The Absolute Batman cartoon has dropped its 3D — fans' reaction: 'Thank god'
DC took away Bruce Wayne's fortune, and now Warner Bros. Animation has taken away his series' third dimension. Anyone who sat through Beware the Batman is calling it a win. At the Jim Lee
DC took away Bruce Wayne's fortune, and now Warner Bros. Animation has taken away his series' third dimension. Anyone who sat through Beware the Batman is calling it a win.
At the Jim Lee & Friends panel at New York Comic Con on 10 October 2026, the team behind the animated Absolute Batman showed its first footage, and binned the plan they announced four months ago. Peter Girardi of Warner Bros. Animation called the show "deep into development" and confirmed it will now be 2D animation with 3D elements, rather than the full CG series promised in June. The clip was an early test of Batman's first fight from Absolute Batman #1, more proof of concept than trailer.
On Reddit's r/television, the top comment, with more than 450 upvotes, runs to two words: "Thank god".
From full CG to drawn by hand
The series was unveiled at Annecy in June, in DC Studios and Warner Bros. Animation's first joint showcase. Scott Snyder, who writes the comic, is showrunner and executive producer; Nick Dragotta, who draws it, produces. Sam Register, president of Warner Bros. Animation, told the room it would be a full CG show with "a whole different tone".
The CG plan drew grumbles from the start, and fans had a specific grudge. Beware the Batman, Cartoon Network's CGI series from 2013, is the one Batman cartoon nobody puts on a list. It was pulled after 11 episodes, went on hiatus that October without explanation, and burned off its remaining episodes on Adult Swim's Toonami block in 2014.
"Beware the Batman was really unpleasant to look at it so this is is nice to read."
— a commenter on r/television
Another would take stylised 2D over full 3D every time, doubting the budget would stretch to good 3D anyway. Fair enough.
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A Batman who works for a living
This Batman isn't built like any of the previous ones. Absolute Batman launched in October 2024 and became the best-selling comic of the year, with just under 400,000 copies across all printings, according to DC. Its whole trick is taking things away:
- No fortune. Bruce Wayne grew up without the family billions. He works construction, builds his own kit and is drawn by Dragotta as a slab of a man.
- Old friends, not old foes. Bruce's childhood mates include Waylon Jones, Oswald Cobblepot, Harvey Dent and Edward Nygma, names that usually come with a rap sheet.
- A rich Joker. In this universe, the Joker is one of the wealthiest men in the world. The money changed sides.
A hulking, blue-collar Batman in hand-drawn lines is a much easier sell than a hulking, blue-collar Batman in plastic.
The billionaire is gone, the 3D is gone, and this is the first Batman cartoon in years fans are relieved to see stripped back.
Snyder says the series will stay faithful to the comic while giving Bruce's friends room the book never had. Dragotta has called it a "novelization" of Absolute Batman.
Not everyone is satisfied. The second most-upvoted comment wishes it were Absolute Wonder Woman getting the show instead, and another points out that Batman has had "a million" animated series while Wonder Woman, 85 years in, has never had one of her own.
There is still no platform, release window or voice cast, and the switch from 3D was made only recently. Bruce Wayne has lost his billions and his show has lost a dimension. The fans, for once, are chuffed with less.
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