While most of the recent Batman adaptations have happened on the big screen, the 2021 HBO Max original “Batman: The Audio Adventures” brought the famed comic book caped crusader to a new medium: podcasts. With all 10 episodes of the second season streaming on Oct. 7, it seems appropriate to revisit the first.
As someone tired of the dour “doom-and-gloom” takes on Batman that have become in vogue, it’s refreshing to listen to a version of the Dark Knight that isn’t afraid to embrace the goofiness built into the concept of a man beating up criminals while wearing a cape.
Perhaps the most comedic way that “Batman: The Audio Adventures” leans into the uniqueness of its chosen format is by including in-universe commercials. Examples include an anti-Scarecrow drug PSA and an increasingly unhinged set of ads for Blabbo the Birthday Clown “who is in no way affiliated with the Joker.”
As well as paying tribute to radio serials of days gone by, these commercials flesh out what life is like for the average citizens Batman has sworn to protect while also serving as a brief pause in the action.
Another retro element is a narrator reminiscent of the classic late-1960s TV series who functions as the listener’s guide to this auditory aria by waxing poetic on the state of “life and death in Gotham City” in between scenes.
“Batman: The Audio Adventures” has one of my favorite ensembles out of any Batman project. There’s not a single actor where I thought that they could’ve picked someone better.
Jeffrey Wright has the perfect voice to portray Batman as a detached detective that still holds boundless conviction to save every soul in Gotham. Brent Spiner steals the show in every scene he’s in with a spine-chilling performance as the Joker. Rosario Dawson brings grit and depth to Catwoman. John Leguizamo amps up the self-aggrandizing “tortured artist” aspects of the Riddler. I’ll always have a soft spot for Two-Face, which Ike Barinholtz plays to split-personality perfection.
A big selling point for the series has been its use of several cast members from “Saturday Night Live” — Melissa Villaseñor, Kenan Thompson and Bobby Moynihan as Robin, Commissioner Gordon and the Penguin, respectively. Fred Armisen, Seth Meyers, Jason Sudeikis, Heidi Gardner and Tim Meadows also appear in supporting roles throughout the series while Chris Parnell serves as the narrator.
While the podcast utilizes more well-known members of Batman’s rogues gallery, the interpretations presented provide new directions for the characters while still being recognizable to casual and hardcore fans alike.
Told mostly through vignettes, the myriad of stories told in “Batman: The Audio Adventures” weave together to create a satisfying comic book experience in podcast form. I’m very excited to tune my laptop to the “Same Bat-Channel” for Season Two.
