Welcome to Gotham City, where the corrupt outnumber the good, criminals run rampant and law-abiding citizens live in a constant state of fear. Forged in the fire of tragedy, wealthy socialite Bruce Wayne becomes something both more and less than human—the BATMAN. His one-man crusade attracts unexpected allies within the GCPD and City Hall, but his heroic actions spawn deadly, unforeseen ramifications.
In case you’re wondering, the music from the trailer is a song called “Sicilian Defense” by Rok Nardin.
The new series appears literally built of allstars. Matt Reeves, J.J. Abrams and Bruce Timm are all on board as executive producers, and the fact that Bruce Timm is in the mix tells you most of what you need to know right there. But it gets better, because Prime has dumped some serious money into the production. The animation is richer and smoother than the original Batman animated series, but the look is pure Bruce Timm.
And the cast. Oh my.
Kevin Conroy has sadly passed, of course, so they needed a new Batman. They got Hamish Linklater as Batman/Bruce Wayne. The rest of the cast almost reads like a who’s who of Hollywood, and includes Christina Ricci, Jamie Chung, Diedrich Bader, Minnie Driver, Mckenna Grace, Eric Morgan Stuart, Michelle C. Bonilla, Krystal Joy Brown, John DiMaggio, Paul Scheer, Reid Scott, Tom Kenny, Jason Watkins, Gary Anthony Williams, Dan Donohue, David Krumholtz, Haley Joel Osment and Toby Stephens.
All 10 episodes of the first season of Batman: Caped Crusader arrives August 1 to Prime Video.
A Little Background on Matt Reeves
It turns out that Matt Reeves and J.J. Abrams go way back. He’s the showrunner for Batman: Caped Crusader, and I thought it would be useful to know something more about him.
Matthew George “Matt” Reeves was born April 27, 1966 in Rockville Center, New York, USA and is a writer, director and producer. Reeves began making movies at age eight, directing friends and using a wind-up camera. He befriended filmmaker J.J. Abrams when both were 13 years old and a public-access television cable channel, Z Channel, aired their short films. When Reeves and Abrams were 15 or 16 years old, Steven Spielberg hired them to transfer some of his own Super 8 films to videotape. Reeves attended the University of Southern California and there, between 1991 and 1992, he produced an award-winning student film, Mr. Petrified Forest, which helped him acquire an agent. He also co-wrote a script that eventually became Under Siege 2: Dark Territory (1995). After graduating, he co-wrote The Pallbearer (1996), which became his directorial debut.
Reeves and J.J. Abrams co-created the TV series Felicity (1998), for which Reeves directed several episodes, including the pilot. He has also helmed occasional episodes of other television series. He co-wrote The Yards (2000) with director James Gray, which he also co-produced. In 2008, Reeves directed the monster science fiction film Cloverfield (2008), which Abrams produced. Reeves later served as an executive producer on 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016) and The Cloverfield Paradox (2018). He wrote and directed the fantasy-horror film Let Me In (2010), a remake of the Swedish film Let the Right One In (2008). Reeves directed the science fiction films Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) and later the sequel, War for the Planet of the Apes (2017). He served as an executive producer on the Amazon original series Tales from the Loop (2020).
Reeves came up through USC film school, and rubbed elbows with Spielberg, and then went on to carve out his own destiny. That the project has Matt Reeves running it means it’s going to be good.
And, Bat-fans, this is just SEASON 1, meaning THEY’RE PLANNING AT LEAST ONE MORE SEASON. I am so here for it.
