Batman Day: The Dark Knight needs a new live-action series

As we celebrate Batman’s anniversary, having DC’s most iconic and popular character return to the small screen is not only necessary, it’s long overdue.

Look around the wilderness that is popular entertainment, and most of the time, you will spot Batman. And why wouldn’t you? In a market saturated by superheroes, Batman is still the king. His comics continue to top the bestseller lists, and are arguably the one product that’s keeping his publisher, DC Comics, afloat. He’s had two blockbuster film franchises, with another cinematic reboot on the way. Rumors are brewing that the critically acclaimed Batman: The Animated Series will also be getting a revival. And let’s not forget all the Batman merchandise, including Legos, action figures, clothing, and the still bestselling Arkham video game series.

But with all this plethora of Batman media, there’s something which still remains glaringly absent. Something which Batman used to have once upon a time. Something which, it can be said, helped to catapult the Caped Crusader into the pop culture mainstream in the first place. What Batman doesn’t have is a live-action television series.

He used to, of course. Fans of all ages still have fond memories of the Batman TV show from the mid 1960s starring Adam West and Burt Ward. Despite it’s campy nature, it was also true to what was being published in the comics at the time. It was also one of those rare shows which helped define the times, and it’s impact can still be felt even to this day (How many of know the theme song without having even watched a single episode?). But make no mistake: the show was still a half-hour comedy. It certainly was not the serious, grounded, psychologically complex crime drama we’ve come to expect from modern incarnations of the Dark Knight.

None of the [current Batman-related] shows are about Bruce Wayne fighting crime as Batman. What they all seem to have in common is that Bruce Wayne is either too young, too old, absent, retired, missing, or presumed dead….Yet each of these television series have the ingredients to make a contemporary live-action television dramatic series with Batman as the lead.

True, there have been a number of recent TV shows featuring Batman or his alter ego, Bruce Wayne, as a character. There was the dark, gonzo funhouse known as Gotham, which, like Smallville did with Superman, explored a young Bruce Wayne’s life prior to the cape and cowl alongside a pre-Commissioner Jim Gordon. There’s also Titans, which centers around an adult Dick Grayson and his psychological hang-ups over his past as Robin the Boy Wonder. And there’s also Batwoman, in which Bruce Wayne’s cousin, Kate Kane, dons the cape and cowl. There’s also two The Batman spin-off series in the works at HBO Max, one of which is centered around the Gotham PD, and another about about the Penguin.

In other words, none of these shows are about Bruce Wayne fighting crime as Batman. What they all seem to have in common is that Bruce Wayne is either too young, too old, absent, retired, missing, or presumed dead. Oh, and let’s not forget Pennyworth, which features the adventures of Alfred as a secret agent before he became the Wayne family butler. That’s not just a Batman related show without Batman, Bruce isn’t even born yet.

Yet each of these television series have the ingredients to make a contemporary live-action television dramatic series with Batman as the lead. These shows, for the most part, have decent production values and higher-than-average TV budgets. When set in Gotham, the creators do an excellent job in making wherever they film look like an urban hellhole strangled by crime. The fight choreography, while not always the best, is still as exciting and as visceral as what you would see in most action movies. Even the costume designs look good.

In addition, a series focusing on the Caped Crusader wouldn’t have to rely on over-the-top special effects or CGI. Part of the character’s appeal is that he doesn’t have super powers, which also gives him verisimilitude. Most of his popular rogues like the Joker, Two-Face, Penguin, and the Riddler, don’t have any powers either. Those that do, like Poison Ivy and Mister Freeze. have been proven to work on the small screen. As Christopher Nolan proved with his Dark Knight Trilogy, one can make a very convincing Batman set in a real world environment.

It’s not hard to imagine that if there was a live-action Batman series on HBO Max, it could easily pull in numbers that would rival Disney+’s The Mandalorian, if not surpass them.

Want further proof a Batman TV show is possible? Rewatch the early seasons of CW’s Arrow. The creators weren’t at all subtle in turning Oliver Queen into an ersatz Bruce Wayne, along with Star City becoming Gotham in all but name. John Diggle is a modern incarnation of Alfred, Speedy is essentially Robin, Black Canary is just like Catwoman, and Felicity performs the same tasks and functions as Oracle. The show even brought in Ra’s al Ghul as one of the main antagonists, tying him directly into Ollie’s backstory. Part of the reason that series became popular is because they put all the trappings of the Caped Crusader onto the Green Arrow.

If one still needs a better idea for how a realistic, live-action Batman series might work, look no further than Netflix’s Daredevil. This was a series which treated its comic book source material as if they were holy scriptures, with well-developed characters and plots. The creators took a seemingly ridiculous concept (seriously, a blind lawyer trained in ninjutsu fighting crime does sound pretty absurd) and made into one of the best superheroes shows of all time. Not to mention it upped the ante when it came to realistic fight scenes. Just as the Batman comics drew inspiration from Frank Miller’s tenure on the Daredevil comics, it’d be apropos if a potential Batman TV show followed suit.

The only reason Time Warner seems unwilling to make a TV series are the movies, and for good reason. Compared to its $340 million in television revenue, Batman movies have raked in a collective total of over $6 billion at the box office, and over $1 billion in home video. Rebooting Batman by making another big budget film is considered more profitable.

Yet this didn’t stop Warner Bros. from bringing Superman to the CW while Henry Cavill was still the Man of Steel on the big screen. Moreover, whether film studios like it or not, streaming services have fundamentally changed viewing habits. It’s not hard to imagine that if there was a live-action Batman series on HBO Max, it could easily pull in numbers that would rival Disney+’s The Mandalorian, if not surpass them.

While there’s plenty of Batman related media to go around, the world is ready for his return to television. And with the right amount of devotion and respect that’s given to other superhero TV projects, one that adapts the spirit and tone of the comics, a hypothetical series would not only be a ratings juggernaut, but groundbreaking television besides. After all, Batman did it before, and did so in a time in which superheroes weren’t as popular as they are now. No reason to think the Dark Knight Detective couldn’t do so again.

Do you agree or disagree that Batman needs his own live action TV series? Let us know your thoughts and opinions in the comments section down below.