The Batman (2004)

######why is there no topic for this you heretics /s

The Batman is a show that ran from 2004 to 2007, obviously based around Batman. It’s a bit different, because it tae wholly new and original takes on well known characters such as the Joker. I personally think it’s one of the best Batman shows because of how mature the plot was. Heck, the villains were more relatable to than Batman himself, at least for me.

What do the rest of you guys think?

I watched this show on Netflix a while back, it’s pretty good. One of my favorite Batman shows, by far.

I pretty much grew up with the series and thought it was awesome; it still holds up pretty well looking back. I liked the series’ take on characters such as the Riddler, but some characters, such as Bane, were really dumbed down in my opinion. I also think the last season wasted potential, since the Justice League only appeared in a few episodes, and the finale was really meh.

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This show pretty much was a part of my childhood and I think it’s what actually introduced me properly to the Batman character. I might have seen a bit of Justice League before that, though couldn’t understand english, but I digress.

Either way, I really like the aesthetic this show had. (The same studio did another of my favorite cartoons, Jackie Chan Adventures) The character designs were very stylized and in many cases improved from their older versions. This included Mr. Freeze, though he was now a mere thug with a cryogenic accident, and Bane who I might unjustifyingly love, because this version was the first I ever saw. Clayface also looked great and was actually a pretty tragic character.

What actually sold me the most was Joker’s design. It was very different from the original, but suited the character with a more mutated look, wild hair and red eyes. The insanity was more blunt than calculating, and dear God I loved his voice. Kevin Michael Richardson did a really good job as his voice, going from the lowest growls to the highest pitches in perfect harmony.

I liked the show for the first three seasons, but arguably seasons 4 and 5 can be passed on. They’re watchable, but I didn’t really like the justice league thing they had going and I got really tired of the sidekicks. I liked the first two seasons when Batman worked solo, it was dark and gritty (including the intro), and honestly I didn’t need anything else. The inclusion of Batgirl and later Robin was kinda meh, because they were a blatant attempt to appeal to a younger audience. The intros also turned more hyper, which was a turn off for me. And I was 10-11 back then, so the appeal effort went down the drain.

Oh really? I thought it was about Blue Beetle. /s

In reality, I thought the show was pretty okay. To me no animated series with the word “Batman” in the title will be as good as The Animated Series but on the other hand this wasn’t too bad either. I can understand some things turning off others (Goth Riddler, for example) but I think it’s a decent series and kind of an interesting take on Batman.

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I watched up to season 3 but I’ve just started watching again

I remember absolutely despising this show and all the interpretations of the different characters.

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I’m sorry but I simply cannot watch it after seeing what they did to some of the character designs and made them almost completely different. I especially dislike Bane, Riddler and Joker’s designs.

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@Monarth Yeah, once I saw Joker I was hooked on the show, and the animation style was really charming. I kinda liked the partnering Batman had with the Justice League little by little, like it was introducing them but the show ended too quickly for that to be justified.

Are you sure? I thought it was about Martian Manhunter, In fact I would have sworn it was…

No, really? /s

Before I even read anything above I just want to say that this show is HIGHLY underrated. I mean sure it didn’t contain the psychological nuances of the original Batman the Animated series, but the animation was superb (despite people complaining that it was too anime-esque) it wasn’t too childish, and it was just a lot of fun to watch. And that to me, is enough to make it a good show for me; it was a children’s cartoon that I can still watch now without cringing and it had a fresh, original take on the Dark Knight, and innovative takes on the villains. Not to mention the action was pretty good and each episode was decently written.

This was the first cartoon that introduced me to batman, but the first batman media I was ever exposed to was batman forever, a complete turd of a movie! I always wondered why the Joker was voiced by Kevin Richardson, it doesn’t make any sense since the man that became joker in this series was white. Guess the chemicals changed his ethnicity or something. The Penguin always sounded like spongebob, which was very distracting. The later seasons with Superman and the Flash felt so unnecessary since JLU was running concurrently. It’s a decent show, but BTAS and BB are better imo.

Yeah pretty sure it was, in the last episode didn’t they tell us Martaianhunyer was the hero all along and filling in for batsman as he went on vacation pretty sure that happens

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