Don’t underestimate this Batman just because he’s a cartoon. Batman: The Animated Series is arguably the best version made of the character.
The credits intro, with Shirley Walker’s powerful orchestrations and the Film Noir shading, is very binge-worthy.
When I complained that the Bale Batman had no humor, I was thinking of this series. Our Batman here is no camp comedy, like the old TV show was, but he has a subtle tongue-in-cheek humor. He’s not as stoic, either. He’s moved by more than his own sense of mission.
But is he an Eight?
He’s a tougher nut to crack because we’re looking at a series. A movie with a two hour arc must give us its Batman right away. Something that rolls out over weeks, even years, can be more coy.
This Bruce Wayne is very much an inhabitant of his city. We see him with friends and at charitable events. His Batman is more compassionate, more involved with citizens, than any other iteration.
It’s the episode with Catwoman that shows us who this Batman is. He’s a Nine. Her volatility is irresistible to him. That dynamic, the Four/Nine attraction, is the key. Of course he’s a Body Type still. This Batman, though, is more about judgment than anger. And his community interactions are also the social diplomacy of a Nine.
A Nine superhero fits more smoothly into our expectations for the genre. It makes sense that this iteration is so beloved. He has all the troubled heartbreak we expect from Batman with none of the explosive surprise an Eight brings.