Batman: Caped Crusader Trailer Reveals a Surprising Green Arrow Villain

Onomatopoeia is confirmed to appear in the DC animated series.

By Jenna Anderson

The first full trailer for Batman: Caped Crusader arrived on Wednesday, showcasing Prime Video's new take on the world of DC's comics. The animated series, which is executive produced by Bruce Timm, Matt Reeves, and J.J. Abrams, already boasts an impressive ensemble cast and a unique aesthetic for Batman's early days. In and amongst the glimpses of Caped Crusader's noir-driven world, the trailer briefly showed footage featuring an unexpected villain from Green Arrow's rogues gallery.  

Midway through the Caped Crusader trailer, a fedora-wearing figure with an all-black costume and a white target over his face is shown, and can be heard saying the phrase "Bam." Outside of the hat, this costume is identical to that worn by DC's Onomatopoeia.

batman-caped-crusader-onomatopoeia.jpg
(Photo: Prime Video)

Who Is Onomatopoeia?

Created by Kevin Smith and Phil Hester in 2002's Green Arrow #12, Onomatopoeia is an otherwise-unnamed serial killer who targets superheroes without actual superpowers. As his name suggests, Onomatopoeia literally expresses the sound effects of the noises heard while he commits his kills, which adds a chilling layer to his assassinations. Since his creation, Onomatopoeia has largely been an antagonist of both the Oliver Queen and Connor Hawke incarnations of Green Arrow, but he has crossed paths with Batman in the past. In Batman: Cacophony and Batman: The Widening Gyre, both of which are written by Smith, Onomatopoeia's connection to the criminal underworld of Gotham is established, as well as his additional secret identity as Baphomet, a vigilante who gets close to Batman and then kills his lover, Silver St. Cloud.

Considering the noir-ish tone of Caped Crusader, it will be interesting to see if the Baphomet storyline carries over into the series, or if Onomatopoeia's involvement will be much more straightforward. The character has already been very loosely adapted into television, with Peia Mannheim, the wife of Bruno Mannheim, donning the mantle in the third season of Superman & Lois. 

What Is Batman: Caped Crusader About?

In Batman: Caped Crusader, welcome to Gotham City, where the corrupt outnumber the good, criminals run rampant and law-abiding citizens live in a constant state of fear. Forged in the fire of tragedy, wealthy socialite Bruce Wayne (Hamish Linklater) becomes something both more and less than human—the BATMAN. His one-man crusade for justice attracts unexpected allies within the GCPD and City Hall, but his heroic actions spawn deadly, unforeseen ramifications. The cast of Batman: Caped Crusader also includes Christina Ricci, Jamie Chung, Diedrich Bader, Minnie Driver, Eric Morgan Stuart, Michelle C. Bonilla, Krystal Joy Brown, John DiMaggio, Mckenna Grace, Jason Watkins, Paul Scheer, Reid Scott, Gary Anthony Williams, Dan Donohue, David Krumholtz, and Haley Joel Osment.

Related:

The series is a reimagining of the Batman mythology through the visionary lens of executive producers J.J. Abrams, Matt Reeves and Bruce Timm. Based on DC characters, Batman: Caped Crusader hails from Warner Bros. Animation, Abrams' Bad Robot Productions and Reeves' 6th & Idaho. Along with Abrams, Reeves and Timm, Batman: Caped Crusader executive producers include Ed Brubaker, James Tucker, Daniel Pipski, Rachel Rusch Rich, and Sam Register.

Batman: Caped Crusader will premiere exclusively on Prime Video on Thursday, August 1st.

Trending Now: