Is Batman: Caped Crusader a Spinoff of Matt Reeves’ The Batman?

The Batman co-writer/director Matt Reeves is listed as one of upcoming animated series Batman: Caped Crusader‘s creators. Does this mean Batman: Caped Crusader is a spinoff of The Batman?

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Is Batman: Caped Crusader a Spinoff of The Batman?

No, Batman: Caped Crusader isn’t spinoff of Matt Reeves’ The Batman. While the two productions have a lot in common – notably, both chart the exploits of a rookie Dark Knight – they’re set in their own separate universes. Heck, they don’t even share the same era. The Batman unfolds in the present day Gotham City, whereas Batman: Caped Crusader takes place in the 1940s.

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Reeves wasn’t the sole creative force behind Batman: Caped Crusader, either. The acclaimed filmmaker co-developed Caped Crusader with Star Trek director J.J. Abrams and Batman: The Animated Series co-architect Bruce Timm. As such, the cartoon has at least as much in common with Batman: The Animated Series as it does with The Batman.

That said, don’t think of Batman: Caped Crusader as continuation of Timm’s earlier, landmark show. In a May 2024 Entertainment Weekly interview, Timm stressed that Caped Crusader was an entirely different beast, in part because of its period setting. While Batman: The Animated Series incorporated aspects of 1940s fashion, architecture, and technology, Batman: Caped Crusader takes this aesthetic even further.

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“[Character designer] James [Tucker] and I are both really big fans of movies from that era, so we decided to really lean into that in terms of the clothes, the cars, the architecture, and the level of technology,” Timm explained. “Early on, we decided there would be no computers and no cell phones [in Batman: Caped Crusader]. That changed everything.”

So, Batman: Caped Crusader is very much its own thing – but fans of Reeves’ Batman shouldn’t despair. Aside from upcoming sequel The Batman – Part II, a HBO limited series focused on Colin Farrell’s Oswald Cobblepot, Penguin, premieres in September 2024. Two other planned TV spinoffs (centered around the GCPD and Arkham Asylum, respectively) are officially cancelled, however.

Batman: Caped Crusader debuts on Prime Video on August 1, 2024.