There seems to be something in the air in regard to the DCAU. Susan Eisenberg, who voiced Wonder Woman in Justice League and JLU tweeted just this week that 2021 would mark the 20th anniversary of the series, and would be the perfect opportunity for a reunion, sparking the imagination of fans. And Wednesday marked the release of Batman: The Adventure Continues, a new digital comic miniseries from producers Dini and Alan Burnett, with art by Batman Adventures artist Ty Templeton. The series continues the style of Batman: The Animated Series while introducing characters, like Jason Todd, who were not seen during the show’s run. The digital comic is the closest we’ve gotten to a true continuation of Batman: The Animated series, and its ties to a popular toy line, done in Timm’s style, indicate increased interest in the property. Dini, Burnett and Templeton spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about how the comic came together and their initial arc in what they’re referring to as “the first season.” One would have to imagine that if the series is a hit, which the toy line is already proving to be, that there must follow some internal discussion at Warner Bros. Animation about bringing the animated series back.
Indeed, there’s no better time to revive B:TAS than now. All the original creators, writers, voice cast, and acclaimed casting director, Andrea Romano, are still around and working in the business (though Romano is technically retired). And DC has its own streaming service, DC Universe, that’s already home to original series like Titans, Doom Patrol, Stargirl and the animated Harley Quinn, which has its second-season premiere this Friday. And if not DC Universe, then HBO Max would surely make a great home for the series.
With Warner Bros. Animation winding down its universe of DC animated films with the upcoming Justice League Dark: Apokolips War, and hopefully returning to the stand-alone and stylistically varied format of their films pre-2014, a return of B:TAS could be the very thing that drives Warner Bros. Animation in a new direction going forward. It speaks volumes that the cast, creators and fans are all so enthusiastic and on board with the idea of the DCAU making a return. There’s plenty of stories to adapt, characters to redefine, and new ones who could end up being the next Harley Quinn somewhere down the line. But the history of the DCAU shows that the best bet is found in starting small, with a man dressed like a bat, chasing a familiar villain through an art-deco Gotham, its red skies populated with police blimps and searchlights. There’s a whole new world, crafted from the past two decades of DC stories, that is ready to be explored in animation, and there’s no one better to lead the way, like he did 28 years ago, than Batman.
