10 Things We Want To See In The New Batman Animated Series

With the new Caped Crusader animated series in the works and due to be released later this year, it would be a great opportunity to reflect on the popular animated series and explore what audiences are anticipating and looking for in this new series.

Batman: The animated series (1992) re-defined animation and children's entertainment in the nineties, whilst also changing the character's mainstream profile forever. Not only by pushing the boundaries of what was acceptable by the broadcasting standards at the time, but by also creating a seminal change in the narratives being told.

With that in mind DC are going back to what they do best... animation. Announcing that J.J. Abrams will be steering the way for Batman: Caped Crusader, it's hard to not to be excited and let the inner child in us scream for joy at the prospect of a new animated Batman series. Expectations are indeed high for this "Reimagining of the Batman mythology.

Let's test the Dark Knight more and take him away from the bubble of Gotham.

Although 'there's no place like home' and one could argue there's no Batman without Gotham city, it would be great to see the Dark Knight outside of Gotham. Understandably, the city itself acts as a character, a labyrinth hiding the underbelly of criminals. It adds to the mood, mise-en-scene and it's vital in any telling of Batman. However, we never really see Batman outside of this bubble.

Batman: The animated series (BTAS) followed Bruce Wayne's jet-setting lifestyle and placed the hero in several scenarios outside the comfort of the city. In Avatar (1994) a mystic Egyptian scroll is stolen by Ra's al Ghul, forcing Batman to team-up with Talia to recover it before it's too late. Their quest takes them to a hidden temple deep beneath the Egyptian desert where he is forced to battle an ancient Egyptian sorceress. A less fantastical example would be The Dark Knight (2008) which see's Batman venture to Hong Kong to capture and return Lau who is hiding outside the GCPD's jurisdiction. Although short and sweet, it was an opportunity to see Batman being vulnerable to other outside forces, watch him adapt to a new environment and really remind the audience that Batman doesn't really have any jurisdiction. He just doesn't give a damn.

It would also evolve the series and enhance the action and threat to a global scale. For example in A Death in the Family, (1988) Batman travels to Lebanon to recover a stolen C-130 military transport aircraft and discovers that the Joker has smuggled a nuclear device and tries to kill the United Nations General Assembly. In addition, with some of the shenanigans Batman's villains have tried over the years, it would make sense that some would promote their criminal activity overseas or even try to lay low from the world's greatest detective.

Either way, we're used to seeing Batman in all sorts of weird and wonderful situations. Long gone are the days where one's biggest problems were exploding Penguins. But it would be great to see Batman out of his comfort zone in real-world situations.