‘Bat-Fam’ Showrunner Opens Up About the Characters of the Show

Bat-Fam Showrunner Mike Roth talks about the challenge of getting the balance of comedy, action, as well as a variety of characters into the new cartoon series.

Ghost Ra’s al Ghul is a Grandfather

In an interview with Polygon, Roth discusses the assortment of weird characters- both old and new- that populate the series. For example, one of the series regulars is the ghost of Ra’s al Ghul. However, to continue the theme of family, Ra’s is the grandfather to Damian Wayne. Damian is-of course-the son of Bruce, as well as Talia al Ghul. In the series, Ra’s is doting grandfather who just happens to be evil.

“Villains love their children too, so the fact that he loves Damian so much kind of overrides his hatred for Batman.He wants the children to do well, but, of course, he’s got a little bit of an evil streak in him. He just wants to see some fun things happen.”

Other Odd Character Choices in ‘Bat-Fam’

One of the more bizarre character inclusion in the show is Claire Selton aka the former supervillain Volcana. Traditionally, Volcana is a Superman villain. But the series de-aged her thanks to a dip in the Lazarus Pit. Roth said, her inclusion was more to give Damian a kid foil.

“It felt interesting to us to have another supervillain in the mix and because she’s kind of fiery, she brought a type of energy that’s opposite of Damian. But also kind of the same, because in a lot of ways, we look at Damian as a little spitfire who’s a little like Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes, who gets himself in trouble.”

(L to R): Julia Pennyworth, Alfred, Damian, Bruce, Claire, Man-Bat, and Ra’s al Ghul’s ghost

Another odd character inclusion is Alicia Pennyworth- who is Alfred’s grandniece. In the comics, we’ve seen Alfred have a niece- Daphne Pennyworth, as well as a daughter- Julia Pennyworth. However, Batman and Robin and Alicia Silverstone’s portrayal of Alfred’s niece Barbara Wilson inspired the character.

In this series, she is a contemporary of Bruce and helps with crimefighting.

“It’s just a funny concept to us, because Alicia lives in [Wayne Manor] and she’s essentially like a sister to Bruce. These supervillains who were trying to kill him are now in his orbit, and they’re like coming over for dinner, and he has to deal with all that in his own Bruce Wayne kind of way. We never really see Bruce’s childhood. It always sort of begins when he’s like 8 years old and his parents are murdered in an alley, and then that’s the end of it. [Alicia] was a really good close personal friend of Bruce. Through that friendship, she can challenge Bruce in ways that other people can’t, and also know Bruce in ways that other people don’t.”

Bat-Fam is currently steaming all episodes on Amazon Prime in North America.

Source: polygon.com

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