BACKSTAGE - INTERVIEWS

With nearly half of the season of The Batman having already aired, Alan Burnett returns to talk to The World's Finest about what we can expect from the rest of The Batman's fifth season.

The World's Finest (WF): Now that you've reached the half-way point of the season, how do you feel about the episodes that have aired (good, bad, etc., please explain) and the ones remaining for the season?

Alan Burnett (AB): I feel good about them. But I'm way too close to pick favorites right now. Even though less than half have been shown, we're already editing the 10th episode. So things are moving swiftly.

WF: Many fans have noted the evolution of the series from season one to now, the fifth season representing Batman finally becoming not just a hero, but a super-hero. How do you feel about this "evolution" and do you think it's one necessary for a character such as Batman?

AB: Batman's always been a super hero. Now he's more of a team player. The evolution is natural. Even though he's a loner, he's no fool. If you can have Superman at your side when you're bustin' down a door, why not?

WF: When approaching this season, how did you pick which heroes would appear on the series? You have the likes of Green Arrow and Flash, but fans have been wondering why we may not be seeing Wonder Woman hitting the small screen. Is there more to this than simply demanding or writing a DC character into a script?

AB: I don't think Wonder Woman was available to us at the time we were developing this season. She may have been reserved for movie development. Same with Aquaman. Viewers would be surprised how movie development restricts television development, not only in choices for heroes, but villains as well. I like Wonder Woman. It would have been a kick to use her. But that's the way it goes.

WF: Fans worry that you're straying too far from the Batman Family and making the series more like a "The Justice League" pilot season. Do you plan to bring the focus back on Batgirl and Robin and how do you juggle having Batman's Family interact with the entire DC Universe?

AB: We rarely know when starting a new season whether there will be additional seasons beyond that one. We approached this season with the assumption that this would be the final season for this rendition of Batman. Thus, so we didn't consider the introduction of other heroes as straying from Batman. It's more like ending the series on a high note. If by an act of God, or Mattel, the series would continue, I'm not sure where it would go, to tell you the truth. Maybe "The Women of the Batman" in which we'd finally get that darn Wonder Woman team-up. I'm not sure what 6-11-year-old boys would think of that concept, but I like it!

As for the second part of your question, one of the things we decided early on was to keep all the stories in Gotham City, so mixing in Robin, Batgirl and even Alfred into the JLA team-ups was not that difficult.

WF: Like I've previously mentioned, we've reached the half way point of the season. As of today, six episodes have aired with seven more to go. Can you give the fans a taste of what we can expect for the final seven episodes of the season (and "The Batman" as well)?

AB: Sure. The Green Lantern team-up will be next up with Penguin and Sinestro. Then we have an update of the Terrible Trio, featuring college kids who get into Professor Langstrom's formulas. This is the episode where we learn Batgirl's going to college. She's growing up, too. Then, we have a Hawkman episode with Shadow Thief and Black Mask teaming up. That show is like "The Poseidon Adventure" at 30,000 feet in the air. Then, the Wrath episode, in which we've added a Robin-like sidekick for Wrath called Skorn. You'll see Joker, Penguin, Ventriloquist, and Croc as supporting players. And the last two episodes will be the JLA Two-Parter. They'll also feature Robin and Batgirl, so it'll truly be a super hero extravaganza.

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