DC Rewrites Batman’s Origin With a Shocking Villain Twist

Batman’s origin story is one of the most iconic backstories in all of fiction. He was a young boy whose loving parents were gunned down in front of him, and from that moment on, he was set on the path to become a dark avenger of the night. It’s such a simple but effective origin, perfectly establishing why Bruce fights so hard and why he cares so much about everybody. It’s hardly changed in the slightest since its first appearance in Detective Comics (1937) #33 all the way back in 1939. Even when Batman is adapted into new media or reexamined after a universal reboot, his origin remains the same. That consistency is what makes DC’s newest reimagination so shocking.

The Absolute Universe was designed with the ethos of breaking heroes down to their barest essentials and reimagining the world around them. A major part of that was shifting details about everyone’s origins. Superman watched Krypton explode, Wonder Woman was raised in Hell, and Batman only saw his father die. His mom actually lived well into adulthood, and his dad was murdered on a school trip, but the broad strokes were mostly the same. However, DC just revealed that everything we thought we knew about this Batman’s origin was wrong. Absolute Batman #20 just revealed that the Joker created Batman and has guided his life since the very beginning.

Batman Uncovers the Soul-Killing Joke

Just before he died in the last issue, Gordon gave Bruce a set of files that he said would shock him to his core. Issue #20 revealed that these files were Scarecrow’s psychological evaluation of a young Bruce, which proved that he was susceptible to Joker’s plan to forge him into Batman. Joe Chill was used by the villains to force Bruce down the path of vengeance and heroism. Batman didn’t know what to think or what to believe, so he went to the only man he knew who might have answers. He broke into Blackgate Penitentiary and stormed to the front of Chill’s cell, demanding that he tell him the truth.

Chill refused to talk, but the Scarecrow was already inside the cell, and he was more than happy to explain. He said that they shoved Bruce towards Batman as revenge against his mother. Joker knew she was a member of the Court of Owls, and he wanted to inflict the ultimate ironic punishment. Batman wasn’t created to further Joker’s goals of domination or to have a rival or anything like that. The Joker created Batman because owls eat bats, and he thought it’d be funny for Martha the owl’s son to grow up to be a bat. Batman’s entire life, all his struggles and victories, have all been so the Joker can laugh at him.

The Ultimate Reinvention 

The Joker has taken everything away from Batman before he’s even begun. Absolute Batman has always said that he wants his identity to force people to look at the hard truths, but not be the story itself. Now, he realizes that not even that was his choice. Batman was always the point because it was never his idea. The Joker planned out Bruce’s ascension to being Batman from the very start, and every challenge and monster he’s fought along the way have just been Joker playing with his favorite toy. It’s the ultimate reversal of their dynamic. Instead of Batman accidentally creating the Joker when he fell into the vat of acid, this Joker purposefully created Batman so he could torture him.

While the regular Joker is a creature of chaos, Absolute Joker is a bastion of cruel order. Joker is this world’s evil Bruce Wayne, and Batman is this world’s Joker-equivalent. Batman is the force trying to destroy the order that has ruled Gotham and the world by saving people. Everything about him has been fabricated by the Joker, from his bat-motif to his mission, but that doesn’t invalidate what he’s done. Batman has stopped Bane and saved Waylon. He’s inspired Alfred and Harley Quinn to fight together to save Gotham. Batman is living proof that it doesn’t matter if the Joker created him. 

The most dangerous part about telling a lie is that someone will believe you, and Batman believes he can save Gotham. All he needs to do is keep fighting to save everyone, because that’s what makes him Batman, not the Joker. The Joker set him on this path, yes, but Batman is going to be the one who reaches the end of it. Whether the Joker knows it or not, Batman will break free of the puppet strings around him, and it’ll be with the help of his friends.

Absolute Batman #20 is on sale now!

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