Mr. Freeze
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Mister Freeze (Dr. Victor Fries) (Pronounced as Victor "Freese" or "Freeze") is a DC Comics supervillain, an enemy of Batman. Created by Bob Kane, he first appeared in Batman #121 (February 1959).
Mr. Freeze was one of many gimmick-focused comic book villains. He was a mad scientist who plotted crimes around ice and cold. In most incarnations, this desire stems from a medical condition in which his body temperature was permanently lowered and he required a refrigerated “ice suit” to survive.
Originally called Mr. Zero, he was renamed and popularized by the 1960s Batman television series, in which he was played by several actors. Over two decades later, a television adaptation of Batman revitalized him once again. Batman: The Animated Series, retold Mr. Freeze’s origin, introducing his terminally ill, cryogenically frozen wife, which greater explained his obsession with ice and need to build a criminal empire to raise research funds. The animated series version was also more calm and composed than previous, campier versions and the comic book version has been altered to resemble it.
Elements of this personal tragedy, but not Freeze's calm demeanor, were incorporated into the 1997 film Batman & Robin, in which he was portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger.
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[edit] Fictonal character history
From the time of his first appearance in 1959 onward, Mr. Freeze was portrayed as one of many "joke" villains (see also Killer Moth, The Mad Hatter) cast as stock enemies of Batman. Originally called Mr. Zero, the producers of the 1960's Batman television series renamed him Mr. Freeze (and portrayed Batman addressing him as "Dr. Schimmell"), and the name quickly carried over to the comic books.
Nearly thirty years later, Mr. Freeze would owe even more to television. In Batman: The Animated Series, the "Heart of Ice" episode, he was made into a more complex, tragic character. This version of Mr. Freeze was enthusiastically accepted by fans, and has become the standard portrayal for the character in most forms of media, including the comic book series itself which, previously had the character casually killed by the Joker. Freeze was hastily resurrected in the comic after the episode aired.
[edit] Origin
Pre-Crisis Mr. Zero/Mr. Freeze was a rogue scientist whose design for an "ice gun" had led to his inadvertently spilling cryogenic chemicals on himself, resulting in his needing sub-zero temperatures to survive. His motives for turning to crime were not explored beyond this.
In the Batman: Mr. Freeze special (based closely on the animated series episode "Heart of Ice") Victor Fries (appropriately pronounced freeze) was fascinated with freezing animals as a child, which would lead to his career in cryogenics research.
His parents, horrified by his "hobby", sent him to a strict boarding school, where he was miserable, feeling detached from humanity. However, at university, he met Nora, whom he befriended and ultimately married.
Unfortunately, Nora later fell terminally ill. Fries took on a job working for a large company run by the ruthless Ferris Boyle. Fries did not like the job but needed money to help Nora.
Fries discovered a way to put Nora into cryo-stasis (using company equipment), hoping to sustain her until a cure could be found. Boyle (after realizing how much keeping Nora in stasis cost) attempted to have her brought out of stasis, overruling Fries' frantic objections. A struggle ensued, in which Boyle kicked Fries into a table full of chemicals and left Fries for dead. He survived, but his body temperature was lowered dramatically and from then on he could only live at sub-zero temperatures, forced to wear a special refrigerating suit to stay alive. As Mr. Freeze, he used cryonic technology to create a gun, which fired a beam that froze any target within its range.
Mr. Freeze's first action in his new identity was to seek revenge on Boyle. Batman intervened and, when Victor fired his freeze-gun at him, he dodged, causing the beam to shatter Nora's capsule. Freeze blamed Batman for this, and swore to destroy whatever the hero held dear (mainly Gotham City, and eventually Robin).
Mr. Freeze's crimes tend to involve freezing everyone and everything he runs into, which seems to satisfy his urge to get even with a hard, cruel world. In addition, he hardly ever forges alliances with the other criminals in Gotham City, preferring to work alone, although he has worked as a hired enforcer/hitman for the Black Mask. He also (in the hope of curing and reviving his wife) allied himself with The Society, fashioning for Nyssa al Ghul a sub-zero machine in exchange for the use of her own Lazarus Pit. Attempting to bring back Nora without waiting for the adjusting needed in the pool chemicals, he revives her as the twisted Lazara, and escapes after his now-estranged wife, who blames her husband for her condition.
He is usually imprisoned in Arkham Asylum when apprehended by Batman, as it is the only local penal facility that can accommodate his medical requirements for a refrigerated cell.
[edit] Powers and abilities
Like most Batman villains, Mr. Freeze plans his crimes about a specific theme; in his case, ice and cold. In darker incarnations of the Batman mythos, Mr. Freeze's obsession with ice stems from personal tragedy, and his crimes are inspired by his desire to make the rest of the world as cold and miserable as he is. He freezes areas around him using special weapons and equipment. His refrigeration suit grants him superhuman strength and durability, making him a powerful villain in Batman's rogues gallery. Some interpretations also suggest that because he has been soaked in the serum he intended to use for cryo-preservation, his age progression has slowed drastically.
In the Underworld Unleashed storyline Mr Freeze was granted the ability to generate sub-zero temperatures, no longer needing his freeze-gun or refrigeration suit. Unlike most villains granted boons by the demon Neron, Freeze's new powers proved temporary.
According to the animated Batman series, Freeze understands how to reproduce his powers. Upon being offered enough money to bankroll large scale research into Nora's condition, Freeze turns a terminally ill and wealthy man into another "Mr. Freeze"-like being (on the theory that the "Mr. Freeze condition" would arrest the disease). However, Grant Walker, the wealthy man whom Freeze changed, was left stranded in a chunk of ice after an attempt to turn the world into a desolate ice land. Freeze froze him up in a block of ice as Walker's "World of Tomorrow" Oceana collapsed around him. For two years, Walker remained in the iceberg, driving him insane. Although he did not reappear in the animation, the "second Mr. Freeze", reappered in the "Batman: Gotham Adventures" comic book series (based on the The New Gotham Adventures cartoon). In his last appearance, he broke into Wayne Foundation and kidnapped all of the scientists who had been working to cure Mr Freeze's head. With Batman out of action due to a concussion, Batgirl, Nightwing, and Robin save the scientists, with the help of Mr Freeze. Walker was eventually caught after a short fight with Freeze, and then sent to Arkham.
[edit] In other media
[edit] Adam West TV Series
In the 1960s Batman television series, Mr. Freeze was played by George Sanders, Otto Preminger, and Eli Wallach. In his first appearance (Instant Freeze), it is revealed that it was Batman who spilt the cryogenic chemicals on him during a fight, causing his hatred of the Caped Crusader.
In some Galician translations of the series, Mr. Freeze is mistakenly translated as "O Señor Xeo" ("Mr. Ice"), which led to confusion with Spanish translation of Marvel hero Iceman.
[edit] DC Animated Universe
Mr Freeze was a significant villain in Batman: The Animated Series, as noted above, but is portrayed as a sympathetic villain. He is voiced by Michael Ansara in the series and its' spin-offs. Mr. Freeze's appearance in the series was designed by Hellboy creator Mike Mignola, at the request of series creator Bruce Timm.
In the direct-to-video film Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero, Nora's condition begins to rapidly deteriorate due to an accident, so Freeze enlists the help of Dr. Gregory Belson to find a cure. Belson determines that Nora Fries needs an organ transplant, and due to her rare blood type there are not many suitable donors, so Freeze declares that they will use a live donor. Barbara Gordon (a.k.a. Batgirl) is a perfect match, so Freeze abducts her and takes her to an abandoned oil rig out in the ocean that Freeze is using as a hideout.
In the New Batman Adventures episode, Cold Comfort, Mr. Freeze has returned, but not to a happy reunion as he had hoped: Nora, having accepted that he had likely been killed in the oil rig's collapse, has remarried and left Gotham, leaving Mr. Freeze with nothing for which to live. Furthermore, he learns that the serum that mutated his body was deteriorating it, and although he had kidnapped many scientists to try and stop the process, they only succeeded after the process had claimed all but his head. Afterwards he begins committing crimes in order to inflict the loss he's suffered on others by taking away the things they value most.
Freeze, though having his seemingly last battle with Batman in "Cold Comfort", has had numerous appearances in the comics set in the same universe. In Batman: Gotham Adventures issue #5 he was found shortly after the battle and back in action. He has had further appearances in Batman Adventures as well as two appearances in Justice League Adventures. In the first, he claimed that Captain Cold had stolen his freeze gun design, but in the second they were working together, alongside other cold-based villains.[1]
- Batman Adventures #15 was written to be the final story for Mr. Freeze. Though the issue's ending is ambiguous, it does set up for his final fate in Batman Beyond. Nora finally encounters Victor after nearly witnessing her current husband (Francis D'Anjou) getting killed (In truth he created Freeze robot to attack him to prove to Nora that Victor was a monster). The story ends with Mr. Freeze's head falling into a pond at the arctic.
- Deleted material from the comic has Ferris Boyle and Grant Walker (Who appeared in the episode Deep Freeze and Gotham Adventures #5) being killed by Francis' robot. While the end of the story is left up in the air, it was intended for Mr Freeze to be taken by Powers Technology (Owned by Warren Powers and put in storage. Warren stated that the secret to immortality is locked inside that head. [2]
In Batman Beyond, it is discovered that the disembodied head of Victor Fries did indeed survive the events of "Cold Comfort" (The New Batman Adventures) and that the cryogenic process had made him essentially immortal. A doctor working for Derek Powers, the villain Blight, used him as a test subject for a process she hoped would be able to cure Powers' condition. She created a clone body for him and transferred Fries' memories into it. Given a normal life back, Fries tries to right some of the wrongs he did as a criminal (which impresses the new Batman). However, the new body soon begins to revert to the same sub-zero biology as Fries' original body. The doctor and Powers betrayed Fries, hoping to learn more from an autopsy. Fries escapes, recovers an old suit of armor (though still far more technologically advanced then his previous suit, with ice guns built into the arms), and becomes Mr. Freeze again. He seeks revenge/suicide by blowing up a Wayne-Powers complex (with Freeze, the doctor & Powers in it), but is stopped by Batman. He manages to redeem himself by saving Batman from Blight (who makes his supervillain "debut"), but apparently dies when he refuses to escape the exploding complex with Batman.
Originally in the aforementioned series, Mr. Freeze's fate was to be explained in a brief, comedic scene in which Bruce Wayne sends his successor, Terry McGinnis, to the fridge to get him something to drink, and he opens it to find Freeze's head staring back at him. The producers decided that joke didn't do the character justice, however, and did not use it.
[edit] Batman & Robin
In the film Batman & Robin, Mr. Freeze (played by Arnold Schwarzenegger) teamed up with Poison Ivy in a scheme to freeze Gotham City solid. In this largely campy interpretation, the character spouts puns related to cold weather and temperatures (e.g., "You’re not sending me to the cooler!", "Let's... kick some ice!"). His tragic origin is the same, however, and he is not without sympathetic qualities, though many fans couldn't stand this version of the character. Also, the source of energy to Freeze's suit was diamonds which Freeze robs the items to power his suit.
Here, he teamed up with Poison Ivy and her assistant, Bane, to take down Batman, Robin and Batgirl, even freezing Gotham, after Ivy claimed that Batman had turned off his wife's life-support system. But the heroes foiled Freeze's plan and, revealing Ivy's betrayal to him, give him a chance at redemption by reminding him that anyone can kill, but only a few people can save lives. As a result, Freeze gives Batman a means of curing the disease that Alfred, their butler, has recently been diagnosed with, revealing that his wife is still alive and that she will be moved to the Arkham Asylum laboratory so that Freeze can continue working on a cure. After Ivy was incarcerated, Freeze visited her and tells her "Winter has come at last."
[edit] The Batman
In The Batman, Mr. Freeze was a simple crook who was pursued by the Batman one night after a jewelry heist. Running into a cryogenics lab, he was knocked into one of the freeze chambers and electrocuted as his body was frozen. The experience somehow turned him into a quasi-undead being that constantly generated extreme cold around him; he was forced to wear a special suit (developed by a cryogenicist he coerced into working for him) to prevent him from freezing everything he comes in contact with. He could also (presumably) channel/focus his abilities. Batman had a hard time beating him, reaching the point where Batman was almost completely frozen by Freeze (an episode that caused a severe hypothermia, fever, and nightmarish dreams), until Alfred made a winter-themed bat-suit which the Caped Crusader used to defeat Mr. Freeze. In a later episode, Mr. Freeze teamed up with Firefly to put Gotham in a permanent winter. Though his background is different, in a flashback of his accident there is a picture of him and a woman with him in his car, suggesting that Nora (or another love interest) does indeed exist in this universe of the Batman mythos. In "The Icy Depths", he competed against Penguin to claim an umbrella that's a map to a sunken treasure.
Recently, an episode entitled "Artifacts" has been revealed, a decade or 2 after, Freeze's powers increased to the point he wears a special made giant powerful mech suit. However, he physically became abnormally thinner and has lost the use of his legs, now using artificial, mechanic spider legs. After a near-death escape, Freeze placed himself in cryogenic dupension until someone woke him up one thousand years in the future. Once his suit was repaired, Mr Freeze resumes terrorizing Gotham once again, and the city must learn how to deal with such a threat. Eventually, workers use equipment prepared for them by Batman to defeat Freeze while confusing him with hologram projections.
In this series, Mr. Freeze is voiced by Clancy Brown.
In some Spanish translations of The Batman, Mr. Freeze is mistakenly translated as "Capitán Frío". That name is a more accurate translation to another DC ice-themed villain, Captain Cold.
[edit] Video Game Appearances
- Mr. Freeze also appeared in several Batman video games. He was a boss in Batman: The Animated Series, The Adventures of Batman & Robin for the Sega Genesis (in which Freeze was the game's final boss), the video game adaptation of the movie Batman & Robin, Batman: Chaos in Gotham, Batman Vengeance and Batman: Dark Tomorrow (the only game to feature the comic book version of Mr. Freeze, as all other games use the animated or movie version). Micheal Ansara reprised his role as Mr. Freeze for Batman Vengeance.
[edit] Trivia
- Mr. Freeze is also the name of two LIM roller coasters at two Six Flags parks (Six Flags St. Louis and Six Flags Over Texas)
- Danish Toymaker Lego's Batman line features one set, 7783-The Batcave: The Penguin and Mr. Freeze's Invasion, which includes a minifigure incarnation of the supervillain. This version most closely resembles Freeze's appearance in Batman: The Animated Series.
- Mr. Freeze appeared in Batman vs. Predator 's third comic book, Blood Ties. His gang members were killed by the Predators. He was spared since he was not visible to the Predator because of his body temperature.
| Batman | |
|---|---|
| Creators: | Bob Kane • Bill Finger • Other writers and artists |
| Supporting Characters: | Robin (Tim Drake) • Nightwing (Dick Grayson) • Batgirl • Batwoman • Alfred Pennyworth • Lucius Fox • Barbara Gordon • Commissioner Gordon • Harvey Bullock |
| Villains: | Bane • Catwoman • Clayface • Harley Quinn • Joker • Killer Croc • Mr. Freeze • Penguin • Poison Ivy • Ra's al Ghul • Red Hood (Jason Todd) • Riddler • Scarecrow • Two-Face • Other villains |
| Locations: | Arkham Asylum • Batcave • Gotham City • Wayne Enterprises • Wayne Manor |
| Miscellanea: | Batarang • Batmobile • Batsuit • Popular media • Publications • Storylines • Alternate versions of Batman |
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