Today was meant to be the big day for Batman and Catwoman with their wedding in Batman #50 from Tom King, Mikel Janin, and June Chung (along with several other top-tier artists). DC Comics released spoilers for the event earlier this week, but the publisher left one key part out for fans to discover on their own while reading the issue.
SPOILERS for Batman #50 follow.
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King and his collaborators have been building up to Batman and Catwoman’s wedding for months. Batman has told his family and introduced Catwoman to his friends. In the issue, while out on patrol, both Batman and Catwoman decide that tonight is the night and set about preparing for the wedding, finding a judge and witnesses and getting dressed in their respective wedding apparel.
But it wasn’t meant to be. Catwoman chose her old friend Holly Robinson to be her witness and maid of honor. While discussing the wedding, Robinson notes that Batman always seemed to “need his misery” to continue his war on crime. This strikes a chord with Selina.
Ultimately, Selina decides not to appear at the wedding. Batman waits for an hour atop Finger tower before accepting what has happened. Catwoman explains herself in a note. “You’re still a child, Bruce. A hurt child,” she writes. She fears that marrying Bruce Wayne will finally make him happy and that would be the end of Batman. “How can I do that. To save the world, heroes make sacrifices. My sacrifice is my life. It’s you.”
This end was foreshadowed in previous issues of Batman. One story arc revealed an alternate timeline after Booster Gold went back in time and saved Bruce’s parents. That meant Bruce Wayne was happy and never became Batman and the world went to hell as a result. In a more recent issue, Catwoman fought the Joker, with Joker insisting that he knew their wedding would end Batman, and he wouldn’t allow it.
However, the foreshadowing actually goes back even further. The issue’s final page shows Holly Robinson, a key figure in a previous story during this Batman run, returning to the prison that Catwoman had broken her out of. There she’s greeted by her master, Bane:
Bane is likely still carrying a grudge after Batman assaulted his island to remove Psychco Pirate from his custody in order to Help Gotham girl. Here, Bane is surrounded by a cabal of villains, including the Riddler, the Joker, Psycho Pirate once more, and Scarface, as well as some unexpected characters like the former hero Gotham Girl that Batman tried to help and someone dressed as the Batman from the Flashpoint universe, who in that universe was Bruce Wayne’s father Thomas Wayne. There is also a machine at Bane’s feet that may be Booster Gold’s trusty companion, Skeets.
It seems that Bane has orchestrated a grand plan to, as he says, break Batman. Robinson’s comments to Selina were fed to her by Bane, who knew the effect they would have on her.
There’s a lot to unpack in this one image. Is that really the Flashpoint Batman, or someone wearing the suit? Does this mean Bane is somehow aware of the events of “The Button”? Did he orchestrate Thomas Wayne’s last words to Bruce?
Batman tried to help Gotham Girl. Was that all also part of Bane’s plan? Did Bane orchestrate the Booster Gold timeline story as well? It seems clear that the Joker’s fight with Catwoman was part of Bane’s plan as well. How deep does this rabbit hole go, and far ahead has Bane planned?
Fans will have to keep reading to find out. Batman #50 is on sale now.
