mask & Firefly, they were such a cool villain as well, along with Hugo Strange.

NYJt3 · January 6, 2024, 5:46pm

This show was a favorite growing up. Had the first Clayface arc on dvd. And Dracula movie too. Watched those a lot. 20years though. Crazy.

Vroom · January 9, 2024, 9:26am

Well, if you’re essentially asking “You wanna get nuts?!”, then I can only reply with “Come on! Let’s get nuts!”

“Oh boy, this is going to be good. I can tell.”

I also liked how Pengy was done for The Batman…especially when you factor in his high-kicking fighting skills. AFAIK, that was unique for Penguin in animation, as most other iterations were about as limber and high-kicking as a can of a corn.

Yes! When I first heard Byron Hadley as Mr. Freeze, I thought…wait for it…“Cool!”

Seconded. Gina Gershon was a purrfectly-cast kitty and then some.

Given that The Batman’s version of Bane preceded Red Hulk by a few years, who would you put your money on in a fight?

I’m going with Red Hulk.

As juiced-up as The Batman’s Bane was, I think ‘ol Reddy would rip him apart like a pair of pants after an all-nighter at Bob’s Bombastic Beans, Burritos and More (try their Rootin’-Tootin’ Refried Beans platter BTW).

No need to apologize.

His look was definitely different, but that’s one of the things that made that version of Mr. Nygma appealing and a stand-out for me.

Agreed.

While I liked Dano’s Riddler well-enough, Englund’s had much more personality and individuality, rather than just being a guy in a coat that, entertaining as he was, felt like a re-heated Nolan idea that didn’t make it to the screen.

Black Mask and Firefly were both pretty sweet. Especially since The Batman was Black Mask’s animation debut, wherein he was voiced by the always delightful James Remar.

Firefly OTOH was played by the DCAU Snapper Carr himself, Jason Marsden.

The Batman vs. Dracula is the best Batman movie of 2005 that wasn’t Batman Begins.

I love that it was a bit more adult than the TV series, especially when one gets to…well, I won’t spoil anything here.

After all, we’ve got to have some things to discuss for the “Celebrating 20 Years of The Batman vs. Dracula” thread next year.