I got the opportunity to watch Batman: Caped Crusader early. While the excitement about a new Batman cartoon would be high enough, a 1940s-styled one from Bruce Timm, J.J. Abrams, and Matt Reeves kicked it up four notches. Right away, in the very first episode, we got a sense this show was playing fast and loose with established canon and character norms. The first episode shows us a Gotham underworld terrified of one mobster: the Penguin. This is a Penguin as we’ve never seen before. As you can see in the image below, it’s a gender-swapped Penguin, Oswalda Cobblepot, as voiced by Minnie Driver.
The reveal comes out of the official Batman: Caped Crusader panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2024. Timm introduced a screening of the first episode to the Hall H audience and then brought out executive producer Matt Reeves, Driver, and fellow actors Hamish Linklater (Batman), and Jamie Chung (Dr. Harleen Quinzel).
Prime Video also unveiled a clip from the first episode. While it doesn’t show the Penguin herself, it shows just how terrified she makes the corrupt in Gotham City.
While I can’t say much more about individual episodes, I can share that the season is tremendously good. Other villains are remixed and rethought throughout the season in really fun ways. It feels at once very different from Batman: The Animated Series and clearly from the same creator. Excellent stuff. If the other Penguin TV offering this year is as good, Cobblepot fans will be very happy.
Batman: Caped Crusader drops its entire 10-episode first season on August 1 on Prime Video.
Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. He hosts the weekly pop culture deep-dive podcast Laser Focus. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Instagram and Letterboxd.
