Beware The Batman Season 1.1 Review - Hunted

rating: 4

Beware The Batman marks the return of Batman in an animated television series. The series brings the character back to familiar territory in terms of tone that were present in Batman The Animated Series and Batman Beyond. In the first episode of the new series, Hunted, viewers see a young Bruce Wayne and his inexperience is tested. Another feature of how early the series takes place in Bruce Wayne's life is that Jim Gordon is not the Commissioner of the Gotham City Police Department yet. Gordon is the Lieutenant of the police department and has not established the alliance he is known to have with Batman. It will be interesting to watch in future episodes how the partnership between Lieutenant Gordon and Batman will begin to form. The background of another important person to Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, is different. Alfred is a retired agent at MI6 and he makes his presence felt right away by unexpectedly testing Bruce through his disguise as an intruder. It is clear the Alfred that fans will see in Beware The Batman is willing to engage in combat if it is necessary, which is a new take on the character. Alfred reminds the young Bruce early on that Bruce Wayne and Batman are the same person despite Bruce not acknowledging that he does not need help as Batman. One of the other changes in Beware The Batman will be the villains that will be featured. Well-known villains such as the Joker, the Penguin and the Riddler will not appear, at least not initially. In the episode, Professor Pyg and Mister Toad are kidnapping and hunting rich businessmen for what they consider to be crimes against nature. Batman discovers that Bruce Wayne is one of the people that Pyg and Toad are hunting after Alfred is taken by the evil duo. After Batman prevents Pyg and Toad from harming Alfred along with two rich tycoons, Bruce and Alfred have an important conversation. Bruce admits that he needs Alfred's help as both Bruce Wayne and Batman while Alfred explains that he will not always be able to protect Bruce. Alfred introduces Tatsu Yamashiro, who is known as Katana, to Bruce and tells him she will be his new bodyguard. Considering that Bruce does not trust many people, it will be interesting to watch the interactions that develop between Bruce and Tatsu. Beware The Batman is the first Batman television series to be CGI animated. The change compliments the new series well in addition to the voices of Anthony Ruivivar as Bruce Wayne and JB Blanc as Alfred. Ruivivar serves as a modern interpretation as the voice of Bruce Wayne in this series. Brian George does an exceptional job as the voice of Professor Pyg. While remaining faithful to the core of the character, Beware The Batman offers plenty of fresh elements that benefit the new animated series.