Batman: Caped Crusader Season 2 isn't just bringing a new Joker to Gotham, its showrunners say the show is digging even deeper into DC's deep library of characters. During exclusive interviews with The Direct at San Diego Comic-Con, executive producers and co-showrunners James Tucker and Geoffrey Thorne confirmed that Season 2 will introduce characters pulled from both obscure Batman lore and the wider DC Universe.
Thorne, breaking down what makes Caped Crusader's approach to classic characters different, teased Season 2 characters from "from either more deep Batman lore or from larger DC places:"
"We got to bring in characters that I'm not going to spoil from either more deep Batman lore or from larger DC places, and we got to do our spin on those things."
Tucker echoed that philosophy, explaining how the series, known for putting its own unique spin on classic characters, can still "keep a character true to its origins and personality:"
"If we can find a way to keep a character true to its origins and personality, but fit into one of those buckets, then we know they work for the show."
The showrunners' comments came on the same day House of the Dragon star Matthew Needham was revealed at SDCC as the voice of the new Joker. This is a version Needham described to The Direct as "a complete departure from the Joker that you think you knew."
Linklater said meeting his Joker was the moment he was looking forward to the most all season, while Harley Quinn actress Jamie Chung made clear her character isn't rushing into a partnership with Gotham's newest arrival, since she's "her own villain."
Set in a 1940s-inspired noir Gotham City, Batman: Caped Crusader returns for Season 2 on Friday, July 31, dropping all 10 episodes at once on Prime Video. Tucker, Thorne, Linklater, Chung, and Needham spoke exclusively with The Direct about Season 2's new characters, the new Joker, and Harley Quinn's evolution.
James Tucker & Geoffrey Thorne on Season 2's New Characters
"We Got to Bring in Characters... From Larger DC Places"
- The Direct: "Today's SDCC announcement has been all about the Joker. What else about Season 2 should audiences be excited for?"
James Tucker: We'll say the Riddler, just because he's the only other one we've talked about. But we think our version of Riddler is really amazing. The only thing I would say is we needed more of him. There's plenty in Season 2, but twenty episodes would have been great.
Geoffrey Thorne: I would like to say the growth of the various characters, certainly Batman, but all of the characters that you met in season one. That's a big part of the show, and we spent a good amount of time on making sure that occurred...
We got to bring in characters, that I'm not going to spoil, from either more deep Batman lore or from larger DC places, and we got to do our spin on those things. I think that's part of the fun of this show.
It really is a new Batman universe, and if you approach it that way, rather than with expectation, you're going to get a lot out of this show. We're not spinning just to spin.
Tucker: Everything has a reason that fits into the tone we established in season one.
- The Direct: What actually goes into reinventing a character without "spinning just to spin"?
Thorne: I mean, you saw the first three episodes, there's characters in those episodes which there's almost zero spin on. They're just set in the 1940s, or whatever. It's really the story that dictates it, and what Bruce and James wanted to do overall, the broad strokes of the world.
Then our job is sort of, all right, we want to use this, we want to do this, what character is best? And, all right, let's say that character is an alien. Normally, we can't do that. How can we use that character here? That's the fun of it, though. It's not a challenge.
Tucker: A character that fits into a prototype or a template that's either noir, gangster, or universal. If we can find a way to keep a character true to its origins and personality, but fit into one of those buckets, then we know they work for the show.
- The Direct: "The show's kept a nice cadence the last couple of years, 2024, 2026. Any update on Season 3?"
Thorne: Call our bosses and say you want it. We want to do it. We don't control any of that. We have no control, but we will all come back for it if they say so.
- The Direct: Are there storyboards or ideas out there already for future villains or characters?
Thorne: Nothing I can tell you about, because there is no Season 3 right now. None of the people who are in charge of that have said yes to that, so we would like to do it, for sure. That's about as much as I could say about that.
Hamish Linklater on Meeting the New Joker
"He Exceeds Them by Leaps and Bounds..."
- The Direct: "Two seasons in as both Batman and Bruce Wayne, which do you enjoy voicing more?"
Hamish Linklater: Well, I do a lot more Batman than I do Bruce, and if it's a long day, Batman will wear on you. Bruce is always like, 'I could do this with a martini.'
- The Direct: "Spoiler-free, what stood out to you about Season 2 as different from Season 1?"
Linklater: I was really looking forward to meeting my Joker finally. It's like you know, it's like you feel like you've got this spirit animal out there, and I was nervous about it too. You know, like is he going to live up to my expectations? He exceeds them by leaps and bounds.
- The Direct: "What do you get out of voicing Caped Crusader that you take into your other roles?"
Linklater: Oh, that's an interesting question. I mean, what I love about the show is sort of like the noir version of the Batman thing, that's really a cool place to live in. So I just love watching it.
Matthew Needham on Becoming Gotham's New Joker
"He's Not Funny. He's Not Manic. He's Not Gleeful."
- The Direct: "This character has had a lot of voices before yours, Mark Hamill, Troy Baker, and more. What's your stamp on the Joker?"
Matthew Needham: It's not my stamp. It's Bruce Timm and Geoffrey and James and all our amazing writers, it's their stamp. It's a completely new version. It's a complete departure from the Joker that you think you knew.
He's not funny. He's not manic. He's not gleeful. He's very serious, very cold, not fun, but absolutely evil version of the Joker.
- The Direct: "You don't have a lot of voice acting on your résumé. How did this role come about for you?"
Needham: I've done lots of radio work, and I've done readings on the radio, but it's a different thing, because that's everything through the voice there, whereas this, you're missing the most important part, the other half of the coin, which is the animation.
So it's an exercise in trust, just trusting the directors and trusting the producers to pull me back. I would start to get a bit manic, and they would pull me back and get me into that cold, quiet, calm headspace.
- The Direct: "Did you know you were auditioning for the Joker specifically?"
Needham: Yeah, it was just an audition, it was open to be the Joker, and when it came through, I thought, 'No way,' because I was just like, 'you can't compete with Mark Hamill, you just can't.'
So I was kind of like, well, why bother? I can't do it. But then in the audition, the only description was European and humorless, and that was such a departure from what I thought it was.
I thought, well, look, this could be something interesting there. It's not what has happened before. I don't have to try and copy Troy Baker or Mark Hamill or any of those guys. I just trust that the creators have a vision for the character, and if I follow them, it could be interesting. I hope it's interesting.
Jamie Chung on Harley Quinn's Season 2 Growth
"Who Wants to Be a Sidekick? ... She's Her Own Villain."
- The Direct: "Caped Crusader is known for reinventing iconic Batman characters. What's made Harley Quinn most unique across Seasons 1 and 2?"
Jamie Chung: Great question. I think Season 1, you know, Dr. Harleen Quinzel, she's kind of working hand in hand with the police department, trying to break down who Batman is, and then we quickly discovered that she's been kind of crusading her own mission, and she gets in a little sticky situation, and you don't really know what happens to her.
So I think, in Season 1, she's out in the open, and she's very daring and taking chances, like kind of begging to be caught. And in Season 2, we don't know what happens to her, but we do realize that she has survived, and I think where she's been hiding out is going to be quite the lovely discovery for everyone, and why she decided to stay there. And I think her downfall is her curiosity.
Curiosity in a case, and curiosity as to what they're investigating. And so I think that kind of pulls her out, but that gets her in trouble.
- The Direct: "With her surviving into Season 2, did anything change in your performance from Season 1?"
Chung: I think she has a little bit more empathy, and she has less anger towards Batman. I think you'll figure out why. And I think, you know, there's a relationship that keeps her going, and you can only guess, you probably guessed that it is Renee [Montoya], and yes, it is Renee. But I think it's quite lovely because I think you'll see more of that in-depth.
- The Direct: "Now that the Joker's casting is official, can you tease Harley and Joker's dynamic in Season 2?"
Chung: Well, you know what? I think the creators purposefully kind of separated our storylines because who wants to be a sidekick? You know, she's her own villain. So I think it'd be really lovely and interesting to see if the two characters ever interact towards the end of the season, or possibly for Season 3. It's a showdown. He's right here. I can kick his ass.
