Amazon’s Prime Video rescued several animated Batman projects that were originally destined for HBO Max. The streamer will be the exclusive home for the Warner Bros. Animation movie Merry Little Batman and its spinoff series, Bat-Family. Batman: Caped Crusader also received a two-season series order on Wednesday.
Batman: Caped Crusader is a highly-anticipated successor series to the classic Batman: The Animated Series. Bruce Timm, who developed The Animated Series, is an executive producer, along with J.J. Abrams and The Batman filmmaker Matt Reeves. Warner Bros. Discovery initially put in a series order for the project for HBO Max, but it was among the many projects shelved for the streamer last summer. Amazon surprisingly emerged as Caped Crusader’s savior in March.
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Caped Crusader is described as a “reimagining of the Batman mythology.” Comics writer Ed Brubaker and Sam Register are also executive producers of the series. Warner Bros. Animation, Bad Robot Productions, and 6th & Idaho are the studios behind the project.
Merry Little Batman and Bat-Family were also shelved by HBO Max last year. Merry Little Batman is a holiday movie featuring Bruce Wayne’s son Damien, who is alone in Wayne Manor on Christmas Eve. He becomes “Little Batman” to save Gotham City. Mike Roth (Regular Show) directed, with a script by Morgan Evans (Teen Titans Go!). Bat-Family will follow the events of the movie, with Daman, Bruce, and Alfred Pennyworth joined by new members of their super-family.
“Batman: The Animated Series helped pioneer in the evolution of superhero storytelling and defined the Dark Knight for a generation,” Vernon Sanders, head of television for Amazon and MGM Studios, said in a statement. “Batman: Caped Crusader will no doubt continue that tradition and, alongside Merry Little Batman and Bat-Family, we’re thrilled to collaborate with Warner Bros. Animation to offer a variety of takes of the Batman mythos to our global Prime Video customers.”
“We are excited to partner with Amazon to begin an all-new animated chapter of Batman,” Sam Register, president ofWarner Bros. Animation and Cartoon Network Studios, added. From the cinematic noir storytelling of Batman: Caped Crusader to the comedic adventures of Merry Little Batman and Bat-Family, these new projects ensure that there will be an animated Batman story ready to excite fans of all ages.”
These Batman projects were among several animated shows and movies Warner Bros. Discovery unceremoniously dropped last summerย when the company was cutting costs left and right. Many of these, including Caped Crusader, were well into production, so it was reported that WBD would look for other venues for the projects. It sounds bizarre for WBD to not have the most anticipated Batman animated series in years on its own streaming platform, but at least it will be available somewhere.ย
