Amazon Adds 2 More Batman Projects With Animated Film and Show

Warner Bros. Animation’s “Merry Little Batman” and “Bat-Family” will join “Batman: Caped Crusader” on Prime Video’s slate

“Bruce Wayne, Alfred, Damian Wayne from upcoming animated movie Merry Little Batman and spinoff series Bat-Family”
Warner Bros. Animation

Prime Video is expanding its Batman universe with not one but two more projects.

After saving ‘Batman: Caped Crusader’ from HBO’s chopping block in March, Prime Video has announced that it will be adding the family-friendly movie ‘Merry Little Batman’ as well as the series spinoff ‘Bat-Family’ to its library. Both projects come from Warner Bros. Animation and DC.

Whereas “Batman: Caped Crusader” is a reimagining of Batman’s mythology in the same vein as “Batman: The Animated Series,” “Merry Little Batman” will be more of a comedic take on this superhero. When big Batman’s son Damian Wayne finds himself alone in Wayne Manor on Christmas Eve, he has to defend his home and Gotham City as “Little Batman” before the holiday is ruined. Mike Roth, known for his work on “Regular Show,” will direct and executive produce alongside Sam Register. The screenplay comes from Morgan Evans (“Teen Titans Go!”).

That holiday romp will then be followed by “Bat-Family.” Now that Damian has taken on the mantle of Little Batman, he will team up with his dad Bruce and their loyal butler Alfred to protect Gotham. There will also be some newcomers as this father-son duo try to navigate the joys and pains of having a super family. Jase Ricci, Roth and Register are set to executive produce the series.

“‘Batman: The Animated Series’ helped pioneer in the evolution of superhero storytelling and defined the Dark Knight for a generation,” Vernon Sanders, head of television for Amazon and MGM Studios, said. “‘Batman: Caped Crusader’ will no doubt continue that tradition and, alongside ‘Merry Little Batman’ and ‘Bat-Family,’ we’re thrilled to collaborate with Warner Bros. Animation to offer a variety of takes of the ‘Batman’ mythos to our global Prime Video customers.”

“From the cinematic noir storytelling of ‘Batman: Caped Crusader’ to the comedic adventures of ‘Merry Little Batman’ and ‘Bat-Family,’ these new projects ensure that there will be an animated ‘Batman’ story ready to excite fans of all ages,” Sam Register, president of Warner Bros. Animation and Cartoon Network Studios, said.

Executive produced by Bruce Timm, J.J. Abrams and Matt Reeves, “Batman: Caped Crusader” was initially positioned to be an HBO Max original. That changed once Warner Bros. Discovery scaled back on much of its original content, specifically its animation. Though there were reports that the series was canceled, in reality it was pushed into the third-party licensing marketplace. Based on the source material and creators involved, it’s been speculated that the series likely fetched Warner more money this way than it would have as an HBO Max original.

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