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Merry Little Batman is the most appropriate version of DC's Dark Knight that we could ask for this holiday season

At this time of year, the greatest gift is Amazon's Christmas-themed Batman and son animated movie

Features by Graeme McMillan, Editor

Published on Thu Dec 05 2024

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At this time of year, watchlists on countless streaming services start to fill up with any number of festive-themed offerings — from Netflix’s shared Christmas Universe to big-budget Santa reboots, and far beyond — but such a seasonal deluge can leave you snowed under when it comes to choosing what you’re actually going to watch. Thankfully, I’m here to help with that.

Last year, under the cover of night — just like Santa Claus himself! — a new holiday classic debuted on Prime Video. A movie that touches on all the primary things you want in a Christmas story: family and the love they share; a child taking matters into their own hands when faced with a seemingly impossible (or, at least, improbable) circumstances; and someone who knows if you’ve been bad or good, while wearing a ridiculous outfit. I refer, of course, to Merry Little Batman.

The animated feature — which has a voice cast that includes Luke Wilson as Batman, James Cromwell as Alfred, and newcomer Yonas Kibreab as Damian Wayne, the Little Batman of the movie’s title — had a checkered past: originally announced for both Cartoon Network and streaming service Max back when it was HBO Max, the project was cancelled in a round of cost-cutting, before Amazon’s MGM Studios swooped in to buy both this movie and the unrelated, but similarly afflicted, Batman: Caped Crusader animated series.

That backstory, and the fact that it pretty much flew under the radar upon release, might suggest to some that it’s an entirely avoidable confection that wouldn’t add much to your stocking-full of streaming treats. That take would be entirely incorrect: Merry Little Batman isn’t just a great holiday movie, but one of the better Batmovies of recent years, as well.

The key to its dual success is, honestly, the same thing: that it really leans into the sentiment at the heart of both stories, even as it pretty mercilessly makes fun of so much of the rest of the Batman mythos. (This is by no means a respectful Batman story, wonderfully; it even makes the Lego Batman Movie look faithful to the source material in comparison.) There’s a genuine joy and love at the center of the movie that feels authentically seasonal, but also accurate to the emotional connection between Bruce Wayne and Damian, even if everything else is up for grabs.

To watch Merry Little Batman is to regain that kid feeling again — the sense that there’s a dumb fun to the holidays as well as a heart; that Batman can be, honestly, pretty silly if you think about it enough, and that’s great; and the sense that sometimes you just want to make your loved ones proud, and that’s okay — and that in itself is a gift for the season. That it comes in such an attractive, and unique-looking package (the designs from Guillaume Fesquet and Daby Zainab Faidhi are amazing) is just a bonus. Think of it as some really great wrapping for one of the most enjoyable presents out there right now.

Merry Little Batman is streaming now on Prime Video, and available to rent on other streaming services.

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Graeme McMillan: Popverse Editor Graeme McMillan (he/him) has been writing about comics, culture, and comics culture on the internet for close to two decades at this point, which is terrifying to admit. He completely understands if you have problems understanding his accent.