For a guy who recently turned 85 (the character debuted in the pulpy pages of Detective Comics in March 1939), billionaire vigilante Bruce Wayne shows little sign of slowing down. The most recent film adaptation – 2022’s angsty The Batman starring Robert Pattinson – has a streaming spin-off centred on roly-poly gangster The Penguin launching next month and a big-screen sequel due in 2026.
Prime Video’s 10-part animated series Batman: Caped Crusader does not slot into this expanding screen universe (although The Batman director and co-writer, Matt Reeves, does get an executive producer credit). Instead it rewinds Gotham City to an era when Batman was just beginning his ascent to pop culture dominance, unfolding in a 1940s-inspired, noir-inflected world of tough guys, trenchcoats and Tommy guns.
