Ethan Hawke is Batman in This Clip From DC's BATWHEELS Animated Series
There’s a new Batman-themed animated series coming soon called Batwheels. The series is geared towards preschool-aged kids and follows a group of sentient super-powered crime-fighting vehicles defending Gotham City alongside Batman, Robin, Batgirl, and several other DC Super Heroes.
Ethan Hawke plays Batman in the series and this first clip features Batman chasing down Joker in the Batmobile through the streets of Gotham. This is the first time that we’ve heard Hawke’s take on the character.
Here’s the official synopsis for the series:
They are a team of incredible crimefighters who have banded together to oppose evil, combat crime and clean up the streets of Gotham City. They are...okay, they're NOT Batman and Robin. They're the Batwheels.
Having just been created by the Batcomputer, our heroes are essentially kids with little to no life experience. Led by Bam (The Batmobile), the Batwheels - Bibi (The Batgirl Cycle), Redbird (Robin's Sports Car), The Batwing and Buff (The Bat Truck) - must navigate the growing pains of being a newly formed super team as well as the growing pains that come with just being a kid. This relatable and aspirational series will follow the journey of this dynamic team as they thrill and entertain with their heroic adventures as well as demonstrate to kids the value of self-confidence, friendship and teamwork.
I like the thought of Ethan Hawke as Batman and his voice certainly fits the character. In addition to Hawke, the rest of the cast includes Jacob Bertrand as Bam, Leah Lewis as Batgirl, A.J. Hudson as Duke Thomas, James Arnold Taylor as Toyman, Jess Harnell as Penguin, Kimberly Brooks as the Batcomputer, Mick Wingert as Moe, Lilimar as Batwing, Xolo Mariduena as Snowy the Snowcrawler, and Gina Rodriguez as Catwoman.
Batwheels is produced by Warner Bros. Animation. Sam Register serves as the show's executive producer with Michael G. Stern serving as co-executive producer. Steven Fink produces the series for Bang Zoom Ltd. and Simon J. Smith is the supervising producer.
We may not be getting Bruce Timm’s Batman: Caped Crusader because it’s been canceled, but hey, we’ve got this! If you didn’t know, I’m being sarcastic.
Batwheels premieres on September 17th on Cartoonito on HBO Max and will debut later on Cartoonito on Cartoon Network.