Is A Major Batman Character Dying In Detective Comics #940?

Is a major player in the DC Universe about to be killed off? Well, judging by the previews of Detective Comics #940, it seems so.

Obviously, spoilers below!

Following DC Rebirth, a brand new Bat-Team hit the streets of Gotham City. Detective Comics saw Batman recruit his cousin Kate Kane – or, rather, Batwoman – to help him train a new generation of vigilantes to oversee Gotham. The duo gathered characters like Tim Drake (Red Robin), Stephanie Brown (Spoiler), Cass Cain (Orphan), and even Clayface in order to shape them into fully fledged superheroes. But, now, it looks like one of the Bat-Family members is about to bite it.

Nerdist recently got a hold of an exclusive preview for Detective Comics #940 that depicts Red Robin in a life-or-death brawl. The former sidekick is forced to face a fleet of drones which were originally programmed to target innocent civilians in Gotham. The drones, which were dispatched by Batwoman’s father Jacob Kane, have all converged at Red Robin’s location. And, what’s more, Bruce Wayne isn’t sure Tim Drake will survive the encounter.

Gotham’s Bat demands the drones be reprogrammed to point back to their original targets. But, when he learns the drones can’t be redirected, he asks those around him, “Do you realize what you’ve just lost us?” The upcoming issue teases readers that it “will change Batman’s world forever – and in a way you’d never expect! Whether they win or lost, they’ve already lost…”

Clearly, it looks like things aren’t going so well for Red Robin in this upcoming issue – but fans should take these previews with a grain of salt. After all, comic books do have a healthy history of teasing the worst is coming to only renegotiate the promise once an issue releases. It seems unlikely that Red Robin will be killed off so suddenly, leaving fans to wonder whether Batman’s world will be changed by something else. After all, The League of Shadows are still in play within the seedy underbelly of Gotham.

Some readers also believe series’ writer may hesitate to kill off Red Robin because of his fondness of the younger character. James Tynion IV spoke with ComicBook.com’s Russ Burlingame about DC Rebirth and which characters mean the most to him. James said, “I think every comic book fan has those characters that matter to them, that have mattered to them since they first started reading. To me, it’s the next generation of bat characters. It is Tim Drake. It is Stephanie Brown. It is Cassandra Cain.”

“Honestly, one of the things that in putting the books together, you always want to be writing the book that you want to read more than anything else in the world.I’m thrilled I’m the person who gets to carry them forward. I’m the person who actually gets to tell the stories that will drive these characters into the next five, ten years and beyond. I wanted to recreate, not recreate, but create a real home for them. Detective Comics feels like the perfect home for them.”

Detective Comics #940 will be released later this week on September 14. Check out the gallery below to see preview images from the upcoming issue!

[H/T] Nerdist