Alternate versions of Batman

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Alternate versions of Batman from all media, including DC Comics multiverse, Elseworlds, television and film.

Contents

[edit] Comics

[edit] Modern continuity

  • Bruce Wayne is the original Batman. This is Batman's secret identity in almost all representations in other media.
  • Azrael becomes Batman after Bane breaks Bruce's back during 1993's Knightfall story.
  • Dick Grayson assumes the Batman identity after Azrael is forced to relinquish the mantle, prior to Bruce Wayne's return.
  • Tim Drake has been depicted as a possible future Batman on several occasions: in JLA #8 and #9; in Teen Titans #17-19 and #51-54; and in Superman/Batman #22 and #23, as well as donning the costume in Sins of Youth: Robin & Batboy.
  • Batman One Million is the Batman of the 853rd century, warden of the prison planet of Pluto and a member of Justice Legion A.
  • Damian Wayne, the son of Batman and Talia al Ghul may assume the Batman mantle as an adult.[1]

[edit] Alternate universe depictions

  • The Batman of Earth Two is shown to be the Golden Age Batman, with a life that parallels the modern Batman but with some significant differences. Born in the 1910s, Bruce Wayne eventually retires as Batman and becomes Police Commissioner. He marries Selina Kyle and the two have a daughter, the original Huntress, Helena Wayne. Finally, goaded out of retirement by a villain demanding Bruce Wayne (whom he mistakenly believes has framed him), he confronts the villain as Batman and dies in the line of duty. The Earth-Two Bruce Wayne's father Thomas Wayne is shown to have worn something similar to the modern Batman costume while Bruce was young, to entertain trick-or-treaters at Halloween, ultimately influencing Bruce's choice of alter ego.
  • Owlman is Earth-Three's supervillain counterpart to Batman. In his Antimatter universe incarnation, Owlman's secret identity is Thomas Wayne II, the son of Gotham City Police Commissioner Thomas Wayne. Another version of Owlman resides on the new Earth-3 and is a member of the Crime Society of America. This Owlman and his team are analogues for the Earth-2 Batman and the Justice Society of America respectively.
  • On Earth-8, in Lord Havok and the Extremists #3, a version of Batman called "Bat-Soldier" is shown working for Monarch.
  • The Tangent Comics version of the Batman is a knight who once fought King Arthur and was forced to atone for his sins, seeking justice through an empty suit of armor for all eternity. This version currently resides on Earth-9.
  • On Earth-10, Bruce Wayne is part of the "JL-Axis" and is a fervent Nazi enforcer.[2]
  • On Earth-11, where the genders reversed of Batwoman.
  • On Earth-12, a futuristic Batman resembles the Batman (Terry McGinnis) of animated series Batman Beyond.[3] If intended to coincide with the DC animated universe, the Batman (Bruce Wayne) of Batman: The Animated Series and Justice League Unlimited also resides in his universe.
  • On Earth-15, it is shown that Bruce Wayne has died and that Jason Todd has replaced him as Batman. He was recently killed by Superman-Prime in Countdown #24.
  • The Batman: Gotham by Gaslight one shot depicts a Batman who started his crimefighting career in 1889. This alternate Batman resides on Earth-19.
  • The Kingdom Come limited series depicts a Batman who, ravaged by years of fighting crime, uses an exoskeleton to keep himself together and keeps the peace on the streets of Gotham using remote-controlled robots. This alternate Batman resides on Earth-22.
  • Superman: Red Son depicts a Batman who is a Russian anarchist whose parents have been killed by the KGB. His actual name is not mentioned in the story. This alternate Batman resides on Earth-30.
  • The Batman from Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and its spin-offs, Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again and All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder is a tired vigilante in a much darker, edgier setting home to Miller's own new interpretations of various DC characters. This alternate Batman resides on Earth-31.
  • The Batman: In Darkest Knight limited series shows an alternate Bruce Wayne who assumes the mantle of Green Lantern instead of Batman. This alternate Batman resides on Earth-32.
  • The Batmage of Earth-33 is from a world of magic. His parents were murdered by the sorcerer Cobblepot who cursed him into his world of darkness, from which he made himself a master of the dark arts and an avenger of justice.
  • The JSA: The Liberty Files limited series shows an alternate Batman who is a covert operative of the government known as the Bat during World War II. This alternate Batman resides on Earth-40. While fighting against the vampire Batman of Earth-43 in Countdown: Arena #1, he is bitten and supposedly killed. Arena #2 reveals that he has turned into a vampire as well. He is killed in Arena #4 by Monarch.
  • The Batman & Dracula: Red Rain limited series shows an alternate Batman who becomes a vampire after fighting Dracula. This alternate Batman resides on Earth-43.
  • On Earth-51, after the death of Jason Todd this version of Batman killed the Joker and then proceeded to kill the remaining of the DC Supervillains.

[edit] Elseworlds and alternate versions

  • In Batman: Book of the Dead, Bruce Wayne's parents were archaeologists who were on the verge of cracking open a major conspiracy involving an Egyptian bat-god who was erased from history. They are murdered before Bruce's eyes due to their discovery, and Bruce becomes Batman when he is inspired by the bat cartouche that the assassin was really after.
  • In Batman: Castle of the Bat, scientist Bruce Wayne creates and brings to life a patchwork corpse containing bat DNA and the brain of his father, Thomas Wayne. This Bat-Man escapes from Wayne's castle and starts attacking highwaymen due to the vague memories of Thomas Wayne's death. Through the course of the story, the Bat-Man starts becoming more bat than man as the bat DNA starts to overcome the body.
  • In Batman: Citizen Wayne, the role of Batman is taken on by Harvey Dent, and Bruce Wayne is a district attorney who tries to stop Dent when his crimefighting methods start becoming more brutal.
  • In Batman: Digital Justice, set in a futuristic Gotham City, the persona of Batman is taken on by James Gordon, the grandson of Jim Gordon. Following the death of his partner, Officer Lena Schwartz, James became motivated by the old newspaper clippings about Batman that his grandfather kept, and finds a Batman suit that Bruce had given to Jim as a souvenir.
  • In Batman: Golden Streets of Gotham, Batman is Bruno Vanekow, a railroad worker whose parents die in a fire similar to the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. He dons a bat costume and becomes a self-styled Robin Hood, stealing from the city's rich and powerful and donating to charity.
  • In Batman: Haunted Gotham, Gotham City is taken over by the Dark Lords of Hell centuries ago. Bruce Wayne is raised by his parents to strike against them, and is joined in his quest by a skeleton named Cal and a sorceress named Cat Majik.
  • In Batman: I, Joker, the Gotham City of the future is ruled by a cult who worships Batman and his descendant, the Bruce. Once every year, there are challengers who try to usurp the rule of Batman, but even worse, this Bruce has people taken off the street and has them turned into Batman's old enemies complete with their memories. The newest Joker, Joe Collins, kept his original memories due to the efforts of the Bruce's surgeon, Doc Klibon, as a way of annoying him. Joe, along with his friend Marya, are freedom fighthers trying to stop the Bruce until a friend of theirs turn on them. Joe finds the original Batcave, and taking a Batman outfit and the original Joker's gun, confronts the Bruce at his citadel. He spares the Bruce's life, but Marya, after being muted by the Bruce, kills him herself. Months later, the two are protecting Gotham City as the new Batman and Robin.
  • In The Batman of Arkham, set in the year 1900, Bruce Wayne is a noted psychiatrist who runs Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane. Batman fills the Asylum's cells with criminals and as Bruce Wayne he uses compassion in order to cure its residents.
  • In Batman: Scar of the Bat, Bruce Wayne does not exist. Instead, Eliot Ness, inspired by the film characters Zorro and the Bat, dons a Batman-esque outfit and begins shaking down gangsters for information on the locations of illegal stills run by Al Capone. He is called Batman not only for his appearance, but for his use of a baseball bat in his first appearance, a nod to how Capone once beat one of his unfaithful underlings with a bat.
  • In The Tyrant, a corrupt Batman, under the influence of Jonathan Crane, takes control of Gotham City and turns it into a police state. He then drugs Gotham's water supply as a means to decrease criminal activity. However, Anarky forms a secret resistance against Batman and Crane with an army composed of most of Batman's villains and after Crane is fully exposed as the manipulating monster he is, Batman confesses his crimes to the people of Gotham City, who then burn him alive inside Wayne Manor.
  • In the Batman: Year 100 limited series , a story which takes place in the Gotham City of 2039, there is a mysterious Bat-Man running around Gotham. This Batman has been around since 1939, and it is never revealed who it is behind the mask.
  • In the Catwoman: Guardian of Gotham limited series, the roles of Catwoman and Batman are reversed, with Selena Kyle as a rich businesswoman who is really the superheroine Catwoman, and Bruce Wayne as the psychopathic murderer, Batman.
  • In the Stan Lee's Just Imagine continuity, Wayne Williams is framed for a crime he didn't commit who becomes Batman in a combination of Batman and Spider-Man's origin stories.
  • In Superman: Speeding Bullets, Thomas and Martha Wayne discover baby Kal-El's rocket ship and adopt him as Bruce Wayne. When he witnesses their death, he becomes Batman when he grows up. He gains an adversary in Lex Luthor, who becomes the Joker when he is disfigured in an accident.
  • In Batman: Dark Night Legacy, Bruce Wayne grows up with his parents, doing much of the training because he is uncertain what he wants to do with his life. His parents were saved from the robber by Vandal Savage, currently going by the name Vincent StClaire. Vandal has a minion of his called Scarecrone to use fear to kill Thomas and Martha Wayne by scaring them into jumping off from their apartment. Bruce Wayne tries to find out who's responsible and why. To protect his wife, he decides to use a disguise. Inspired by a painting of his ancestor, Sir Joshua of Wainewright, Bruce becomes the batman. Eventually he tracks down Vandal, fighting him in space. The two plummet to earth, burning up on reentry. Vandal, being immortal, is able to regenerate.

[edit] Film and television

Main article: Batman in popular media
  • Teen Titans/Teen Titans Go- Batman himself would not directly appear in the series, but there are a few references to him:
    • Apprentice Part 2: After Robin tells Slade that he has a father, a swarm of bats fly across the screen. One particular building that Robin steals from is Wayne Enterprises (revealed after a fight scene).
    • Go: Upon arriving in Jump City, a bank robber whom Robin pursues says "Hey, this isn't your town. Aren't you supposed to be with...", but is cutoff before saying Batman.

Batman and the Justice League make a cameo in the tie in comic Teen Titans Go #45. He narrates Robin's origin in #47 and views Titans Tower and the end of the story.

  • The Batman features a new animated Batman set outside DCAU continuity. This series features very different versions of most characters and antagonists previously unseen in or outside of comics.
  • In the Birds of Prey television series, Batman is viewed as a myth or urban legend, having mysteriously disappeared from New Gotham, leaving Barbara Gordon and his daughter Helena Kyle to defend the city.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Batman #666
  2. ^ Countdown to Adventure #4
  3. ^ Countdown #21
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