Bat-Fam presents a Wayne Manor unlike any you’ve ever seen before, as not only do Batman, Alfred, and Damian Wayne call the place home, but so do a number of reformed villains and a delightfully prickly cat. Bat-Fam lives up to its name with an unusual family residing all in the same place, and at the center of all of them is an adorable Tiny Batman learning how to be a hero. ComicBook had the chance to speak to the showrunner and cast of Prime Video’s delightful new Bat-Fam series, where we learned about the true heart of the show, the chaos caused by Pap Pap Ra’s Al Ghul, a more lighthearted Batman, and the introduction of the true midlife crisis Batmobile.
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Bat-Fam began as a film titled Merry Little Batman, which introduced fans to Batman (Luke Wilson), Little Batman (Yonas Kibreab), and Alfred Pennyworth (James Cromwell). Bat-Fam now brings them back into the mix and introduces a host of new Wayne Manor residents, and showrunner Mike Roth revealed how that tiny slice of life story became something even bigger and more hilarious in the series.
“I think, really we were chasing this idea of, in the movie, as epic as it is, it really was kind of like a thin slice of this world, and we really wanted to get in there and dig around,” Roth said. “We wanted to see more of Bruce and Damian’s relationship. I think in order to do that, it made sense to bring more family members into the household, to challenge them in different ways, and to see their characters grow and expand. You know, what happens if Ra’s Al Ghul is in the house, his actual biological grandfather, who runs the League, or formerly ran the League of Shadows. What does that look like when he has a completely different view of how to raise a child than Bruce and Alfred? You know, and how fun would it be if Man-Bat were in the mix and he lived in the belfry? So I think really where it came from is just the love of the movie and just wanting to see as much of it as we possibly can.”
While there’s a host of other personalities in the house, this is still Batman’s home, and the show introduces a more lighthearted Batman that better fits this world without losing the quintessential elements of the Dark Knight. “We took all of his Batman energy, right, and instead of that energy focusing on defeating villains and doing detective work, which still is in the series, what does that energy look like as a dad? So he’s still very methodical. He’s still very pragmatic. He’s still by the book, by the rules. That energy right away feels like Batman, and so it’s like just taking that and then applying that to Bruce in a household where he’s raising an 8-year-old and a 12-year-old and navigating two fawning grandparents over his son and a crazy scientist who lives in the belfry, aka Man-Bat,” Roth said.
In addition to Damian calling the residence home, Wayne Manor also includes Claire (Haley Tju), aka the former villain known as Volcana, and their brother sister dynamic ends up becoming a core part of the show’s heart. It wasn’t difficult for either actor to run with that concept, as they both have real-life siblings.
“As a sibling, I’m the youngest of five, so I kind of already have that dynamic consistently just with me all the time. So it wasn’t too hard to play that into this character,” Tju said. “And again, Yonas just brings it to life so easily”. Kibreab agreed, saying, “Very similar. I have an older sister too, and kind of just putting myself into those younger brother shoes, which I already am. right? Just kind of ignore annoying my older sister and just playing pranks on her. It really just tapping into that wasn’t too hard.”
Claire has her own individual journey through the series in addition to her and Damian’s evolving dynamic, and it’s all linked to her past as a supervillain and finding the ability to trust in others. “There’s a lot of trials and tribulations of growing up, and for Claire specifically, I think this entire series is really about her learning how to trust everyone around her, because the only thing she really remembers in her past life is to not trust anybody. And I think with Damian there and Bruce, they do such a good job at, like, really trying to get through to that softer side of her,” Tju said.
“Having Claire Selton come into the mix, she’s got this angsty teenage energy that couples with Damian really well, especially since he really wants a big sister. He’s always wanted a big sibling, so he’s just desperate for this relationship to work, and she’s like, over that, or as we find out as the series goes, she actually really does adore what she affectionately calls the little dork,” Roth said. “So I think, again, it was a very organic process in a lot of ways, and we kind of knew what we needed to create conflict and humor, and then we just looked. I mean, Batman’s world is huge. It’s amazing pickings, so it’s like you kind of get to pick the best of the litter.”
Operating in the midst of all of this and causing even more chaos is Ra’s Al Ghul, affectionately known as Pap Pap. Ra’s is brought to life by Michael Benyaer, and he revealed that a friend actually predicted he would play this iconic Batman villain around a decade ago.
“It’s funny. We were just talking about this. I first became aware of Ra’s al Ghul maybe 10 years ago when a buddy said to me you’re going to play Ra’s al Ghul one day. And I said, I don’t even know who that is, because he wasn’t in the TV series in the 60s,” Benyaer said. “And so when I got the packet on this, it says that he’s the grandfather, but he’s also a retired super villain, but never really wants to let go of the glory. And, you know, it’s like anybody who is great at something, they don’t want to forget about that.”
“They want to keep talking about that even in their retirement age, right? So I don’t know how old he is. I don’t know, 500 years, 600 years. I don’t know, but he was the head of the League of Assassins, and he wants everyone to remember that. He also wants his grandson to follow in his footsteps, as it were, and what’s worse than your grandson’s father being actually a superhero? So there’s a constant sparring with Batman, who he used to spar with in Gotham, and I love the family aspect of it because we’ve all got that old uncle or grandfather that tells you about their glory days, and you’re like, really? But I did relate to that. I have an uncle like that,” Benyaer said.
“I hope that Damian’s character will follow in his grandfather’s footsteps to be a super villain, but he’s already wearing the Batman suit, so I don’t see that as actually happening,” Benyaer said. “But you never know, you never know. I think that he is kind of jockeying for position as the favorite grandfather between him and Alfred. It’s the Brady Bunch meets the Super Friends, so you know, everybody’s got to work together, and sometimes he helps out unwillingly, because he loves his grandson so much.”
Now, you can’t have a Batman without a Batmobile, and thankfully, Bat-Fam doesn’t disappoint. In fact, Roth described this version of the iconic vehicle as the midlife crisis Batmobile, and it’s epic and absurd in every way.
“Well, the big came from this idea in the movie that we wanted Damian to be this little tiny peanut in this huge, huge vehicle. Everything had to be ginormous next to him. So the big came from there, but predominantly, there’s no single answer,” Roth said. “Our Bruce Wayne is very much based on ourselves. Me as a father, other people in the show as a father, so we just kind of looked to our own life for clues or friends of ours lives for clues. And, you know, here’s this guy who’s raising an eight-year-old, right? And like, what would his midlife crisis Batmobile look like?”
“Like a huge, huge hot rod. Like, in a way, his Batmobile is his own wish fulfillment, right? He’s always had the cool, sleek, you know, I’m Batman, and this time it’s just like I’m just going for it. Exhaust, huge pipes. Just all engine, you know, it’s like a Lamborghini. We get to do that with this property. One of the things that’s fun with this property is we get to kind of live in both those worlds. What’s cool and intimidating, but also what’s funny,” Roth said.
Bat-Fam is currently streaming on Prime Video.
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