Marc Bernardin Writing Batman: Caped Crusader Series Episode

Fat Man Beyond host Marc Bernardin will write an episode of the upcoming animated series Batman: Caped Crusader. The animated series, which hails from executive producers Matt Reeves and Bruce Timm, will be showrun by veteran Batman writer Ed Brubaker, whose Gotham Central was a big influence on Fox’s Gotham, and presumably in the planned Gotham PD, which Reeves has set up at HBO Max. Brubaker has previously served on the writing staff of HBO’s Westworld, and produced Amazon’s Too Old to Die Young. Bernardin announced his involvement on the latest episode of the show, which he co-hosts with Kevin Smith.

Bernardin said that he believes the gig goes back to when they had Brubaker on Fatman Beyond to talk about his comics career. He explained that Brubaker called him out of the blue to ask if he could work on an episode, and then had to run it past executives at Warner Bros. and Bad Robot.  

“Last week I filed my writers draft of an episode of a television program that will be called, I think, accoridng to the trades, Batman: The Caped Crusader,” Bernardin announced.

Smith, who has written some Batman-centric miniseries in the comics, welcomed Bernardin to the club, and joked that Bernardin is “writing a thing that people will actually see.”

You can see the episode below.     

Bernardin said the guidelines were “don’t f–k it up, and have fun.”

“Here’s something few people know, but the original Batman: The Animated Series was one of the things that made me want to write superhero comics in general, and Batman in particular,” Brubaker explained in a statement. “If not for what Bruce Timm and all the talented writers and artists did with that show, things like my revamp of Catwoman with Darwyn Cooke (who worked on BTAS) and Gotham Central with Greg Rucka and Michael Lark, would never have happened. So when Bruce Timm offered me the chance to come work on this new reimagining of Batman with him, James Tucker, J.J. Abrams and Matt Reeves, I jumped at it.”

Bernardin agreed on the impact of Timm’s classic series.

“It’s been a riot, and being able to be on a Zoom call with Bruce Timm where he’s giving you notes on things that Batman would and wouldn’t do, is awesome,” Bernardin told Fatman audiences.

Producers pitched Bernardin a specific villain and story they thought he would be suited to, “but within this plot, have a good time.”

This will mark Timm’s long-awaited return to Batman animation on television, after he spearheaded the Emmy-winning Batman: The Animated Series. For Reeves and Abrams, the collaboration is significant on multiple levels — for one thing, the pair been friends and collaborators since they were 13 years old, working on projects such as Felicity and Cloverfield. On another level, both recently signed landmark deals with WarnerMedia — Abrams for an overall deal, and Reeves for an overall television deal.

Are you excited for Batman: Caped Crusader heading to HBO Max and Cartoon Network? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!