There are currently 7 brand new episodes of the animated series Beware the Batman on my DVR. As of late Saturday night, though, there were none. So, what happened? Well, you remember how in the old days TV shows which failed would often get pulled from the schedule only to later have their remaining episodes burned off over the summer or on a Friday or Saturday night with little to no advanced warning? Yeah, Cartoon Network just did it with Beware the Batman, the first ever foray into computer animation for the caped crusader. Premiering as a Saturday morning cartoon in July 2013, Beware the Batman was pulled off the air after 11 episodes, effectively canceled before it had even reached the halfway point of its 26 episode first season. Months and months went by with empty promises that we would eventually be allowed to see the remaining episodes until, finally, it re-emerged this past May as part of Adult Swim’s Toonami block, airing in the extreme early morning hours, typically 3 AM.
Why any of this was happening was anyone’s guess. Cartoon Network sure as heck wasn’t saying, offering no official comments on the matter beyond mere confirmations of the show’s exit from the Saturday schedule and introduction to the Adult Swim schedule. This is pretty much exactly how they handled dearly departed DC shows Young Justice and Green Lantern, both pulled with no given reason and quietly burned off months later, although they weren’t assigned to the ghettos of Adult Swim for their respective burn-offs. Rumors began circulating that Cartoon Network was no longer comfortable with marketing superhero shows to little kids, not unless they seriously toned down the violence. You could also look at the ratings and see that Beware the Batman was definitely down from the most recent Batman series to air on Cartoon Network, Batman: The Brave & The Bold, or you could guess that toy sales, the true force behind kids cartoons, must have been insufficient.
You could also simply blame the quality of the show since Beware the Batman didn’t exactly get off to a good start. It was always a bit of a strange beast, a TV-CGI approach focusing almost exclusively on Batman’s lesser-known villains. Heck, I’m a fairly big Batman fan, and I’d never heard of villains like Magpie, Tobias Whale, Professor Pyg, and Humpty Dumpty (in the case of those last two, I wish I never had). They also gave Batman a sword-wielding female sidekick named Katana (instead of Robin), and made Alfred a gun-toting badass.
Those are all things you could adjust to (I did), and the show was clearly far improved by the halfway point of the season. However, what may have sunk them was their insistence to stay serious in an era of jokes. Modern superhero cartoons like Ultimate Spider-Man and Avengers Assemble are aggressively funny to better appeal to little kids whereas Beware the Batman takes itself very seriously, utilizing a slow-burn narrative built upon a persistent mystery pertaining to both Alfred and Katana’s past in the first 13 episodes and then the rise and fall of Harvey Dent in the last 13 episodes. This approach made Beware the Batman a rewarding experience but also one apparently requiring too much patience.
The final ax dropped a week ago when Adult Swim’s made the following announcement through Toonami’s Tumblr page:
We JUST (like, hours ago) found out from our legal department that Beware the Batman and Sym-bionic Titan are being “written off,” financially, as of now. Therefore, after this weekend neither of those two shows will be a part of Toonami again, unfortunately. What’s the good news? Welp, because we hate to bone you Bat-fans by simply yanking the show, we’re running ALL of the remaining unaired episodes THIS weekend from 2:30a-6a, for one last Bat-blow out.
Of course, I didn’t actually see that announcement until today. So, that’s why I woke up Sunday to find my DVR suddenly crowded with 7 new Beware the Batman episodes. It is great that they didn’t leave me hanging (or force me to buy the DVD, which just came out today), but there’s something deeply depressing about this to me. This is not how Batman’s reign of animation domination should end.
Going back to Batman: The Animated Series, Batman has either been the star of his own animated show or co-star in a Justice League-like ensemble since 1992, with only one year off (1996) during that entire stretch. Some might call that pure overexposure and bemoan the lack of effort on Warner Bros.-TV’s part to try and launch any of their non-Superman/Batman characters in the animated realm, but I’ve taken comfort in the knowledge that there was just always a new Batman show around the corner:
- Batman: The Animated Series (1992-1995)
- The New Adventures of Batman & Robin (1997-1999)
- Batman Beyond (1999-2001)
- Justice League (2001-2004)
- Justice League Unlimited (2004-2006)
- The Batman (2004-2008)
- Batman: The Brave & The Bold (2008-2011)
- Young Justice (2010-2013)
- Beware the Batman (2013-2014)
There were rumors earlier this summer that Cartoon Network already had another Batman animated series ready to go, Batman: Unlimited, although the only piece of evidence was a poster displayed at a Licensing Expo in Las Vegas. Nothing has come of that yet. It’s highly possibly that nothing ever will. The Saturday morning cartoon is pretty much officially dead at this point, and Cartoon Network’s entire slate of programming is exclusively comprised of kiddie-friendly fare like Teen Titans Go! and The Amazing World of Gumball.
DC Animation has pretty clearly moved on, focused now on building up their direct-to-video films, which started out as mere adaptations of beloved graphic novels, like Grant Morrison’s All-Star Superman and Frank Miller’s Batman: Year One. As of late, these films are being used more as test cases for eventual live offerings, with a solo Flash film (Justice League: Flashpoint Paradox) preceding the live action Flash TV show and Suicide Squad (Batman: Assault on Arkham) and Aquaman (Justice League: Throne of Atlantis) animated offerings coming out before rumored live-action films.
Next year will see at least 3 new animated films. In addition to Throne of Atlantis, we’ll get Batman Vs. Robin and Justice League: Gods and Monsters, the latter of which will feature a universe in which Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman are a bit more on the evil side than we’d usually expect. There is even going to be a 3-part, short form animated series leading into Gods and Monsters, but instead of airing on Cartoon Network or its Adult Swim cousin it will instead premiere on Machinima, a gaming and media streaming site most known for its original live action shows Mortal Kombat: Legacy and Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist. Of course, we’re not talking about an actual full-fledged TV show here but instead 3 short cartoons leading into a full-length animated films, and they’re probably smart to jump into bed with Machinima because “that’s where the kids are these days.” It also doesn’t hurt that Warner Bros. actually heavily invested in Machinima earlier this year, which is the type of corporate synergy that has made the DC cartoons a logical home on Cartoon Network for so long now (DC and CW are both part of the Time Warner conglomerate).
However, as someone who grew up not reading Batman comics but instead absorbing his stories through the legendary Batman: The Animated Series I can’t help but feel a little down that in the current market Beware the Batman was just burned off so unceremoniously from 2:30-6 AM on a Sunday morning.
What about you? Did you bail on Beware the Batman long ago? Or grow to kind of like it? Or are you just sad for me since I watched Batman cartoons as a kid, and I clearly still do now that I’m an adult? Let me know in the comments.
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I’ve been a Batman fan and admirer since childhood in the 70′ s reading a bunch of Batman comic books from the 50’s 60’s & 70’s my father found in a toy racetrack box at his job. And coming home from school to doing my homework, and afterwards waiting for 4 o’clock in anticipation for “The Adventures of Superman” ( the 50’s George Reeves TV show) and then at 4:30 the 1966 Batman TV show with Adam West.Growing up in New York City in the 70’s was a fun time for me and WPIX ch.11 before and after school was like what reality TV is to a great deal of television watchers in today’s times. I was always quite pleased that Batman became a phenomenon throughout the years. And watched the animation shows since Batman: The Animated Series and with the exception of Batman: The Brave & Bold I have thoroughly enjoyed them all including “Beware the Batman” I’m pretty much pissed off that everything seems to be going downhill when it comes to animated Batman shows. Cartoon Network has all of a sudden become super sensitive to superhero shows which is why DC Nation is history. I thought Beware the Batman was really good, aside from the Katana girl sidekick thing, I found it a refreshing alternative watching those “new” villains battle The Batman and by the way, the pig guy and the toad cracked me up! I caught all of the late night toonami Batman episodes on my DVR but I am too wondering what’s gonna happen with the Batman franchise and future animated Batman projects. I’m optimistic that it’s not gonna be the end of Batman on the TV screen but I’m just wondering when fans like myself and this writer will have to wait for the next series to come about. Times have changed now that Saturday morning cartoons are dead (SUCKS!) which makes it harder to fathom whether I’ll actually see The Batman during the daytime hours. Hell I don’t know how long I’ll have to wait to see if there will ever be another solo Batman motion picture again aside from the Justice League Ben Affleck mishap. It’s a sad state of circumstances seeing Beware the Batman get knocked off the air the way it did and Cartoon Network will more than likely remain super sensitive. I’ll cherish the Beware the Batman series as well as all the other animated Batman projects. Times have changed..
“The pig guy and the toad cracked me up!”
There was just something about an anthropomorphic toad walking and talking like a normal human being that always pulled me out of the show, as if that was a departure too far for me. But I might just be reacting more to the voice acting because when I think about it there were plenty of other fantastical characters on that show.
What seems to be happening is that WB/DC’s hand has kind of been forced by the wildly shifting preferences of the people at Cartoon Network, where the only acceptable superhero cartoon is Teen Titans Go!, which I kind of dig even if some episodes are clearly meant for a viewer far younger than me. So, WB has effectively turned their DC Animated Universe films into their new version of TV shows, with something like Justice League: War hinting at a flirtation between Superman and Wonder Woman and Justice League: Throne of Atlantis showing them on their first date. They are effectively very long TV episodes. Batman’s just a supporting player there, but he has his own universe of animated films with Son of Batman and the upcoming Batman Vs. Robin. Plus, there’s always the Will Arnett-voiced Batman from LEGO Movie getting his own spin-off theatrical release. So, really, Batman is still surviving in the animated world, just not in the way we were used to largely because the industry has seemingly decided those types of shows are no longer worth making unless you’re a Marvel show on DisneyXD. Plus, there are still plenty of Batman Brave and Bold episodes I haven’t watched, and those are always available on Netflix.
That’s me trying to be optimstic. I’d obviously much rather have Young Justice still around or another season of the underrated Beware the Batman.
Cartoon Network should just give up with DC and sell it or cancel their contract. I think the Nickelodeon is a great place for the DC Universe. Also I personally want Beware the batman to come back and stay for like five or six seasons. Also bring back older shows like Young Justice and Green Lantern.
At this point, Cartoon Network and DC have pretty much completely parted ways, from what I can tell. Teen Titans Go! is about to celebrate its 100th episode, but it’s not like there’s a rush to create another kiddie DC show to go along with it. Instead, Cartoon Network has plenty of other shows and DC is going direct to video with original movies, be they the more adult kind like Batman Vs. Robin or the LEGO ones or the weird, slightly random super kid-friendly ones like Batman Unlimited. Plus, DC has a deal with Machinima where they crank out very short cartoons to prop up Bruce Timm’s upcoming original movie Justice League: Gods and Monsters. The rumor is that Cartoon Network has simply had a change of heart in regards to the level of violence they’ll allow in their shows, although DisneyXD has no such qualms with their traditional Marvel comic book shows like Ultimate Spider-Man, Avengers Assemble and Hulk and the Agents of SMASH. As a result, as far as traditional TV is concerned DC has almost 100% conceded the field to Marvel, their only show of note right now being Teen Titans GO! Yet at the same time, Marvel very rarely makes any direct-to-video animated movies anymore, mostly letting DC have that market.
When are you doring to batman ultmated on tv
I’m not sure that I completely understand your question, but I will at least say that Batman is currently living on in animation in the Batman Unlimited series direct-to-video DVDs and online shorts on DC’s YouTube page. I wrote more about it elsewhere:
https://weminoredinfilm.com/2015/09/05/here-we-go-again-first-batman-unlimited-now-jla-the-uncertain-future-of-dc-animation/