Since “Batman: The Animated Series” hit in the early ’90s, Timm and his team have proven they can produce cinematic stories with an emotional depth that rivals live-action movies. Some of the show’s best episodes display movie-quality storytelling, while Timm and Radomski’s first animated Batman movie, “Mask of the Phantasm,” proved they could expand their storytelling and directorial abilities to a feature-length project. The film is often cited as many a Bat fans’ favorite Batman movie ever made — equalling many of the live-action efforts with its sweeping tale of love, loss, and the origin of the Dark Knight himself. Even the current Batman, Robert Pattinson, cited it as a major influence for “The Batman.”
On top of all that, since he took on the task of bringing an animated Batman show to fruition, Timm has consistently displayed a comprehensive understanding of what makes Batman, Batman. The former “Tiny Toons” animator was instrumental in crafting the dark tone and style of “Batman: The Animated Series,” much of which came down to synthesizing the best of the character’s decades-long history to create a show that truly represented Batman as the “lone “creature of the night” as he was dubbed all the way back in “Detective Comics” #27.
And if that wasn’t enough to prove that Timm understands what works best for Batman, he and writer Paul Dini are responsible for creating Harley Quinn, a character that has gone on to enjoy massive popularity, being brought into the DC comic book Universe in 1999. With all that on his résumé, you’d think Timm would have at least had some conversations about being involved in a live-action Batman production. Alas, it seems Warner Bros. has yet to reach out.