Red Hood’s Darkest Future Reveals the Truth About Him That Everyone Misunderstands

Red Hood has always been the black sheep of the Batman Family. Once the original successor to the Robin mantle and Batman’s partner, after his death and revival, he became an antagonist with the intent to clean up Gotham in the bloodiest way possible. Ever since his reintroduction, Jason has jumped back and forth between hero, anti-hero, and occasionally being a straight-up villain. His penchant for deadly violence and vengeance-filled lifestyle has elevated him to being one of the Bat-Family’s most popular members, but despite how many people love Jason Todd, it’s quite common for people to completely misunderstand his character. The worst offenders, by far, are often his writers.

However, while Jason’s character can be difficult to grasp, his newest dark future revealed exactly what he should be like when he’s at his worst, and it’s incredible. DC K.O. Knightfight #2 continued Batman’s adventures in the dark timeline created by the Heart of Apokalips. He managed to escape the alternate future version of Dick, but found himself in a different world run by Jason Todd as Batman. 

An Empty Gotham, But a Heart Full of Hate

Bruce woke up chained in the depths of Arkham Towers, with Jason standing over him. The older Jason asked Bruce which delusion he was living in today, and brushed aside all of his attempts to convince his son that this was an alternate world created by the Heart of Apokolips. Instead, Jason repeatedly called Bruce Basil Karlo, saying that he was really Clayface and had merely convinced himself that he was Batman. Jason berated Bruce, saying that he was unfathomably enraged that Clayface would insult him by pretending to be his long-dead family.

Batman refused to believe that he was crazy and broke out of his imprisonment, escaping to an empty Gotham. Instead of the messy but thriving city he expected, Bruce found a Gotham that was filled with Joker toxin and encased within a giant red dome. Jason had lived in the dome, alone, for the past twenty years, watching over the ghost of Gotham and making sure that nobody broke in and exposed themselves to the gas. Jason didn’t become the killer Batman or the monstrous, vengeance-fueled one. He was the Batman who remained alone to watch over Gotham, and this is exactly the type of dark, despicable future that writers should have in mind when they write Jason.

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A Man Driven By Vengeance and Love

This comic brings us the classic and unfortunately all too common battle between Bruce and Jason, but it puts a very interesting twist on it that most of these fights ignore. In creatively bankrupt versions of these fights, Jason is angry at Bruce for his ideals or hates him, but that has never been a foundational part of his character. In fact, Jason’s character only works because of how much he loves Bruce. 

If you look back at “Under the Red Hood,” Jason didn’t want the Joker to die just out of vengeance, but because, in his mind, that was a way to prove that Bruce loved him. Jason explicitly told Bruce that if the Joker had killed him, then he would have hunted the clown down. To Jason, Bruce refusing to kill the Joker means that Jason loves Bruce more than Bruce loves Jason, and that is where the anger comes from. Jason Todd loves intensely and deeply, and then his love was challenged, so he reacted violently. This story understands that, and it’s what makes its version of Jason so compelling.

Instead of hating Bruce, he was taken away from Jason, and now he is trying to live up to the ideals Bruce left behind as he understood them. To Jason, that meant protecting Gotham alone. One of the most consistent aspects of Batman is his tendency to push other people away, which Jason has demonstrated more than enough times whenever he gets into conflict with the Bat-Family. He wants to honor Bruce, but is still a deeply angry and broken man, so he is expressing that love through violence and self-destruction posing as heroism. 

Jason Todd is a deeply fascinating character, but not because he is rebellious or goes against Batman. He is interesting because he rebels against Batman out of a deep love and sense of betrayal that he is unsure how to come to terms with. Jason has never been a petty villain, and he is at his best when people understand that the young boy who loved being Robin and the angry man who bloodies his hands are the same. Jason’s biggest problem was never just rage; it was where that rage came from.

DC K.O. Knightfight #2 is on sale now!

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