Beware the Batman: Hunted

“Hunted.” Beware the Batman. Cartoon Network. 13 July 2013

Batman is one of those characters that fit into nearly every medium. I could spend the next fifty pages describing the character and his influence, but since that is Chris Sims’s bag we’ll focus our attention on the latest Batman show. Beware the Batman hit the airwaves in 2013 to some resistance. The preceding series, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, was a very well regarded program and the decision to end it annoyed more than a few fans. So, what was the selling point of the show? Would it be a wholesale re-imagining or a straight adaptation of classic stories? How would CGI compare to the tradition animation?

The chief selling point of the show was what it was lacking. The audience was told at the very start-No Joker, no Catwoman, etc. Understandable, given the iconic nature of the Rogue’s Gallery and the massive shoes left by Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, Jeff Bennett, and the like, but the bar was set in a strange place.

We open with two masked thugs in the middle of a robbery when the Batman (Anthony Ruivivar) shows up and dispatches them both, though not without sustaining some injuries in the process. From there we get a break-down of the Batman and his impact on the city-Lt. Gordon (Kurtwood Smith) is no fan and promises to bring the Batman down.

From there we move into the main plot, namely the kidnapping of millionaire Simon Stagg (Jeff Bennett). Running for his life, he barely makes it into the lobby of his skyscraper when Professor Pyg (Brian George) and his assistant Mr. Toad (Udo Kier) crash through the glass and capture him.

Pyg and Toad also set their sights on Michael Holt and Bruce Wayne, although they settle for Alfred (JB Blanc). Doing some quick detective work, Batman manages to rescue the trio, although not before Pyg and Toad escape their hideout and Alfred is injured.

As far as first episodes go, not bad, but my issue with the show grows the more I watch. The makers made it clear that they would avoid using any of the big name villains, thus here they have Professor Pyg…yet he’s acting with Poison Ivy’s motivation. In the comics Pyg is a mass murdering crime boss who forcibly transforms people into his genderless and mindless ‘Dollotrons’ and is generally written to act as weird as possible. Here he’s apparently motivated only by his love for the environment (at least in this episode) and a desire to punish those responsible for ruining the wetlands near Gotham. Basically they would have easily put Poison Ivy in his place and the episode would have played out more or less the same.

The character of Tatsu Yamashiro (Sumalee Montano) is also introduced, although most comic fans would know her as Katana. Here she is a cipher, although dialogue suggests she is connected to Alfred in some way. She is brought in under the guise of being Bruce Wayne’s new chauffeur, but the idea of her being Batman’s new partner is clearly set up. 

So far we have the basic outline and conflicts. Batman’s conflict with the GPD and his training of Tatsu are the overarching plot elements, which is fairly new as all the previous Batman programs were more single episodes or two-parters. The CGI is slick, although the nearly empty streets of Gotham does leave some questions.