It’s finally here, the last season of the latest cartoon rendition of the caped crusader.
To amp things up a bit, the producers decided to introduce a whole new cast of characters. In case you’re one of those ‘it’s not as good as Batman the Animated Series/JLA‘ guys, let me point out that one of the key architects of the classic Batman Animated Series, mister Alan Burnett is working on this season and it shows.
The first episode of the new season introduces a host of characters that are new to this Batman cartoon, but the magic surprise is that the original voices have been preserved. This makes a world of difference and brings to mind my problems with the Superman – Doomsday DVD I reviewed recently. Hearing Dana Delaney as Lois Lane, George Newburn as Clark Kent/Superman and most importantly Clancy Brown as Lex Luthor, made these characters feel as familiar as they should.
The introduction of Superman takes center stage and it’s a very different take on the character. This is not the friendly blue boyscout that we have become accustomed to, but an all-powerful stranger who prefers no one’s help and in Burnett’s words, ‘just wants to be Clark Kent.’ This take on the character is pretty fascinating and opens up a host of new opportunities. Despite numerous ‘elseworld’ tales in which the duo have appeared as everything from cowboys to deluded fans of cartoons, I doubt such a role reversal has ever been attempted before.
Lex Luthor, still obsessed with the destruction of Superman, enlists the aid of a whole army of super villains. From Bane to Metallo to Clayface and even Mister Freeze, we see them all take a stab at offing the Man of Steel in just 25 odd minutes while Batman repeatedly attempts to assist Superman only to be spurned.
The cliffhanger featuring a Lex Luthor mind-controlled Superman does not bode well for the long standing friendship between Batman and Superman to show up any time soon.
But you know eventually, it’ll happen.
