has finally premiered on Amazon Prime Video since its reveal three years ago and a turbulent transition from Max, evoking the spirit of the much-beloved 1990s show Batman: . It’s a daunting standard for this new series to match, especially since is a gold standard for many audiences, including the late Kevin Conroy who voiced the Dark Knight. 

co-creator Bruce Timm helms this latest animated effort as the showrunner and an executive producer, with Hamish Linklater (, ) lending his talents as the titular hero to take on this arduous task. It remixes ideas from its spiritual predecessor and the character’s comic book source material to stand apart. While comparisons between the two shows are inevitable, how does measure up to the revered 1990s series?

If seeing Bruce Timm’s name as the driving creative force weren’t enough indication, the first poster for made it abundantly clear what the show’s intentions were. The -inspired art style is instantly recognizable and evocative of Timm and fellow co-creator and writer Paul Dini’s time in the DC Animated Universe during the 1990s. In that sense, it can’t be helped that fan expectations are set sky high. But with a creative team backing him that includes celebrated comic book writers like Eb Brubaker (, ) and Greg Rucka (), it’s hard not to respect Timm’s ambitions. 

The idea of “reinventing Batman” is far from a novel concept, especially in a genre known for toying around with multiple universes at once — for better and worse. What made so groundbreaking in the 1990s was how it borrowed elements from Batman’s comics since the hero’s return to his crime-noir roots in the 1970s thanks to writers like Dennis O’Neil.

In doing so, Timm, Dini, and Eric Radomski put to screen a Dark Knight series unlike the campy Adam West era, or even director Tim Burton’s stylized gothic take in his Michael Keaton-led blockbuster movies. For those reasons, it’s hard to say that Timm’s return to Gotham City in is revolutionary in any area. Even so, that’s hardly a drawback.

More of the same is still an asset if not an innovation. ended in 1995, and the last DCAU series with the Dark Knight in the main cast ended in 2006 (). While pandering to nostalgia can easily become a pitfall in the superhero genre, it’s no surprise that plenty of fans are hungry for something like .

taps into what made its spiritual predecessor successful while ticking just enough boxes to stand on its own feet. Interesting new angles on classic villains, a subtle yet meaningful change to its setting, and an admirable new leading actor in Linklater make this animated show a worthwhile endeavor.

Batman: Caped Crusader does, however, take a bolder direction in its setting. Outside of storytelling ambitions, ’ unique art direction made it visually memorable. It combined 1940s-inspired architecture with gothic aesthetics — a style dubbed “Dark Deco” — to complete its gloomy vision of Gotham City. It also made Batman’s world more interesting, as these stylistic choices created an anachronistic Gotham with 1940s visuals but with then-modern technology.

This proved to be a timeless artistic approach, but Prime Video’s makes a simple yet interesting change. Bruce Timm and his collaborators recognized the classic appeal of the DCAU art style and character designs, and outright set the series in 1940s Gotham, low-tech and all.

As subtle a difference as it sounds on paper, it’s a great twist to give the best of both worlds. It’s visually similar enough to the DCAU to tastefully play with nostalgia but different enough to feel like a world all its own. This also lets the Amazon Prime Video series feel more conducive to character changes, and it continues to prove that Batman is perhaps the best superhero for period-piece stories. From comics like the Victorian-era depicting the World’s Greatest Detective hunting Jack the Ripper to putting the hero in the Roaring ‘20s against Lovecraftian horrors, the character and his sandbox are incredibly versatile.

Since Timm announced alongside co-producers Matt Reeves () and J. J. Abrams they would develop , the influence of Kevin Conroy was always the elephant in the room. That rang truer after his tragic passing. This certainly couldn’t have relieved the weight of expectations or made Hamish Linklater’s job any easier, but not chasing a cheap Conroy-esque imitation is the key to success for this new series.

Linklater borrows elements of Conroy’s lower register and commanding presence for his dark avenger while channeling Robert Pattinson’s subdued, almost hushed tones in . His performance won’t be topping Conroy’s generational portrayal, but like ’s setting and aesthetics, it effectively balances nostalgia with modernity. 

Ultimately, doesn’t match or surpass . Even so, it acts as the perfect complement to the DCAU show in the modern age. Its intriguing setting, excellent voice acting, and interesting new character directions offer an exciting new animated Batman series for a younger generation — and even nostalgic older ones.

Batman: Caped Crusader