HBO possibly considering a Batman The Animated Series Revival

[Mistah K88]

While BTAS and the DCAU is near and dear to my heart, I don't think a revival would really work all that well as it ended pretty decently. While recent entries to it (Batman and Harley Quinn, Batman the Adventures Continue) are okay at best, I remember that for every "Heart of Ice" there was an "I've Got Batman in My Basement", so I'm not necessarily worried about quality. It's more about them milking the hell out of it.

I can see if they animated certain comics in the Batman Adventures or Batman Gotham Adventures lines, as technically they were running during the shows and some felt like they could easily happen. However, a lot of characters have changed since then, even in Batman the Adventures Continue Harley felt more like her modern appearances than the goofy, yet criminal woman who was involved in Tim Drake's torture and transformation.

Y'know...I'm wondering why I keep hearing about revivals of cartoons in the 90's than anything that was decent that came out afterward. I've heard more about X-Men the Animated Series than X-Men Evolution or Wolverine and the X-Men. BTAS rumors, yet Beware the Batman is ignored. Green Lantern the Animated Series was good as well...We're lucky to have gotten Young Justice.

[Jackalope89]

While BTAS and the DCAU is near and dear to my heart, I don't think a revival would really work all that well as it ended pretty decently. While recent entries to it (Batman and Harley Quinn, Batman the Adventures Continue) are okay at best, I remember that for every "Heart of Ice" there was an "I've Got Batman in My Basement", so I'm not necessarily worried about quality. It's more about them milking the hell out of it.

I can see if they animated certain comics in the Batman Adventures or Batman Gotham Adventures lines, as technically they were running during the shows and some felt like they could easily happen. However, a lot of characters have changed since then, even in Batman the Adventures Continue Harley felt more like her modern appearances than the goofy, yet criminal woman who was involved in Tim Drake's torture and transformation.

Y'know...I'm wondering why I keep hearing about revivals of cartoons in the 90's than anything that was decent that came out afterward. I've heard more about X-Men the Animated Series than X-Men Evolution or Wolverine and the X-Men. BTAS rumors, yet Beware the Batman is ignored. Green Lantern the Animated Series was good as well...We're lucky to have gotten Young Justice.

Young Justice got iced by Cartoon Network because of low toy sales (and possibly because it attracted a different audience than what they wanted). But when it went to Netflix, its popularity exploded to the point where DC saw it was worth reviving and continuing.

[bat39]

A new thought occurred to me regarding this.

If they really want to bring back BTAS, then I think a follow-up/sequel series is pretty much a dead-end all things considered. Instead, why not do a prequel.

In BTAS continuity, Bruce was active as Batman for a decade before the series began, and barring flashbacks in a few episodes, that period of time has never been covered. I mean, we don't need it to be covered, but then again, we don't really need a BTAS revival either. If we're getting the show back, why not explore something that is uncharted territory for this particular take on Batman.

I'd love to see a BTAS mini-series prequel that is basically "Year One meets Bob Kane/Bill Finger". Set the show in a version of the early 1980's that could pass for a retro-futuristic 1939. Keep the iconic BTAS look, but change it up a little. Keep the same tone, but give us a Batman who's rougher around the edges, and a lot more vulnerable. Maybe up the violence and darkness a bit if its going to streaming - but failing that keep it at least at BTAS levels of maturity.

Continuity-wise, we can see Batman's first encounters with the Joker and Penguin, since neither of them had their 'origin stories' during the series itself. Other potential villain options include Golden Age villains like the Mad Monk and Dr. Death, and possibly a few others from the first year of the comics. Carmine Falcone could be an option as well, thought I'd prefer if this show doesn't end up being just another retread of Year One.

In terms of supporting characters, well apart from Alfred, we can have a young Liuetanant Gordon, Bullock and maybe Montoya as beat cops, and young Harvey Dent possibly as Assistant District Attorney. Maybe introduce someone like Sarah Essen or Commissioner Loeb. And younger Hamilton Hill and Rupert Thorne.

The downside to this is the voice actors - I can't see Kevin Conroy voicing a 20-something Bruce Wayne. Or can he?

And before you say that Batman's early years have been done before - well, apart from the Year One animated film, the earliest adventures haven't really been tackled in animation. The Batman starts with Batman already fairly well-established and experienced and then goes into villain origins a lot like BTAS did. Beware the Batman was somewhat in the early years, but not exactly Year One. So it would be uncharted territory for an animated series.

Thoughts?

[Nite-Wing]

If they are bringing it back for nostalgia purposes then they should definitely make it a sort of Batman multiverse show
similar to how Batman Brave and the Bold
Honestly not sure what more they could mine from 90s Batman. They touched on every corner of the lore

[SiegePerilous02]

You really never can go home again with stuff like this. It's usually never worth the effort.

Especially as I love the animation style of the original BTAS (pre design revamp), which is not a style that exists in cartoons these days. So just visually, I'm not sure the magic can be re-captured before we even get to the story telling.

[Lightning Rider]

You really never can go home again with stuff like this. It's usually never worth the effort.

Especially as I love the animation style of the original BTAS (pre design revamp), which is not a style that exists in cartoons these days. So just visually, I'm not sure the magic can be re-captured before we even get to the story telling.

Yeah this is my gut feeling as well.

[GamerSlyRatchet]

Or revive something that ended too soon (Cough)Beware the Batman/Justice League Action(Cough).

Personally, I'd rather see a revival of Beware the Batman, that show was underrated.

It's wishful thinking, but yeah. There's a lot you could do with that continuity. Plus CGI has certainly improved since that show aired and I'm sure HBO Max would let them get lax with the guns and other dark content.

Alternatively, I'd like that No Man's Land series that was proposed a few times. It would be a nice place to highlight a veteran Batman and an established Bat-Family. Plus I don't think the premise has been explored that well. Gotham and Harley Quinn both squandered it.

[Frontier]

It's wishful thinking, but yeah. There's a lot you could do with that continuity. Plus CGI has certainly improved since that show aired and I'm sure HBO Max would let them get lax with the guns and other dark content.

Alternatively, I'd like that No Man's Land series that was proposed a few times. It would be a nice place to highlight a veteran Batman and an established Bat-Family. Plus I don't think the premise has been explored that well. Gotham and Harley Quinn both squandered it.

I definitely think if we get a new Batman cartoon it should spotlight Batman and the wider Batfamily in a way we've never really seen in a cartoon before (so not just Robin, Nightwing, and the Babs/Batgirl).

[John Venus]

Yeah, if there is to be another Batman show I would rather it be a Batman Family. A 'grown up' version of TNBA with Batman, Tim Drake, Cass Cain and Oracle/Barbara Gordon as the core cast, Nightwing as a guest star and Helena Bertinelli as the rogue. Then in later seasons you can introduce Jason, Damian, Duke, Batwoman, Tim Fox and other members of the Bat Fam.