10 Mind-Blowing Facts You Didn't Know About Batman: The Animated Series

Al Pacino as Two-Face? It could've happened.

by Ewan Paterson
Batman the Animated Series Intro
Warner Bros.

Batman: The Animated Series was the definitive adaptation of the Dark Knight, and is today revered as one of the greatest animated shows ever produced. BTAS was so successful that it ended up spawning over a decade's worth of animated spin-offs and follow-ups, which is today recognised as the DC Animated Universe. It's basically peerless.

Starring the talents of Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, Arleen Sorkin and many more, BTAS glided onto screens in 1992 and made Saturday morning its own. Blending light with dark and past with present, the show set out to prove that children's TV could be genuinely smart and engaging, stunning viewers with dark imagery and even darker themes. It was a master-stroke, pioneered by the likes of Bruce Timm, Paul Dini, Alan Burnett, Eric Radomski, Andrea Romano and the late, great Shirley Walker, who composed most of the series' music with a full orchestra behind her.

The entire project was a massive undertaking, and it's no surprise that a whole host of fascinating 'what if?' moments and stories emerged from behind-the-scenes during and post-production.

There are of course the facts every Bat-fan knows, such as Tim Curry originally being cast as the Joker before Hamill took the part, but there are plenty more that they may not be aware of, involving plans for a Sandman crossover, a Catwoman sequel series, and more network battles than Batman has batarangs...

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Content Producer/Presenter

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.