“He’s trying to pretend to be something that he’s not”: Bruce Timm’s Latest Comments Proves He Can Not Go Wrong With Batman: Caped Crusader
Bruce Timm needs no introduction in the DC fandom. The creative genius behind reinventing Batman and giving Joker a distinctive voice, Timm’s accomplishments speak for themselves.
With the animated series, Timm was able to craft a path for Batman and his subsequent portrayals in media that have changed how fans perceive the mysterious and brooding superhero. On top of that, his introduction of Harley Quinn in the murky waters of Gotham City has put him among one of the most visionary showrunners.
Bruce Timm’s Take on Batman: Caped Crusader
Fans have been eagerly waiting for Bruce Timm to work on another Batman-related project that puts a new spin on the character and his life in Gotham City. The vigilante of Gotham City has no shortage of suave, charm, and cunning tricks that help him capture villains.
So, naturally when news spread that a new Batman cartoon is in the works and that too by Timm, the fandom’s excitement knew no bounds. Batman: Caped Crusader is the title of the animated series being helmed by Timm. The series is set to premiere on Prime Video later this year. Talking about setting the show back in the 40s and creating a Batman unlike anything we’ve seen before, Timm said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly,
“He’s (Batman aka Bruce Wayne) a really weird human being. He’s not obsessed with his parents’ murder, but it changed him in a way where he’s still not adjusted to being a human being. He’s literally Batman; inside, that’s who he is. Whenever he’s Bruce Wayne, that’s not just him with a mask off, that’s him wearing a person suit. He’s trying to pretend to be something that he’s not.”
While there have been multiple variations of Batman in comics and movies, Timm’s Batman: The Animated Series has often been hailed as one of the best interpretations of the character and his abilities. From then started the concept of having animated shows for dedicated heroes so that they get center stage and can tell their story better. Timm’s first priority with Caped Crusader was to ensure a clear distinction between it and the past Animated Series.
Timm is hands down the best person to put a new spin on the beloved character since he understands him better than the rest. Timm’s grasp of Batman’s psyche and how his experiences mold him is clear and accurate enough to give fans a Batman that they’ll love and understand better.
Introducing a new version of Harley Quinn
However, no good news is without its fair share of controversies. Timm decided to put a new spin on the character he co-created, Harley Quinn. In Batman: Caped Crusader, Quinn’s character and her alter ego have a reversed personality to detach her from the image of being just Joker’s girlfriend. Quinn is pretty scary on her own, and she can do just as well by herself.
“I co-created the character, so I have a lot of love and affection for her, but I thought there might be something interesting about bringing her on the show, just not as Joker’s girlfriend. So how do we do that? A big part was just doing a basic flip. The original Dr. Quinzel was a little bit more serious, and then when she became Harley, she got really goofy and weird. So we thought, what if we reverse that? When she’s Dr. Quinzel, she’s a little bit more whimsical and fun, and then when she’s Harley Quinn, she’s scary.”
There has been some backlash for giving Quinn an Asian-American identity in Batman: Caped Crusader since fans haven’t imagined her in such an avatar. However, given Timm’s creative ingenuity, we believe he can do justice to the character he birthed and give her a new purpose in the story. The new show teases Quinn’s ability to use psychiatry as a weapon and play with people’s minds. It wholly conjoins the two sides of her personality and gives her a more fleshed-out identity.
