"DC Animation on Max (Streaming Service)" News and Discussion (Spoilers)

Classic Speedy

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I've been slowly making my way through Young Justice for the first time. I'll probably start on Batman Beyond after that. And I skipped over Batman: Death in the Family on physical so I'll get to that too.
 

CyberCubed

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Didn't they revive the DCAU with those new Batman comics and they got mixed reception? Maybe it's animated versions of those stories.

Either way B:TAS being revived now would cause all sorts of problems, especially if they push the PG-13 boundary like those movies. I do NOT want to see Batgirl having sex with Batman on a rooftop, nor do I need to see tons of borderline nudity/fanservice from Harley. With Bruce Timm no longer being restricted by Saturday Morning standards...you know good and well he'll go in this direction like we've seen him do already.

It's sad, in a way. The old broadcast standards actually made the old shows "better" because they were able to get away with just enough without it going to the extremes of nudity/fanservice/sex/extreme violence like they can do now. It "kept Bruce Timm in line" so to speak. Now with the shackles off he can do whatever he wants almost, and it's always for the worse.

Anyway I guess it's just a rumor for now. If we do get a DCAU revival, I'll be very cautious.
 

Spider-Man

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BTAS doesn't need new episodes. If it was a limited series with a specific purpose then that would maybe change my mind, like the only thing I could see worthy would be the Near Apocolypse of '09 or a similar story event or one-off movie maybe to bring an end to TNBA/DCAU. If this show got screwed over in some way during the original run then I'd also have a different tune but it didn't and it had a great run. And new episodes really aren't needed nor will they truly capture what we enjoy about these shows. I know it was a huge show when we were kids and we all loved it and it was important to us at that time but the show's time has passed. Just like X-Men TAS or Spider-Man TAS and the like when we were growing up. I'd rather see new shows then those brought back to be shells of their former selves. This wouldn't ruin what I hold special about these older shows but they had their time. But with all these streaming services and stuff now everyone and their dog wants their favorite shows as a kid brought back and it's so ... predictable and boring. These are nearly 30-year old shows and I'd rather see new takes than bringing back yet another old franchise to be dusted off, given a jolt with no gaurantee of quality, and then put back on the shelf and promptly forgotten again. Of course in the end I suppose it doesn't hurt anything but it seems to cynical and empty to do something like that. Let them be and let's see what today's creators can do and what neat new things they can come up.

Personally I think only a handful of DCAU shows could be "brought back" successfully and the list is short. Batman Beyond and JLU is it really and maybe Static. The rest I think are past that point but these three could be likely be done well. They shouldn't be though. Let new voices work on these characters. Outside of the odd DC Universe Movie I hope the DCAU stays relatively buried with the exception of an absolute final send-off with no other DCAU content to follow. I enjoy visiting every once and awhile and that's enough. Let's keep the new stuff coming please.
 

Pfeiffer-Pfan

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I have never understood this whole ''you're ruining my childhood'' mentality. All 109 episodes of BTAS/TNBA aren't going anywhere and a ''revival'' won't change their quality or stature among the fans/general audience.

If you don't want a revival series then simply don't watch it (if there's a desperate need to preserve the original episodes). If it happens, then it would be an extension, an add on. An opportunity to allow creators a chance to revisit and potentially add to their creation. It will work for some and not for others.

I'm not a child anymore... new episodes of BTAS/TNBA will never take me back to that time in my life and that's just fine. The memories are good enough. WB is a business and if they think this will drum up interest or make them money (and the creatives are willing) then have at it.

This could be one last fling in the DCAU with the siginificant creative forces. Nobody is getting any younger, so if it happens, view it on it's own merits and be grateful for all the content, both new and old (''revived'') that WB is giving us.
 
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the greenman

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Well, Static should be brand new episodes/series. No connection to DCAU. It'll be impossible, but they should be completely independent of DC comics and just concentrate on the Milestone universe. The stories there are so timely, though with legal issues still persistent; not sure how.

Sent from my LM-Q730 using Tapatalk
 

wonderfly

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BTAS doesn't need new episodes. If it was a limited series with a specific purpose then that would maybe change my mind, like the only thing I could see worthy would be the Near Apocolypse of '09 or a similar story event or one-off movie maybe to bring an end to TNBA/DCAU. If this show got screwed over in some way during the original run then I'd also have a different tune but it didn't and it had a great run. And new episodes really aren't needed nor will they truly capture what we enjoy about these shows. I know it was a huge show when we were kids and we all loved it and it was important to us at that time but the show's time has passed. Just like X-Men TAS or Spider-Man TAS and the like when we were growing up. I'd rather see new shows then those brought back to be shells of their former selves. This wouldn't ruin what I hold special about these older shows but they had their time. But with all these streaming services and stuff now everyone and their dog wants their favorite shows as a kid brought back and it's so ... predictable and boring. These are nearly 30-year old shows and I'd rather see new takes than bringing back yet another old franchise to be dusted off, given a jolt with no gaurantee of quality, and then put back on the shelf and promptly forgotten again. Of course in the end I suppose it doesn't hurt anything but it seems to cynical and empty to do something like that. Let them be and let's see what today's creators can do and what neat new things they can come up.

Personally I think only a handful of DCAU shows could be "brought back" successfully and the list is short. Batman Beyond and JLU is it really and maybe Static. The rest I think are past that point but these three could be likely be done well. They shouldn't be though. Let new voices work on these characters. Outside of the odd DC Universe Movie I hope the DCAU stays relatively buried with the exception of an absolute final send-off with no other DCAU content to follow. I enjoy visiting every once and awhile and that's enough. Let's keep the new stuff coming please.

People (not you, necessarily) seem to be focusing on the "mixed results" of Young Justice Season 3 or stuff like the "Batman and Harley Quinn" movie. I get it. Sometimes they mess it up.

But I look to what the creators did for Samurai Jack Season 5, and I retain hope....

If they do bring back "Batman: The Animated Series", my hope is more on a batch of 10 to 13 episodes just showing regular cases/standard fights against villains. We don't need major plot points showing how Batman and Barbara Gordon became lovers, or something showing the origin of another Robin. Don't crank up the violence and sex since "We no longer have to follow the rules of 90's TV!", just do a "love letter" batch of episodes, done in the art style of the early "Batman: The Animated Series" episodes, not in the style of "The New Batman Adventures", have Batman solving a Riddler scheme, fighting Killer Croc, battling the Joker.

That's all I want.
 

ShadowStar

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People (not you, necessarily) seem to be focusing on the "mixed results" of Young Justice Season 3 or stuff like the "Batman and Harley Quinn" movie. I get it. Sometimes they mess it up.

But I look to what the creators did for Samurai Jack Season 5, and I retain hope....

If they do bring back "Batman: The Animated Series", my hope is more on a batch of 10 to 13 episodes just showing regular cases/standard fights against villains. We don't need major plot points showing how Batman and Barbara Gordon became lovers, or something showing the origin of another Robin. Don't crank up the violence and sex since "We no longer have to follow the rules of 90's TV!", just do a "love letter" batch of episodes, done in the art style of the early "Batman: The Animated Series" episodes, not in the style of "The New Batman Adventures", have Batman solving a Riddler scheme, fighting Killer Croc, battling the Joker.

That's all I want.
I mostly agree with your post, though I would rather see a TNBA style show than a BTAS style show, because at least there have been precedents for a return to the style of TNBA ("Mystery of the Batwoman", "Batman & Harley Quinn", and even the flashback in "Return of the Joker") and those films have been made since the transition from hand-drawn animation to digital animation. BTAS, on the other hand, technically ended with "Batgirl Returns" (or "Sub-Zero", I suppose) -- back when hand-drawn animation was still the norm. So a return to the BTAS style would look weird. I don't think that it would be convincing. And it would be jarring to go from this new BTAS entry to early TNBA episodes like "Holiday Knights", if one were to proceed in "DCAU chronological order". I just think that it would be too bizarre to go back to BTAS, but TNBA, on the other hand... I know that people feel strongly about this subject, so I just want to add that I don't mean to annoy anyone with my post.
 

wonderfly

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BTAS, on the other hand, technically ended with "Batgirl Returns" (or "Sub-Zero", I suppose) -- back when hand-drawn animation was still the norm. So a return to the BTAS style would look weird.

I think Samurai Jack Season 5 (which was all done on computers) did a great job of mimicking the hand drawn look, and I'm just wondering if that sort of thing is possible with the original "BTAS" style. Or for the "TNBA" art style, for that matter (that was hand drawn, wasn't it?).

I think the technology is available to mimic the art style, that's all I'm saying. Or at least, that would be my hope.
 

ShadowStar

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I think Samurai Jack Season 5 (which was all done on computers) did a great job of mimicking the hand drawn look, and I'm just wondering if that sort of thing is possible with the original "BTAS" style. Or for the "TNBA" art style, for that matter (that was hand drawn, wasn't it?).

I think the technology is available to mimic the art style, that's all I'm saying. Or at least, that would be my hope.

That is an excellent point regarding Samurai Jack! I enjoyed season 5 quite a bit. I think the Samurai Jack and BTAS have very different aesthetics, and so the shift to digital animation for season 5 of the former worked well, though I think the jury is out on whether it would work for BTAS. For me, this is a "better the devil you know than the devil you don't" situation. We know it works for TNBA but we don't know whether it works for BTAS.

And you're right - the TNBA episodes were hand-drawn, though the movies and the ROTJ flashback weren't, if I recall correctly.
 

Frontier

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I'm sitting here thinking to myself that, with all this talk about reviving a Batman cartoon, we still don't have a solo cartoon for Wonder Woman...but this is DC/WB, so they probably would bring back a Batman cartoon instead of doing something new :p.
 

wonderfly

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Also, I wouldn't want an "ongoing" endeavor, something that gets 3 to 4 seasons.

I just thought it'd be neat to have 6 or 10 or 13 episodes, done in the old style. A "love letter" to the old series, that's all.
 

ShadowStar

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I'm sitting here thinking to myself that, with all this talk about reviving a Batman cartoon, we still don't have a solo cartoon for Wonder Woman...but this is DC/WB, so they probably would bring back a Batman cartoon instead of doing something new :p.
It's also quite funny that the HBO Max thread has been overtaken by talk of BTAS, though granted, it's happening because of the revival rumor.
 

GrantM

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There was also the Arkham Knight game and a few Robot Chicken sketches :).

It's also quite funny that the HBO Max thread has been overtaken by talk of BTAS, though granted, it's happening because of the revival rumor.
Well next year is the 30th anniversary of BTAS and it's still very fondly remembered to this day. I don't know what WB Animation will do but as long as I get to hear both Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill as Batman/Joker again thats all that I ask for
 

CyberCubed

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A revival of B:TAS would surely use TNBA designs and be set in that era. So you wouldn't get the "classic" look of B:TAS anyway.

To be honest I always felt like TNBA should have had 52 episodes instead of just 24, since Tim Drake and Nightwing hardly got any screentime. Kinda ironic if it does come back we could get close to a regular 52 ep run of TNBA picking up where it left off.
 

wonderfly

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I'd have a hard time believing they'd do a 52 episode run.

I'm not even sure any "streaming" service orders animated shows in batches of 13 episodes/26 episodes/52 episodes/65 episodes, like they used to back in the days of Network/Cable TV.

EDIT: Well, then again, the new "Animaniacs" had 13 episodes for approved for it's new "Streaming" run, and it's already been approved for a 2nd season (another 13 episodes, I suppose)....
 

RoyalRubble

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DC Universe ordered 26 episodes each for Young Justice and Harley Quinn (but this one was split into 2 seasons). the 4th season of YJ, now moving to HBO Max, is also set to have 26 episodes.

Also I think the suggestion above was to continue TNBA until it would reach 52 episodes, meaning only 28 would be needed.
 

CyberCubed

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Yeah, I meant including the original 24 episodes. If they order say...26 episodes...then we'd be close to 52 eps total given it a "full" run.

Also give Riddler an episode, dammit! He got a new design and they never gave him a single episode in TNBA, lol
 

wonderfly

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DC Universe ordered 26 episodes each for Young Justice and Harley Quinn (but this one was split into 2 seasons). the 4th season of YJ, now moving to HBO Max, is also set to have 26 episodes.

Also I think the suggestion above was to continue TNBA until it would reach 52 episodes, meaning only 28 would be needed.

Hmm. I never felt TNBA was prevented from reaching 52 episodes. I thought it reached it's perfect end point with the final episode "Mad Love". This appears to be a discussion of whether the intention is a continuation of "TNBA" episodes vs. just a return to "Batman The Animated Series" (done in whichever of the animated styles they prefer - either "BTAS", "TNBA" or I could add in "Justice League" animation style).

I always thought the overarching plot continued just fine in Batman Beyond and Justice League. To return to a continuation of the "TNBA" plot points means arriving at that point where Joker kidnaps Robin (as seen in flashback in "Return of the Joker").

I never want "TNBA" to reach that point.

I don't know, maybe I'm overthinking it.
 

Harlequinn

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Honestly, a BTAS revival very well could just make Batman Beyond a “possible future” and move forward without that happening to Tim, as a canceled tie in comic series planned to do long ago. Tim’s entire arc, from his origin to his end, was basically a stand in for not being able to use Jason.

Being on HBO Max, there will be less censorship and they could just retcon Jason in and move forward. DC’s focal point has always been the multiverse, they could move the narrative in a different path. (Every modern DCAU entry has had some level of retcon)

Edit: Also, this would certainly use the TNBA art style. It’s listed as season 3 of BTAS on HBO Max and will be a cheaper way to produce a revival with the name attached. Hopefully Joker has his JL design
 

Yojimbo

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Well next year is the 30th anniversary of BTAS and it's still very fondly remembered to this day. I don't know what WB Animation will do but as long as I get to hear both Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill as Batman/Joker again thats all that I ask for
This year will be the 25th anniversary of STAS and we've yet to have another solo Superman series, canon or brand new canon. The closest was Legion of Super-Heroes. I'd rather see a Superman or a Wonder Woman show.

I have never understood this whole ''you're ruining my childhood'' mentality. All 109 episodes of BTAS/TNBA aren't going anywhere and a ''revival'' won't change their quality or stature among the fans/general audience.

If you don't want a revival series then simply don't watch it (if there's a desperate need to preserve the original episodes). If it happens, then it would be an extension, an add on. An opportunity to allow creators a chance to revisit and potentially add to their creation. It will work for some and not for others.

I'm not a child anymore... new episodes of BTAS/TNBA will never take me back to that time in my life and that's just fine. The memories are good enough. WB is a business and if they think this will drum up interest or make them money (and the creatives are willing) then have at it.

This could be one last fling in the DCAU with the siginificant creative forces. Nobody is getting any younger, so if it happens, view it on it's own merits and be grateful for all the content, both new and old (''revived'') that WB is giving us.

No, it's not that "ruining my childhood" mentality. The crew told the stories they wanted to tell and closed the book on that canon. They've said it themselves they get bored fast and a couple seasons per show seemed to work best for them. Sure, if there's some script sitting around that they never got to animate or one big story they never got to corporealize, I guess one last hurrah. But as you say, WB is also a business. And if the last hurrah makes a lot of money, they'll want more hurrahs. Or fans will keep demanding more and more. Look at the Snyder Cut. Fans of Snyder's take got the JL cut to be finished. Instead of being content and happy they got what they wanted... Now those fans demand the Snyder canon to continue. It'll just be a never ending argument when something gets revived.

Samurai Jack was a little different because wasn't it cancelled before Genndy got to finish his story hence the season 5 revival? I don't think TNBA got canned before they really had any stories left to tell. Sure, there was World's Collide but they're already reworked as a stand alone movie. And yes, there's a lot of unproduced ideas, outlines, scripts from the DCAU as I've discovered over the years, but some of them were unproduced for good reasons...
 

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