Ethan Hawke Will Play Batman...in An Animated TV Series About A Sentient Batmobile
Ready to break the internet? Here it is folks, Ethan Hawke is your new Batman!
What, you're still here? Okay, fine, he'll merely be voicing a new Batman ... in a cartoon ... with a premise that just so happens to revolve around living and breathing Bat-vehicles. You know, and I know, that you want to scroll down and find out all the details about this galaxy-brained project, so let's not even try to pretend otherwise. In addition to Hawke, WarnerMedia announced the full cast along with a couple of first-look images for "Batwheels," all of which you can read for yourself below.
Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na, Batwheels!
Chances are that you never personally wondered what would happen if the vaguely terrifying world of "Cars" smashed together with Batman, but that's exactly what "Batwheels" will attempt to explore. The team of sentient vehicles is made up of five members:
- Jacob Bertrand ("Cobra Kai") is Bam, the name apparently given to the Batmobile and the leader of the group, and is described as having "a strong sense of justice and tries his best to lead the team, even though he's not always sure he's up for the task. Ultimately, the other Batwheels know they can count on him, both as a super teammate, and as a friend."
- Jordan Reed ("Chuggington") is Redbird, the sports car that belongs to Robin (wait, can a sentient thing even "belong" to anyone? Ah!) and is described as "the kid brother of the team, always eager to prove himself a worthy sidekick to Bam but he can hold his own on a mission. He's enthusiastic and extremely inquisitive, asking tons of questions, like a kid detective."
- Madigan Kacmar ("Chuggington") is Bibi. "Batgirl's brave and bold motorcycle is the fastest of the Batwheels, but also the smallest, so she sometimes has a habit of being impulsive and jumping right into the action without a plan."
- Noah Bentley ("Elliott from Earth") is Buff, a Bat-monster truck. Yes, really! He's described as "the team's muscle and can ram through or run over any obstacle in his path, but he's also the heart of the team — a gentle giant who doesn't really know his own strength."
- Lilimar ("Cleopatra in Space") is Batwing, shockingly the only member of the team whose name actually lines up with the type of Bat-vehicle they actually are. Yes, I've put far too much thought into this concept already. In any case, she's described as the team's most "sophisticated" and "confident" member.
That's not all, however, as the new animated series will also bring the Bat-family together with a voice cast that includes Hawke as Batman, AJ Hudson ("The Good Place") as Duke Thomas/Robin, and Leah Lewis ("Nancy Drew") as Cassandra Cain/Batgirl. The character description for Batman clarifies that he can't actually communicate with his vehicular counterparts, which both makes sense and doesn't.
Anyway, "Batwheels" has been previously described as "a preschool animated action-adventure comedy series starring the most heroic and iconic vehicles from the DC universe," which is probably why it's best not to think too deeply about the mechanics of the world-building involved. Although in a truly just world, I feel like a premise as galaxy-brained as this would be the basis for the live-action DC Universe instead of what they have going on currently. Just saying.
There's no word just yet on when "Batwheels" or even where, but keep those Bat-ears tuned for more information as it comes in.