Yet another animated iteration of the dark knight, Glenn Murakami’s “Beware the Batman” tries to meet Cartoon Network in America down the middle. It’s an attempt to rework the Batman universe, while opening its world up to potential merchandise opportunities. Hence why much of the Batman universe here is filled with pandering, and characters so obviously built toward becoming action figures, it’s pretty sad. All things considered, the series was pulled very quickly by Cartoon Network, and it’s not difficult to figure out why. “Beware the Batman” is the most lifeless and lethargic of the animated Batman adventures, and we once had “The Batman.”
This time around, we’re back to Bruce Wayne during his early days as Batman, except things have been reworked and shifted to become more testosterone laced. Alfred is no longer a doting butler, and now wants to fight alongside Batman. Resembling an older Jason Statham, Alfred is Bruce’s guardian who wants to flex his military training in crime fighting. Meanwhile, Bruce is given a new chauffeur in the form of the female character Katana, also known as Tatsu Yamashiro. During the second episode, she’s assigned by Alfred to become Bruce’s bodyguard and chauffeur, while Alfred reserves himself to becoming Batman’s new sidekick. She’s there for attract a female audience, and to add a female character to the action figure line.
It’s blatant, but the character is slick and often made me wonder why we don’t have a show for her. Robin is nowhere to be found here, and most (if not all) of Batman’s familiar rogues are traded for more obscure villains that are kid friendly, but still threatening to the dark knight. I like that the animators at least try to delve in to the more obscure corners of Batman’s rogue galleries, it’s just tough to take any of them as seriously as the Joker, or Bane. “Beware the Batman” is very aware that it’s a toy commercial. It revolves around one note stories, and very boring animation that offers no flair, and affords Batman zero mystique or new layers of character. It’s just the same old Batman in a premise derivative of “Green Hornet” knocking around with his butler and fighting crime with his chauffeur.