First look at new Batman animated series from director of The Batman has fans calling it a 'masterpiece'

A first look at Batman’s highly-anticipated return to the animated realm has finally been revealed.

While Batman: Caped Crusader is set to arrive on Amazon Prime Video in just three months, the show has been kept relatively under wraps when it comes to visuals up until now.

The first season of the series, which was originally canned by MAX before eventually being revived by Amazon, will be released on August 1st and will feature characters such as Catwoman, Harley Quinn, Commissioner Gordon, Clayface, and the titular Batman, otherwise known as Bruce Wayne.

Selina Kyle and Bruce Wayne, better known as Catwoman and Batman, in Batman: Caped Crusader. (Amazon Prime)

Heading the show are Executive Producers J.J. Abrams, Matt Reeves, and Bruce Timm, the latter two of whom have plenty of experience with the Batman franchise. While Matt Reeves is perhaps best known for his work on The Batman (2022), longtime fans of Batman will know Bruce Timm as one of the creators of Batman: The Animated Series. Running from 1992-1995, the show is still considered one of the greatest adaptation of DC Comic’s legendary superhero.

Timm’s involvement in the show is noticeable, as many have already begun to draw comparisons between Batman: The Animated Series and the handful of stills released by Amazon Prime Video to promote the upcoming series.

However, Timm was focused on making sure that Batman: Caped Crusader wasn’t merely a reboot of the 1990s hit animation. In doing so, the team decided to put a film noir spin on the series and set it in the 1940s. With this in mind, they also made it so the characters Clayface and Catwoman look more akin to their original designs, both of which debuted during this time period.

"We didn't want to do the Batman: The Animated Series Catwoman or the version that Ed Brubaker and Darwyn Cooke did in the early 2000s with the practical leather jumpsuit, which has become her default look in the comics and movies,” Timm explained to Entertainment Weekly when discussing the decision to return to Catwoman’s original design in the show.

“We wanted to do something different. So we thought, well, let's go all the way back to the beginning.”

Catwoman in Batman: Caped Crusader (Amazon Prime)

Fans of the Batman franchise have already expressed their excitement over the upcoming series, with one commenter on X (formerly Twitter) saying: ”This is going to be another masterpiece.”

Others compared the show to the critically acclaimed show X-Men ‘97, which has been airing weekly on Disney+ since March 20th of this year.

One excited superhero fan wrote: “With how incredible X-Men '97 was, I really hope this is great. We're long overdue for a stellar Batman series!”