Batman is "not a hero" in first Caped Crusader trailer

We may have to wait until 2026 for the second installment of Matt Reeves’ The Batman series, but that doesn’t mean Hollywood is staying out of Gotham altogether. Bruce Wayne couldn’t let The Penguin have all the fun, could he? Not to be outdone by the mafia boss’ upcoming, “incredibly violent” new Max show, the Dark Knight is also coming to streaming with a gritty series of his own—and it’s animated! Looks like he couldn’t let the Spider-Verse have all the fun either.

Batman: Caped Crusader unveiled its first trailer today, and it immediately drops audiences into a darker, 1940s-inspired era of the vigilante’s history that we’ve never seen before. “Asking the question on everyone’s mind these days—what do you think about the Batman?” a television presenter asks in the opening of the clip, prompting answers like “I’m frighened” and “they outta catch that freak and lock him up” from the good citizens of Gotham. “We try to wipe out the foregone conclusion that he’s a hero—whether it’s for the police, regular citizens of Gotham, or the viewers,” said producer James Tucker of the series’ plot, which takes place before anyone knew Batman was one of the good guys, per Entertainment Weekly.