Batman was given a sleeker, brawnier appearance with an overall darker
costume: the yellow ellipse surrounding the bat emblem on his chest and the blue highlights of his cape and cowl were both removed and his utility belt has pouches instead of capsules and is now light brown instead of yellow, which resembles his appearance in
Batman: Year One. The decision to implement some of Todd's characteristics on Drake came up after Timm and Dini decided to not adapt the violent "
Batman: A Death in the Family" comic book storyline for the show. Batman made a new suit which is similar to the first one worn by Dick Grayson and identical to Tim Drake's original Robin costume from the comics, but the color scheme was simplified to red, black and yellow, eliminating green entirely. The costume retained the familiar red short-sleeved shirt, as well as the black cape with yellow inner lining. New elements included black sleeves, gloves, trunks and boots with red leggings. The familiar
domino mask had also changed, giving the new Robin a more wide-eyed, innocent look. The color scheme would later appear as Tim Drake's Robin costume in the post-
Infinite Crisis comics, while the original costume worn by Dick Grayson was seen in the episodes "Old Wounds" and "Over the Edge".
Dick Grayson, having abandoned his Robin persona as a result of a falling out with Batman, adopted the identity of
Nightwing. Grayson's build became sleeker, with broader shoulders, showcasing his emergence as a mature hero in his own right. The short spiky hair that Grayson wore as Robin had grown longer, styled to flow down the back of the neck. In his civilian guise, he wore it in a ponytail. As Nightwing, he wore a V-shaped mask and an all-black unitard with light blue hawk emblem that borrowed some elements of the comics version from the 1990s. The costume also featured collapsible wings under the arms that allowed Nightwing to glide for short distances. The designs of most of the villains from Batman's
rogues' gallery were also redesigned, some more so than others. The
Joker was redesigned to have white eyes with black sclera and a purple and green suit. However, this was not well-received by fans, and this led to him being redesigned again for
Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (2000),
Static Shock (2002) and
Justice League (2002–04), where his appearance was a mix of his look from the original series and this one.
Catwoman's redesign now sported an all-black bodysuit (similar to her appearance from
Batman Returns) and her hair is changed from blonde and shoulder-length to short and black while keeping her green eyes, matching her appearance in the comics.
The Penguin's redesign resembled his appearance from the Golden Age and Silver Age comics instead of having the animal-like appearance from
Batman Returns.
The Riddler's redesign now sported a green bodysuit with a question mark in the center and his domino mask and red hair are removed, while his bowler hat is retained.
The Scarecrow was redesigned to have long black hair, a zombie-like face, and a dark
preacher-like outfit.
Henry Polic II was recast with
Jeffrey Combs as the voice of the Scarecrow.
Mr. Freeze now has a dark suit, no goggles, and red eyes with black sclera.
Poison Ivy's appearance also changed, her skin tone is chalk white and her costume is now black with leaf-green highlights.
Bane's redesign outfit is completely black with silver accents and his mask no longer has red lenses.
Killer Croc received a major redesign with a more reptilian appearance, with Brooks Gardner replacing
Aron Kincaid in the role.
Harley Quinn,
Two-Face,
Clayface,
Alfred Pennyworth, and
Harvey Bullock were among the few characters who did not receive any drastic change in appearance or color alterations. Harley Quinn is also the only villain aside from the Joker who appeared in six or more episodes.
Ra's al Ghul and his daughter
Talia also did not receive any drastic re-designs, although their only appearance during this time was in the episode "The Demon Reborn" from
Superman: The Animated Series.
Koko Enterprise Co., LTD.,
TMS-Kyokuchi Corporation, and
Dong Yang Animation Co., LTD contributed some of the animation for this series. The
Kids' WB censors were much more flexible with episode content than the
Fox Kids censors were with
Batman: The Animated Series. Producer
Bruce Timm recounted that "when we were at Fox, after every single storyboard, we would get five single-spaced pages of notes on things we couldn't do. On the WB, we usually get maybe two paragraphs of stuff we can't do. At Fox, they were really picky, not just about things you couldn't do, but just in terms of content and story. They had a million opinions about what we should be doing. Nobody bothers us like that at the WB". ==Cast==