“It wasn’t really intended for kids”: The Campy Animated Batman Show Bruce Timm Said Did What Even Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Couldn’t

Batman is a character that has been repeatedly cast in R-rated DC properties, which favor the dark and sinister nature of the character and his rogue’s gallery. Even when an R-rating is not sought for the project, it is mostly aimed at older children.

However, Bruce Timm had a different vision for the Batman series that he wanted to create, one that was released around the same time at which Christopher Nolan’s trilogy was riding high in the cultural zeitgeist. Timm spoke to Think McFly Think and opened up about what was the one thing that he factored into his series that even Christopher Nolan forgot about.

Bruce Timm wanted to make a Batman for young kids

Bruce Timm revealed that one thing that creators of superhero content often forget is the fact that a lot of the content actually thrives when it is pointed toward a younger audience. Speaking with Think McFly Think, that creator said:

” I loved the The Dark Knight, but it wasn’t really intended for kids, at least not young kids anyway. I think a lot of the time now we tend to forget that super hero movies and these characters biggest audience is the younger kids. With Brave and The bold, I think we’re creating a whole new generation of Batman fans. It allows the younger kids to enjoy batman as much as we do while watching movie like The Dark Knight. “

Bruce Timm wanted to introduce a new generation of audiences to Batman which is necessary if franchises that have a more mature rating wish to survive in the competitive landscape that the superhero genre has become. There is a need for simpler and brighter stories, as the genre becomes increasingly stalled with R-rated gore-fests.

There is a need for Superhero stories that cater to a younger audience

With shows like The Boys, Umbrella Academy, and Invincible, and film franchises like DCEU and Deadpool, the superhero space has become increasingly dominated by R-rated films and shows, which cater to an adult audience that is familiar with the superhero landscape, given that they were exposed to it as children.

There seems to be an increasing amount of superhero media that is catered to a Teen and Up audience, which completely neglects the one demographic that consumes superhero content the most: young children. It is because children grew up on a healthy diet of Superman: The Animated Series that shows like Invincible can take off, and studios need to keep that in mind as they look to corner a niche in the superhero genre.