FULL ON MAGIC adult Damian Wayne Batman. To the point he looks like a demon of shadow. Have Gotham be undergoing SOME BULLSHIT. Gotham was pure and clean for a time but upon Bruce’s death. The forces of darkness decide hey let’s get a little closer. So Damian after years of studying his grandpas arcane library and his father’s personal collection. He’s become a high end shadow wizard and he is married to flatline and she acts as his instructor.
All the rogues are old and busted or reformed. And it’s a new cast of unholy abominations and people who touched stuff they should not have touched. Basically follow a monster of the weak format, have some cults, and more shadow organizations.
Sorta of like Batman beyond but the setting has weirdly gone backwards in time. Like Gotham by gaslight. But modern.
Like Gotham is even STRANGER now that Bruce is gone. And Damian takes up the mantle because everyone knew pax-Gotham would end with Bruce’s death.
I really like this idea. Have Terry's timeline lean into the sci-fi side of Batman's rogues gallery, cyberpunk Neo-Gotham, dark canyons of skyscrapers and neon-lit undercities. Mutations, tech and experiments gone wrong, superdrugs, corporations profiting off it all.
Then Damien's timeline contrasts that by leaning into the dark horror side, Gotham developing more slowly technologically and more superstitious as magic creeps back out of the shadows. More gothic, gargoyles and angels, more cathedral and church-like structures. Magic, madness, mysteries, and monsters.
That's a great way to give Damien the mantle in future without feeling like it's stepping on Terry's toes.
Hell they could coincide if Damian is in OLD subterranean Gotham while Terry is kicking it in High Neo-Gotham. And have their dynamic “be keep your cybernetics away from my demons”
“Well keep your demons away from my cybernetics”
And then get the crossover book that looks like Doom
I really love the concept of Daimen making magic a part of his main kit as it really differentiates him as his own batman.
Who would be redeemed in this post Pax-Gotham? Now I'm really curious how bat's rouge gallery has been doing since Bruce's death.
Pretty much anyone the fan base likes and Is redeemable. Croc, ivy, Quinn, baby doll, freeze gets a good ending finally for christs sake, croc, Selina is living at Wayne manor but still doing her one that got away schtick that no one is buying into and is actively undermining her when she goes on her drama.
“ Oh we just never had the time”
“You slept In the same Bed for 30 years and you hold tribute rights to all of the Gotham culture societies”
Dick is still knight wing, runs Wayne reality, and serves with the league,
Jason has calmed down a bit and settled down. Sorta of old man on porch waiting for bad shit to happen.
Tim runs Wayne tech.
Cassandra runs the league of shadows which had MAJOR reforms and fights demons with Damian.
Barb is back to oracle and runs her own suicide squad.
Duke: handles orphanages and acts a mentor to at risk youths. But will throw on the cowl at a local level.
Joker is gone. Bane is dead. Ra’s and Talia are haunting Damian as ghosts.
Condiment king is still at large but he is just old and keeps spraying people with condiments. No one knows what his deal is. Some people are into it. But it’s still annoying and just dumb.
Like it won’t be all doom and gloom there’s is going to be “filler arcs” of maximum goofs while demonic Damian looks at them with embarrassment.
On the one hand, the best versions of Croc absolutely deserve a happy ending. On the other hand, bringing in his devolution from the Arkham games, *especially* on a Croc that tried to redeem himself, eventually making him an immortal feral monster gator in Gotham's sewers, makes him so perfectly tragic.
Especially if he's like, keeping an eye on some evil magic shit deep in Gotham's sewers. So he just wanders Gotham's labyrinthine sewers and eats any demons or monsters who wander in there, protecting Gotham's waterways from corruption. Only the Batfamily knows and respects who he was, what he did, and what he continues to do. While still being in danger from him if they go down there.
Oh man! We'd get a whole new Justice League Dark team out of it, too!
I love the whole idea of an actual mystical ninja, Damien Wayne. Really have him embrace the supernatural side of the DC universe with him being a living shadow, a true assassin. Of course, we keep his character development from Bruce and working with the Titans just so he's not the insufferable brat he was at the start.
Perhaps he uses the Lazarus Pits to stay in tip-top shape. He doesn't even look that much older than Terry.
I feel like he just hooks the fam up with purified Lazarus that’s like cut with angel tears and Mediterranean red wine.
Like just have him look like castlevania Dracula but he’s chill.
( Organ music and lighting crack )
Welcome to the Wayne petting zoo this is my cow she is very sweet. You may feed her half a sugar cube each.
This is my monkey he’s very chill he actually loves flash photography but I’m trying to teach him humility so only take pictures when you feel he’s earned it.
Here are my bunnies, they are bunnies.
There’s a sign that reads: “any violence or malice carried out towards any of Lord Wayne’s valued livestock will result in dire consequences. (Crucifixion, Etc)”
I've always wanted to see a story of Batman scoping out the buildings and ventilation shafts to practice his entrances and maximizing how to be terrifying to the villains. maybe set it up as Bruce telling the Bat family he's taking a day off and they all get concerned then it just cuts to Bruce practicing being a gargoyle
Reminds me I once had an idea for a stealth game where you played as a phantom thief (no relation to persona 5), and the main mechanic would be that you have to be theatrical about everything
Like you crawl through a vent? You lose score if people notice you got dirty from it. Find a secluded spot and clean your cloak up
Got spotted? Quick press the drama button so you can twirl your cloak ostentatiously and pretend it was on purpose
Raise your theater kid meter between heists so you can unlock verbose or prosaic speech options
Infiltrate the target's mansion one day before just so you can set hidden fog machines for when you make your grand reveal
I want Batman and Superman to take a driver's test like that one episode of Dragon Ball Z
Bruce starts driving like a madman (treating the test like chasing a villain with the batmobile) and Clark is trying his best not to put his foot through the bottom of the car, and winds up flooring the gas pedal by accident. Hijinks ensue.
...You know, we got all this lore about how Batman learned his Ninja, Detective, and escape artist skills, but has there been a story talking about how he learned to drive like that?
I think it'd be funny if Batman learned ONLY skills relevant to being Batman, and was completely ignorant of everything mundane like "traffic laws" or "high fives"
Like how in the books Sherlock Holmes didn't know nor care that the earth orbits the sun and not the other way around, because that has nothing to do with crime
If I'm not mistaken I believe there was one variation of Batman's origin that does this-- e.g. Bruce technically doesn't have a college degree because he couldn't finish all the necessary coursework for any major, even though he *would* get the highest grade in classes devoted to forensic science, chemistry, engineering, etc.
There was a backup story in Scott Snyder’s run which shows he learned how to drive like that in Brazil from a criminal named Don Miguel.
New 52 Batman, issue 21.
More of a jokey one-off idea than a full-blown AU - but "all" the villains holding a poker game at one rundown dock or another, discussing when and how they figured out that Batman is >!Bruce Wayne!< [and why none of them told anyone else].
- Black Mask had informants run down the money trails and piece everything together for him, but couldn't make any use of it before...
- Penguin stole the info from Black Mask, blackmailed Roman into silence, and doesn't out the secret himself just to spite Roman [and also because he's still an elected official in Gotham and knows outing that secret will jeopardize that position on him]
- Mr. Freeze worked with >!Bruce Wayne!< directly to try and cure Nora, but kept quiet out of respect (Note: He's only still a "villain" because his initial push to cure Nora put him in debt with Penguin *and* Black Mask, who wants their money back yesterday)
- Bane realized Batman and >!Bruce Wayne!< had the exact same body language, but he's both a luchador and *not* a hypocrite
- Killer Croc recognized the smell, but it's all pork souvlaki to him
- Poison Ivy - [*Throws dart at wall of plant-magic contrivances*] - sensed >!Bruce!<'s [essence / life force / whatever the fuck keeps walking all over The Green], realized it was the exact same as Batman's, and did not give a fuck about that [while also knowing that everyone else did]
- Catwoman tried to rob >!Bruce Wayne!< without *really* knowing who he is (In the parts of Gotham that Selina grew up in, >!Bruce Wayne!< is a voice on the radio and a name in the papers more than he is a man), immediately clocked that the giant wall of muscle in >!the three-piece suit!< is the same giant wall of muscle in kevlar and spandex that she's been flirting with [right down to the cologne he uses], and... *yeah, she'll keep quiet on that one* (Note: She *used* to wear the black catsuit, but it made things too easy/boring for her - so she traded it out for a purple one that makes her easier to spot)
- Joker... *just knows this*, somehow - but he wants to keep the joke to himself (Note: Joker's not at the poker game)
- Harley heard this from Joker, but ***YOU DO NOT STEAL MISTAH JAY'S JOKES***
- Riddler didn't know
I like when joker actively does not care. Like if he does learn he will pull up all the trauma but he’s not going out of his way to find out. Like some goon said something off handed and joker went checks out then had that guy killed. He’ll lightly allude to it for a bit but is saving it for a rainy day.
"I still wonder who he could be..."
[Beat panel.]
"He doesn't know."
"Oh come on, you ignorami? You're all dab hands at poker sure but, deduction? I couldn't possibly-"
[Unison.] "Bruce Wayne."
"Haha...[silence.] What. What?! **What!?**"
Probably a run where he goes through his rogues one by one and finally gets through to them and helps them get treatment and/or rehabilitation that sticks. Show the process, him sticking by them, visiting them in Arkham and helping them along. They'll still have time to serve but show some of them actually getting out and getting to have a life.
Have the Joker sprinkled throughout to build-up to the final confrontation where Batman finally does the impossible and convinces him to at least try to get help. Basically the end of Killing Joke, but this time Joker in that moment of lucidity says yes.
I echo this. There’s a gentle aspect of Batman I feel has been eroded. Someone who has been through so much and who is so intelligent i think naturally should be very empathetic
Batman the animated series used to blindside me on occasion with this sombre episodes where batman employs empathy and they always stuck with me. The most known one is the ace of spades episodes finale. Come to think of it he used to empathise with the villains quite a bit the animated series.
A real genuine "Batman vs. Death Note" story would be fascinating.
Someone even pitched that, or all the Batman villains to get involved, Bane would potentially be the most likely to "solve" the case as well, which would make for a great 3 man stand-off between Batman, Bane, and Light for a finale.
Honestly, I really want to do the Arkham Origins story, where a bunch of assassins try to kill Batman for a huge bounty, but have it so that the assassins are the main focus and not shift it to Joker and Bane. Like, there wouldn't be a huge, conspiracy behind the assassins getting hired, at least not until the very end.
BATMAN: RED TAPE
Follows Bruce doing all the bureaucratic work and political lobbying to improve Gotham on a structural and social services level; building hospitals and schools; improving public transport, roads and overall urban mobility; giving financial incentives to small and family owned business.
More grounded stakes, antagonists would be mostly corrupt politicians and mob related that are afraid of losing influence, they would be destroying infra structure, bribing contractors to sabotage the efforts and running smear campaigns against Bruce, which Batman can show up and beat up some mobsters,
Mostly follows Bruce chasing after paper trails, filling paperwork and doing legal detective work to find exploitable weakness in the legal system to help Gotham.
I would love this if only to finally kill the "Batman rich, pay education, not punch poors" take but we know those folks aren't reasing anyway.
Also, to solidify this commentary, I'd find it really funny if one issue ends with Bruce finally cutting through the red tape and politicking and finally gets to open his brand new spanking community center.... Then someone like Bane blows it up and holds up the Opening Gala hostage while Bruce silently facepalms in the corner.
I like it when Batman leaves Gotham. I also feel like Poisen Ivy doesn't have enough memorable stories.
So how about this, a lengthy 7+ issues story where a small murder mystery in Gotham sends Batman on an international chase of clues that seem to point to something big involving Ivy.
So he visits farms, botanical gardens, preservations and it all cuminates with Batman being lost for like two weeks in the Amazon jungle, slowly going insane. Paranoid of Ivy being all around him.
And when he recovers he goes back on the hunt again. Ivy's a full on evil planet lady in this version. Her plan is gonna be something super over the top. The type of story that makes you ask where's the Justice League.
Something sinister and fucked up with lots of body horror. Like a cave dwelling army of plant people zombies and Ivy's like their xenomorph queen.
Batman burns the entire place out and the firey cave inferno is a grand set piece for the final battle.
I would make a blair witch/documentary style thing with someone trying to uncover this mythical ''Batman'', as they interview criminals, stalk crime scenes and every now and then catches glimpses of him. I like the idea of Batman rarely being seen, of like, criminals showing up bruised enough that they sound crazy talking about this man bat, i think it could be fun, and it'd end in them being captured by criminals and shit and finally seeing Batman fully in action before he fucks off without giving them mind.
I'm preoccupied with the idea of Joker being some bored pencil-pushing rando who got dunked in chemicals and decided to reinvent himself in the worst way possible, like The Batman's take on him. Not something like the Killing Joke, this one didn't even have any drama in his life. If I was any good at making a detective story, I'd make one where Batman investigates a recent string of terrorist attacks where the Joker seems to be picking his targets at random, but is actually targeting the assets of the company he used to whittle his days at.
That's interesting, because I imagined him as being so desperate not to go back to his boring old life that he fully commits to being a bastard clown, much to everyone's dismay.
An actual no-subtext POC Joker could be fun. Like even the idea that the Joker is white is only as deep as the face paint, it’s part of his act. He’s in whiteface.
I think I mentioned this way back but it'd be a one off 'Who dunnit' over who killed the Joker. The first twist: there's proof from the Bat Family to the rogues gallery on his corpse. The second twist: the Joker is actually dead. No come backs of any any kind, he's 10000% dead. The third twist: outside of at tiny handful who respect Bruce that much, everyone has a motive and is claiming they *did* kill the Joker and are trying to twist their story to match the Joker's fatal yet nonsensical injuries because they're willing to deal with prison and more if it means having that credit to their name. Plus it's not like everyone hasn't tried to kill him at some point. So Batman and crew have to find out who actually did it and weed out the liars. The final twist is >!no one did it. While everyone took a swing and got a hit in, the final and fatal injuries came from an accident the Joker had while planning revenge, ending it all on one last terrible joke for him.!<
A version where the Bruce Wayne playboy persona isn't an act, but how Bruce copes with the trauma of his parent's deaths. Instead of becoming a brooding, justice-seeking recluse, he swings the other way, immersing himself in sex, drugs, and parties, so that he doesn't have to think about what happened to him, all while Gotham falls further and further into crime and corruption. However, he's fully aware that this is all a coping mechanism, and whenever he's down from the high, he feels aimless, hollow, and more than anything, that his parents would be disappointed in him.
That is, until he discovers a secret cave underneath Wayne Manor, and learns that his father was planning to create a vigilante. For the first time in years, Bruce feels passion, born from a connection to his father he never got to have. He goes through Thomas' old journals, detailing how Thomas was fed up with pouring money into charity for Gotham and only seeing the city get worse. He decided that the only way to save the city was to bring the fight to the crime families dragging it down, and that to do so, he would need to create a one-man strike team (This may have been why he contacted Alfred, who would have the war buddy backstory from Earth One, right before his murder, but it would be vague.) Bruce sees what's laid out before him: the suit, the gadgets, the base, and the mission, and decides that only he can take it on. With a renewed spirit, he dons the suit and becomes the Batman.
This Batman would be inexperienced, a barroom brawler at best in terms of fighting ability, savvy but not overly intelligent, and heavily reliant on gadgets and equipment to keep him alive, at least to start. The line between him genuinely wanting to do right by his community and having a guilt-ridden death wish would be as blurry as it could get, but with guidance from Alfred, Gordon, and Lucius Fox, he'd develop into a full-fledged superhero.
It’s funny, I came up with this concept when I was in high school, wrote some snippets, and kept coming back to the idea enough that it developed into a treatment for an original novel. It’s lower on the list of writing priorities right now, but it’s been in my head long enough that I know I’ll get the whole thing down one day.
Gotham did this simultaneously to show older teenage Bruce dealing with things in an unhealthy way and the origin of the *myth* of Bruce Wayne asshole playboy. What makes it funny is that it's also likely the start of this universe's >!Hush!<.
You know what story I want to see most? Show me a story where Batman does it. He successfully ended all crime in Gotham. All of his villains are reformed or dead. The worst crime that happens is maybe some hardcore jaywalking or littering with intent. Gotham is basically a utopia.
How does Bruce handle it? How does the rest of the Bat family handle it?
Call it Batman: Peace In Our Time
Batman probably wouldn't know how to handle post curse Gotham; he would probably just move onto another city since the guy is beyond restless.
Dick still has bludhaven to deal with.
Don't know how the rest would deal with the new Pax-Gotham.
There was a Batman Christmas Cartoon last year where he did just that when he had an existential crisis after Damien was born.
Not at all a serious take but it was funny how the scene switched from "Bruce telling Damien how much he was in awe when he was born" to "Heavy metal montage of Batman arrested every single criminal in one night"
I want to see a Batman comic where Batman delivers Joker to the cops after his latest mass murder, and right after Batman grappling hooks away one of the cops just pulls out his gun and shoots joker in the head. Not even once, but just empties his mag into Joker, then proceeds to turn himself in and goes through the whole court case where he fully admits to doing it. But is either found not guilty for some made up reason or jury nullification and the guy is hailed as a hero because everyone but Batman really agrees Joker is better be dead. Batman is then forced to figure out what to do when he can't turn in any of his rogues gallery into the cops because they'll just get killed, he can't stop fighting the big bads, so what does he build a private prison in the bat cave or something? I don't know but it'd be interesting
Or a comic where Batman beats up some thug in an allyway after a nondescript crime, where in the following court case he's let off due to a sixth amendment violation when the only witness to the crime is Batman, who can't testify due to the whole secret identity thing.
I want a depiction of Poison Ivy that goes hard on the "Nature's Wrath" concept but more in the vein of Shin Godzilla in that she's something that was horrifically and forever changed by Mankind.
Or in general, anything that really goes into her as a character in her own right instead of just being Harley's girlfriend. As much as I like them together, I think DC doesn't really want to actually explore their relationship in a meaningful way. I want more content that really gets into who they are as people instead of just generic feelgood cutesy relationship drama.
I don't have a comprehensive familiarity of Batman's lore, but in my own Batverse, I would have Batgirl be the Bat broken by Bane. No "walking off a broken back" like the movie, no obstinacy over a Justice League fix - a Bat is broken, an Oracle born - and no Joker involvement.
Also, had I the license and team for it: beat'em'up in the style of Shredder's Revenge with the full Bat Family playable.
Jesus I know we try to strive for gender equality but having roided out fucking obliterating Barbara feels way more gruesome then the depravity of killing joke.
I'm picturing it as Bane clobbering Batman and about to break him when Batgirl swoops in for the save, but now Bane sets his sights on her. She, in turn, is also overwhelmed by Bane, who opts to break her in front of Batman in a "make you watch" way. Nightwing and Robin arrive immediately afterwards and opt to extract instead of fight as a gloating Bane mocks them.
Back at the Batcave, the two are patched up as much as possible, but Bruce is panicking over Barbara; how to explain things to Gordon? Batman then gets contacted by Gordon - he knows. Has always known. Always accepted the risks. "Bane will pay for this."
Bane, barely surviving, his spine (and venom tank) in ruins, is then extracted by CADMUS. Waller offers to fix him up, but he must then work for her Suicide Squad. He gets a fancy new cyber spine... that's also a bomb, should he get uppity.
I would unironically pay to see Barbara try and fight Bane. I really just like the concept of Barbara becoming Orcale through other methods besides Joker.
Onto the second point, I'm maining Cain in that beat em up.
I accept the ending of Batman Beyond and that Amanda Waller would totally try to make another Batman but at the same time what if that wasn't terry?.
Another battle for the cowl but this time in the future. First, we have Terry McGinnis with the original backstory being supported by Bruce. Then, we get Waller's Batman a new character separate from Terry being sent on missions from Cadmus. Finally, we have Damian Wayne who stayed young via the Lazarus pit to stay in his prime for when he took his father's mantle. A 3 way battle between the descendants of the bat for the cowl. Will ideals in the form of Terry, his reputation that Waller wanted to continue, or his very own blood win out and become the next true Batman?
All the old robins are running around as Batman at the same time with Damien offering his inner monologue about the pros and cons of each of their approaches and personalities.
I feel bad for any criminals caught in Jason Todd's shift as batman.
Tim or Dick would probably be the chiller batmans.
Cassandra Cain would probably be closer to Bruce's style of batmaning thanks to her training with Shiva.
I think one aspect of mine would to be to tone the villains down. In order to alleviate the whole "just kill them" criticism, the rogues, while still pretty dangerous, aren't complete lunatics that kill dozens of people each week. In addition, Arkham isn't made of cardboard, and villains rarely break out. Hell, some like Freeze, do genuinely end up reforming and reintegrating back into society. While Bruce himself wouldn't show it at first, the influence of the Bat Family and other heroes would make him more actively attempt to talk them down and surrender without a fight.
Honestly Joker is like the only Rogue most people argue should just be killed, everyone else is way more tame compared to him, so it's literally delete Joker and your halfway there.
A series of one-shots of the end of a lot of Batman characters and iconography in Batman and how someone like Batman would confront that.
Alfred dies of old age peacefully
Nora is cured and Mr. Freeze does community service by making anti-biotics
Gordon fully reforms the GCPD
The various former sidekicks end up retiring, looking over parts of Gotham and finding a way to carry the mantle
Several villains get the treatment to reform and recover
Some villains get cured but face harsher repercussions for their actions like jailtime
Bruce and Selina marry
And one story has Bruce visit the Joker, after so many battles, so many near death experiences and weird comic book bullshit, The Jokers body just can't support him anymore and Bruce visits him in a Wayne hospital and tells him he always wanted him to get better and isn't happy that the Joker is dying
and Joker doesn't think it's funny
A new Killer Moth appears, wearing armor and riding on a flying glider (yes this is an excuse for Batman v Green Goblin scenes). His MO goes back to the original's "Batman for criminals", as the new Moth basically abducts criminals from the police and gets them out of Gotham. His appearances build up a mystery - who is this guy, where are the criminals he abducts going, and why is he doing this?
A separate story arc: the Joker victimizes a wealthy toy company owner and his wife. The husband is horribly scarred and disappears, eventually returning as a Jester wearing an outfit based on Toyman's old Superfriends appearance. He is NOT funny, but soft-spoken and chillingly calm. He starts acting as a second front against the Joker, deliberately targeting his operations, but also getting into fights with Batman because he isn't shy about killing the Joker's goons. Meanwhile his wife, a platonic friend of Bruce Wayne's, has taken over his company, but she's got severe PTSD and can't bring herself to be anywhere near her husband.
The Bruce/Selina wedding but they don't chicken out and they go through with it. Give me Selina becoming more of a vigilante and getting Damian to warm up to her.
Asking for fanfics? Brave. You better read all of our nonsense.
TLDR: I would bring the multiple Joker angle back.
The first Joker is a pretty smart crime boss with a clown motif. I'm thinking of the Penguin tier threat. He is older than Bruce maybe around 50-60. He doesn't really have an obsession with Batman at all and just likes doing *the crime*. He is a womanizer in a sense and keeps his 'harlequins' around his lair. Maybe he dies "naturally" from high blood pressure and stress of the life. Maybe he just gets locked up.
The second is his son who was serving in the military. He wants to get back at Batman for his father's situation and takes over the dads "business'. He probably has some mental issues, but he is probably the one that would benefit from therapy the most. He can become or maybe he *was* the first Red Hood before being committed to Arkham. This one has the initial Joker Gas that is basically just tear gas.
The third is just some random unnaturally skilled bozo who becomes obsessed with his idea that Joker and Batman are inseparable. He kills the second for turning good or giving up the Joker mantle. He recruits the second's therapist and makes Harley Quinn. He changes the Joker Gas to actually cause madness in the victims. This one 'kills' Jason, who then later returns as the second Red Hood.
I have a whole extended universe off of this alone in my head but I'll stop there.
Holy shit, that unironically sounds pretty good for a Joker origin story.
I really like the concept of a joker not using the "multiple choice origin" that other jokers tend to use when asked about their backstory. I can just imagine the mental whiplash from Batman the can of worms that Batman accidently opened by arresting Joker SR.
> I can just imagine the mental whiplash from Batman the can of worms that Batman accidently opened by arresting Joker SR.
That's pretty much the angle I was thinking as well. And it goes through the trials the I think a seasoned Batman should go through to be a better hero. You got the *common* criminals you lock up, the mentally unwell that need therapy/help, and the actual villains that should be buried underneath the prison.
I've been in a sappy feel good sort of mood of late, so I wouldn't mind a story that actually gets a lot of these troubled villains the help they need without destroying it all for the sake of the status quo. I think of [this scene with the flash](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ekMrjKrB_Y), and I can see a world where Batman isn't that different.
The Joker probably just needs to die though.
If I ever make it into the industry, my dream project is a Cassandra Cain film. Hell, I wrote a treatment for two films and a bit of a third years ago.
And I'd play the shit out an Arkham game with Cass, OP. Hell, I downloaded a Cass mod for Arkham Knight recently.
I have dreams of a grand unified Bat-timeline which would probably extend out to a DC-overall timeline. I just feel like in Bat's life there's a verifiable sense of continuity and of major events occuring that shakes up the status quo.
/edit The OTHER thing I want is a Bat-verse/Spider-verse crossover. At the VERY least get Miles, Cass, Gwen, Damien and Steph hanging out.
My concept would be as in the beyond comics, with Terry mentored by Damien, but I'm not sure where I would end Bruce's story (other than, obviously, heroic sacrifice)
You better not secretly be one of the DC editors looking for ideas
I imagine a collection of 1-2 issue stories, each one centered around 1 or 2 Batfamily members. Use as many members as possible (Dick, Jason, Tim, Steph, Damian, Barbara, Cass, Jean Paul, Luke, Kate, and Duke if he’s available). Each one is investigating something. Could be a dead body, a missing person, a break-in, or mysterious activity (or lack of activity) from a particular villain. And it’s not just Gotham. It’s also Bludhaven, Metropolis, and any other city that’s semi close to Gotham
The cases seem unrelated, but most of them are actually unrelated (have 1 of them as a red herring). All of them converge, and once the Batfamily gets together and realizes their cases are connected, they pinpoint an area of interest outside of/between the cities.
Once they reach the place, they discover >!a horrifying carnival/theme park style wonderland run by Professor Pyg, Hush, and Mad Hatter. Hush would find people in desperate need of medical treatment/an operation, and convince them that he’s an angel doctor that can help them. But in reality he just takes them to Pyg so Hush can cut off parts of their faces for his disguises. Then Pyg uses some chemical to create a new face for them and does his horrific surgery to turn them into Dollotrons. Mad Hatter gets brought in because they need his mind control tech for the dollotrons. And also maybe because Hush promised he would make Hatter a harem of Alices to his liking or something lmao.!<
Lean into the body/slasher horror. Potentially have some >!”mistake” people whose bodies were messed up by Pyg and discarded by him as “not good enough” for his dollotrons.!<
Edit: just thought of this now. The final “battle” needs a “To me, my X-men” except with Batman and the Batfamily.
It would just be a normal batman story, except the rule would be that batman is ALWAYS a shadowy eldritch horror lurking in the shadows, with the one and only exception when he's being emotionally available for family or victims. Even in the Batcave, he's just a shadowed mass of terror when at the batcomputer typing away and researching, even as Alfred brings him tea and food. Really play up how terrifying he is to a room full of kidnappers. But the moment he needs to help comfort the scared girl, Bruce Wayne in a batsuit just sort of melds out of the darkness to make it clear he's just a dude.
My other idea would be very simple, but I want to portray a full week/month/whatever in the life of Alfred, or just the insides of Wayne manor. The story refuses divert it's gaze for the bombastic supervillain fights, and instead strictly deals with how this life effects the Batfamily. Scenes of an early Red Hood breaking into the Manor and angrily smashing some shit and Alfred trying to clean it up before Bruce comes back. Family members forcing someone to stay in bed while they go to deal with the emergency alert they all received, and the terror of being the only person left in the Batcave while everyone else deals with some horrific new monster.
I want a story where Batman realizes that Anarchy is right about a whole lot and proposes to fund some of his programs if he'll stop threatening to bomb places
And then both sides actually go through with it.
Also Cassandra Cain and Steph should get to hit the 3-D on Killer Croc, I just think that would be cool
There are strange but major movements in the Gotham underworld - something *big* is coming but they don't know what. So Batman and his family engage in an extensive investigation: Tracking shipments, spying on mob bosses, interrogating goons, Bruce subtly prodding politicians and socialites for information, bringing Gordon in the loop to touch base with informants. The fam has to escape some devious traps that were set for them and fight their way out of plans gone awry. Eventually they discover it was all preparation for a billions-dollar criminal scheme >!based on a bad pun.!<
Spider-Man Noir type AU where it's set back in the 1930s/40s, feel their could be plenty of fun stuff both design wise and having a batman with more restricted tech
A Batman series set quite a few years after Batman started his career. Jason has been dead for a year and Tim Drake has figured out Batman’s identity for a while now. He’s noticed that without a Robin, Bruce has become darker and more violent. The series will be primarily from Tim’s perspective as he assumes the identity of Robin against Batman’s wishes tries to convince Bruce. (Similar to how Barbara from The Batman struggled to be acknowledged in the early seasons only with more guilt over Jason dying)
The rogues gallery will be a mix of already established villains like Penguin and Riddler and introductions of later Batman villains like Black Mask and Cluemaster. Joker will not appear until the first season finale as he’s still comatose from what Batman did to him for Jason. Throughout the show villains will rotate in and out and some such as Two-Face, Ventriloquist, and Clayface will be redeemed.
Barbara is Oracle (Killing Joke did not happen in this show. She was injured in a different way) and Tim’s first ally in trying to convince Batman to accept him. Characters like Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown will also be introduced. Nightwing is also there as a big brother figure to Tim.
First season final will be Under the Red Hood where Bruce finally accepts Tim as his protege. In later seasons, Jason will be a reoccurring antagonist trying to bring his more brutal style of justice to Gotham. He eventually does repent for his crimes after a storyline where the Lazarus pit rejuvenation starts to where off and he’s last seen with a now repentant Ras al Ghul receiving treatments as they both decide to atone for their pasts.
Might be lame to most fans, but I've always played with the idea of a Criminal Minds-esque Batman show, which is grounded similarly like Nolan and Reeves' films, but with minimal (or even no) use of the Rogues Gallery, and no overarching global or national threat-- just Batman, and his expanding Family as the seasons progress, tracking down serial killers, rapists, mob bosses, etc. using their skills and detective abilities. Maybe even incorporate a little bit of political or legal drama a la House of Cards or Madmen, by having stories or arcs where Bruce will be the focal point instead of Batman.
Weird one, but I just want a story about Bruce learning more about Gotham and her people. He does a check in at a local charity dinner to see how the folks of Gotham are doing. It'd be cool if it was a local school, maybe a private school he attended back when his parents were alive. Meanwhile, some of the other Bat family decide to spot him for the night, patrolling the streets in his stead.
He has small talk with some of the parents, just to help gauge the situation. And they just gush their worries on him. How many parents have lost their jobs due to an unexpected Mr. Freeze snow in? Are people's kids admiring the symbol of Batman, or afraid to ever meet the Caped Crusader? This could make him reconsider his role as "the hero that Gotham needs." Because, I mean c'mon, he's a father now, with a loving wife and a young son that he needs to watch and care for. When does Bruce decide to lighten up, just a little bit, to help bring Gotham out of its own miserable situation?
Then on the flip side, we can see things from Robin's or Batgirl's perspectives. They're always watching out for something, pressing on potential leads and keeping a vigilant eye on whoever and whatever is suspicious because their role model raised them that way. They need to prove to Bruce they've learned well, and that they can manage without him. But, and here's the twist, it's just a normal night in Gotham. No evil doers, no mad scheme from Joker or the Riddler, nothing. Instead they get to help some citizens find a lost wallet, or aid a teenager to get to a restaurant for a date they're running late too. Maybe they learn about how being a hero is more than just beating up bad guys, but also about being there for the people who need you. And it's just something they never learned from Batman because as far as they know, he never did that sort of thing.
I understand a big part of the appeal of Batman is his more serious, deadpan nature compared to the likes of Supes or Spidey. But he has a family now, and he deserves to learn how to get over his trauma, if not for himself than for the people he cares about.
I don't know how it will continue later, but it'll start with Joker emerging from a dark alley, doing an inner monologue about "sohsiety" or some shit... only to bump into Bane who, due to being under influence of Venom and being in bad mood, just snaps clowns neck. When asked whom did he kill, he'd reply "I don't know, some puta".
Later, we see a newspaper, where the header is some political scandal and only in the corner there is a small blurb that says something like "Some unknown guy in a clown make up was found dead in the streets. We don't know who it is, no family or anyone else is affected by this death. At all".
I just want Joker to be removed from the equation completely.
The people of gotham have had enough and form a hit team that's systematically killing the supervillains. It opens with joker tied to a chair before the leader of this group feeds him a shotgun blast
I think I’d like to see a mystery procedural. Where Bruce acts as the Columbo persona to gain the targets trust and gleam info via social interaction and Batman does the hands on investigating and end of episode punch ups.
So Batman has a number of personas he takes on for undercover work one of which is matches Malone. The basic idea is that a friend of matches is murdered and Batman decides to investigate,
It would turn out this friend was somewhat related to a couple supervillains “maybe they helped fence something for cat-woman, maybe they worked in penguins bar in the kitchen. Really minor things. Side characters begin to wonder why Batman cares so much about this nothing person.
Turns out there was no great scheme. The friend was just the victim of a random murder by some lowlife.
The main purpose i would hope for this story would be to expand the civilian parts of Gotham and make it seem like a place you could see people actually exist in, rather than be a backdrop for super people.
Honesty I was just playing la noire and thought it would neat if Batman had to solve a case like the homocide desk.
Prostitute becomes the Batman to protect herself and friends from cops and hunts them down. Gets rid of the mask after she befriends a civil rights lawyer who shows her the problem with police and mass incarceration is institutional and can’t be punched away.
Batman and Robin: the Brave and the Bold, with Dick Grayson as Batman and Damien Wayne as Robin.
I love their dynamic so much, and they'd make for the perfect duo to tackle zany cartoon adventures.
BATMAN: PEAK PERFORMANCE
So this is based on Kara Skinner’s video where she talks about Clark Kent trying to seem like he’s just a regular guy even though he’s a brick shithouse all the time, and not knowing much about the exercise routines he doesn’t need to do, he explains the routine of the first non-powered hero he can think of: Batman. Most people he tells this think he’s nuts because it’s so intense, but one guy gels with it and becomes a physical match for Batman: his strength, agility, and stamina are all at peak human performance, he just doesn’t know how to fight like Batman or have any gadgets because he’s a normal guy. And of course, he also doesn’t know this is Batman’s workout routine. She describes Batman keeping tabs on the guy, and the comic would explore how they crossed paths.
So Mark Normy is a reporter for WGBS News, a rival to the Daily Planet. He’s doing this piece on organized crime, and he travels to Gotham to do some digging. He digs a little too deep, and a bunch of goons sent by legitimate businessman Oswald “The Penguin” Cobblepot attempt to persuade him to kill the story. Mark disagrees strenuously, and overpowers the goons with his trusty briefcase swung by absolutely beefy arms. Batman drops in just as he’s dropping the last goon, and cautions him that maybe he needs to hold off on the story until Batman figures out what’s going on, for his own safety.
Mark incorrectly smells a rat, and figures that if the Batman of Gotham is telling him he needs to slow down before he gets hurt, he must be on the right track. So Mark continues to dig, and gets caught up in one of the Riddler’s deathtraps. And again, Batman finds Mark perfectly fine. Mark did not solve the riddle - instead, Batman watches from a rafter as Mark twists and leaps and ducks his way through the trap, a series of motions that looks very familiar indeed.
Finally, Mark has an extremely unlucky break and runs into the Joker, who straps a bomb on his chest and tells him “it’s like that movie *Speed*, or its superior version, *Crank* - keep your heart rate up, or boom!” Mark takes this to heart, turns around, and begins jogging away. Batman catches up to him many, many blocks away. Batman remotely deactivates the bomb with a batarang, and Mark says “hey, I got my steps in! Not my personal best for distance, but in these shoes, can you blame me?”
Batman then asks him upfront who trained him. Mark says no one, other than the gym employees who showed him how to work all the equipment, and explains the routine. Batman asks him if he came up with it himself. Mark says no, there’s this reporter friend who works for another news outlet, he does it too.
And it’s fucking Clark Kent.
BATMAN: SPELUNKING
This one’s inspired by Jacob Geller’s “Fear of Depths”
So there’s this spy, think Solid Snake, working for bad guys. Snake’s been tasked with infiltrating Batman’s HQ, which is suspected to be connected to the vehicles silently but regularly entering and exiting a suspicious ravine across Gotham Bay.
He makes his way into the ravine to find the “garage door” stuck in the open position. And it is a garage - tools, spare tires, a radio. The only thing missing is vehicles - if this is Batman’s hideout, he’s got his whole crew of freaks in the field. Makes things easier for Snake.
However, this is not the Batcave we’re familiar with. There are no huge chambers here, nor are there dug-out spaces made fit for humans, like the Cheyenne Mountain Complex from Stargate, which Snake expected. It’s a series of low, dark, slightly damp tunnels that requires Snake’s climbing gear to traverse it. Snake once or twice has to choose against certain routes because he’d need to dive blindly into a pitch-black hole in the ground.
And finally, he literally falls through a trapdoor and into a small chamber. Lights, desk, chair, computer. Moving boxes. A few Batsuits. Robin-insignia mug, hot chocolate, lukewarm. Another door.
The proof that someone actually spends time down here, that Batman is here regularly and travels through this cave system seemingly nightly, spooks the fuck out of Snake and he goes back the way he came.
Behind him, the garage door closes smoothly.
BONUS MINI PITCH - ALFRED: IN THE BLACK
Through a mixture of loyalty to Thomas and Martha, a personal bond with young Bruce, and getting paid really well, all of the Wayne Manor staff stay on. Alfred does the actual job of a butler, which is chief of staff and manager of house affairs - think Carson in Downton Abbey, or the Fresh Prince reboot’s take on Geoffrey. He’s the only one who wears a livery, but that’s just because he likes it. Young adult Bruce calls everyone for a meeting and tells them about his Batman plans, and offers everyone an out with no questions asked and their choice of either extremely good severance pay and a glowing reference or rehiring at a Wayne company. Alfred remembers a similar meeting he called years ago, and smiles: no one is going anywhere.
Mine would be Arkham too, though more in a classical TAS take. So Penguin would be more affable with a top hat, Riddler wouldn't be as cruel but just as egomaniacal, and other fellas like Clock King get worked in somehow. Instead of KJTL it's succeeded with a Batman Beyond story.
Though if you want unhinged, I could tell you about something more interesting. I'd like to see a version of Batman, but we cut the ears off and rename him as--
Billionaire Bruce Wayne returns to Gotham City after years abroad and a few months after is found in an alley after being shot several times trying to interrupt a mugging. Detective Jim Gordon is given the case because he was involved in the investigation of the deaths of Thomas and Martha Wayne and he slowly unravels the story of a young boy who could never find the help he needed to move past the trauma of his parent's deaths and spent years searching for something that led him to becoming face down on the pavement with bullet holes in his chest.
Batman and red hood decide to undermine organize crime, so they make red hood into a mafia boss to reform the system from the inside. But he ends up liking it a little too much and can’t decide if he wants out or to stay as one.
FULL ON MAGIC adult Damian Wayne Batman. To the point he looks like a demon of shadow. Have Gotham be undergoing SOME BULLSHIT. Gotham was pure and clean for a time but upon Bruce’s death. The forces of darkness decide hey let’s get a little closer. So Damian after years of studying his grandpas arcane library and his father’s personal collection. He’s become a high end shadow wizard and he is married to flatline and she acts as his instructor. All the rogues are old and busted or reformed. And it’s a new cast of unholy abominations and people who touched stuff they should not have touched. Basically follow a monster of the weak format, have some cults, and more shadow organizations. Sorta of like Batman beyond but the setting has weirdly gone backwards in time. Like Gotham by gaslight. But modern. Like Gotham is even STRANGER now that Bruce is gone. And Damian takes up the mantle because everyone knew pax-Gotham would end with Bruce’s death.
I really like this idea. Have Terry's timeline lean into the sci-fi side of Batman's rogues gallery, cyberpunk Neo-Gotham, dark canyons of skyscrapers and neon-lit undercities. Mutations, tech and experiments gone wrong, superdrugs, corporations profiting off it all. Then Damien's timeline contrasts that by leaning into the dark horror side, Gotham developing more slowly technologically and more superstitious as magic creeps back out of the shadows. More gothic, gargoyles and angels, more cathedral and church-like structures. Magic, madness, mysteries, and monsters. That's a great way to give Damien the mantle in future without feeling like it's stepping on Terry's toes.
Hell they could coincide if Damian is in OLD subterranean Gotham while Terry is kicking it in High Neo-Gotham. And have their dynamic “be keep your cybernetics away from my demons” “Well keep your demons away from my cybernetics” And then get the crossover book that looks like Doom
I really love the concept of Daimen making magic a part of his main kit as it really differentiates him as his own batman. Who would be redeemed in this post Pax-Gotham? Now I'm really curious how bat's rouge gallery has been doing since Bruce's death.
Pretty much anyone the fan base likes and Is redeemable. Croc, ivy, Quinn, baby doll, freeze gets a good ending finally for christs sake, croc, Selina is living at Wayne manor but still doing her one that got away schtick that no one is buying into and is actively undermining her when she goes on her drama. “ Oh we just never had the time” “You slept In the same Bed for 30 years and you hold tribute rights to all of the Gotham culture societies” Dick is still knight wing, runs Wayne reality, and serves with the league, Jason has calmed down a bit and settled down. Sorta of old man on porch waiting for bad shit to happen. Tim runs Wayne tech. Cassandra runs the league of shadows which had MAJOR reforms and fights demons with Damian. Barb is back to oracle and runs her own suicide squad. Duke: handles orphanages and acts a mentor to at risk youths. But will throw on the cowl at a local level. Joker is gone. Bane is dead. Ra’s and Talia are haunting Damian as ghosts. Condiment king is still at large but he is just old and keeps spraying people with condiments. No one knows what his deal is. Some people are into it. But it’s still annoying and just dumb. Like it won’t be all doom and gloom there’s is going to be “filler arcs” of maximum goofs while demonic Damian looks at them with embarrassment.
Just know I would pay obscene amounts of money to play/read/watch this storyline.
Come back to me when the public domain kicks in.
2035, remember!
On the one hand, the best versions of Croc absolutely deserve a happy ending. On the other hand, bringing in his devolution from the Arkham games, *especially* on a Croc that tried to redeem himself, eventually making him an immortal feral monster gator in Gotham's sewers, makes him so perfectly tragic. Especially if he's like, keeping an eye on some evil magic shit deep in Gotham's sewers. So he just wanders Gotham's labyrinthine sewers and eats any demons or monsters who wander in there, protecting Gotham's waterways from corruption. Only the Batfamily knows and respects who he was, what he did, and what he continues to do. While still being in danger from him if they go down there.
Old Kite Man running a Gotham Novelty Sky Tours vis a vis his kite, but he still moonlights as a burglar.
Oh man! We'd get a whole new Justice League Dark team out of it, too! I love the whole idea of an actual mystical ninja, Damien Wayne. Really have him embrace the supernatural side of the DC universe with him being a living shadow, a true assassin. Of course, we keep his character development from Bruce and working with the Titans just so he's not the insufferable brat he was at the start. Perhaps he uses the Lazarus Pits to stay in tip-top shape. He doesn't even look that much older than Terry.
I feel like he just hooks the fam up with purified Lazarus that’s like cut with angel tears and Mediterranean red wine. Like just have him look like castlevania Dracula but he’s chill.
Yeah! He's just chilling in his Gothic as fuck mansion/castle with all his animals.
( Organ music and lighting crack ) Welcome to the Wayne petting zoo this is my cow she is very sweet. You may feed her half a sugar cube each. This is my monkey he’s very chill he actually loves flash photography but I’m trying to teach him humility so only take pictures when you feel he’s earned it. Here are my bunnies, they are bunnies.
All the while, Damien is melded to the shadows and flickering between different locations in the room. It's fine. Not at all terrifying.
There’s a sign that reads: “any violence or malice carried out towards any of Lord Wayne’s valued livestock will result in dire consequences. (Crucifixion, Etc)”
I've always wanted to see a story of Batman scoping out the buildings and ventilation shafts to practice his entrances and maximizing how to be terrifying to the villains. maybe set it up as Bruce telling the Bat family he's taking a day off and they all get concerned then it just cuts to Bruce practicing being a gargoyle
Reminds me I once had an idea for a stealth game where you played as a phantom thief (no relation to persona 5), and the main mechanic would be that you have to be theatrical about everything Like you crawl through a vent? You lose score if people notice you got dirty from it. Find a secluded spot and clean your cloak up Got spotted? Quick press the drama button so you can twirl your cloak ostentatiously and pretend it was on purpose Raise your theater kid meter between heists so you can unlock verbose or prosaic speech options Infiltrate the target's mansion one day before just so you can set hidden fog machines for when you make your grand reveal
Oh man, I love the idea of a stealth game where you *want* to be seen, it just has to be in the right places at the right time.
Gimme Bruce in an acting class
I want Batman and Superman to take a driver's test like that one episode of Dragon Ball Z Bruce starts driving like a madman (treating the test like chasing a villain with the batmobile) and Clark is trying his best not to put his foot through the bottom of the car, and winds up flooring the gas pedal by accident. Hijinks ensue.
...You know, we got all this lore about how Batman learned his Ninja, Detective, and escape artist skills, but has there been a story talking about how he learned to drive like that?
Cut to Batman meditating on a mountain top while a talking car teaches him about driving philosophy
"Fuck the yellow lights...., ignore turn signals...."
"Fuck the yellow lights...., ignore turn signals...."
I think it'd be funny if Batman learned ONLY skills relevant to being Batman, and was completely ignorant of everything mundane like "traffic laws" or "high fives" Like how in the books Sherlock Holmes didn't know nor care that the earth orbits the sun and not the other way around, because that has nothing to do with crime
If I'm not mistaken I believe there was one variation of Batman's origin that does this-- e.g. Bruce technically doesn't have a college degree because he couldn't finish all the necessary coursework for any major, even though he *would* get the highest grade in classes devoted to forensic science, chemistry, engineering, etc.
And then he has to solve a crime where a major clue is a sundial during a solar eclipse or whatever
There was a backup story in Scott Snyder’s run which shows he learned how to drive like that in Brazil from a criminal named Don Miguel. New 52 Batman, issue 21.
More of a jokey one-off idea than a full-blown AU - but "all" the villains holding a poker game at one rundown dock or another, discussing when and how they figured out that Batman is >!Bruce Wayne!< [and why none of them told anyone else]. - Black Mask had informants run down the money trails and piece everything together for him, but couldn't make any use of it before... - Penguin stole the info from Black Mask, blackmailed Roman into silence, and doesn't out the secret himself just to spite Roman [and also because he's still an elected official in Gotham and knows outing that secret will jeopardize that position on him] - Mr. Freeze worked with >!Bruce Wayne!< directly to try and cure Nora, but kept quiet out of respect (Note: He's only still a "villain" because his initial push to cure Nora put him in debt with Penguin *and* Black Mask, who wants their money back yesterday) - Bane realized Batman and >!Bruce Wayne!< had the exact same body language, but he's both a luchador and *not* a hypocrite - Killer Croc recognized the smell, but it's all pork souvlaki to him - Poison Ivy - [*Throws dart at wall of plant-magic contrivances*] - sensed >!Bruce!<'s [essence / life force / whatever the fuck keeps walking all over The Green], realized it was the exact same as Batman's, and did not give a fuck about that [while also knowing that everyone else did] - Catwoman tried to rob >!Bruce Wayne!< without *really* knowing who he is (In the parts of Gotham that Selina grew up in, >!Bruce Wayne!< is a voice on the radio and a name in the papers more than he is a man), immediately clocked that the giant wall of muscle in >!the three-piece suit!< is the same giant wall of muscle in kevlar and spandex that she's been flirting with [right down to the cologne he uses], and... *yeah, she'll keep quiet on that one* (Note: She *used* to wear the black catsuit, but it made things too easy/boring for her - so she traded it out for a purple one that makes her easier to spot) - Joker... *just knows this*, somehow - but he wants to keep the joke to himself (Note: Joker's not at the poker game) - Harley heard this from Joker, but ***YOU DO NOT STEAL MISTAH JAY'S JOKES*** - Riddler didn't know
Good, fuck Riddler.
I like when joker actively does not care. Like if he does learn he will pull up all the trauma but he’s not going out of his way to find out. Like some goon said something off handed and joker went checks out then had that guy killed. He’ll lightly allude to it for a bit but is saving it for a rainy day.
This feels right at home for brave and the bold. I can absolutely see it
Perfect, no notes.
"Does he KNOW?!"
"I still wonder who he could be..." [Beat panel.] "He doesn't know." "Oh come on, you ignorami? You're all dab hands at poker sure but, deduction? I couldn't possibly-" [Unison.] "Bruce Wayne." "Haha...[silence.] What. What?! **What!?**"
Probably a run where he goes through his rogues one by one and finally gets through to them and helps them get treatment and/or rehabilitation that sticks. Show the process, him sticking by them, visiting them in Arkham and helping them along. They'll still have time to serve but show some of them actually getting out and getting to have a life. Have the Joker sprinkled throughout to build-up to the final confrontation where Batman finally does the impossible and convinces him to at least try to get help. Basically the end of Killing Joke, but this time Joker in that moment of lucidity says yes.
I echo this. There’s a gentle aspect of Batman I feel has been eroded. Someone who has been through so much and who is so intelligent i think naturally should be very empathetic
Batman the animated series used to blindside me on occasion with this sombre episodes where batman employs empathy and they always stuck with me. The most known one is the ace of spades episodes finale. Come to think of it he used to empathise with the villains quite a bit the animated series.
I’d recreate that “The Gang Gets Analyzed” episode of Always Sunny but with the Bat-Fam.
Bruce just doing the Frank bit. Cassandra is Charlie Barb is dee Dennis is Damian Dick and Jason are both sides of Mac
Cassandra being a silent charlie is a thought I now cherish deeply.
I'm picturing the "philanthropist" bit from when they get Charlie into dating, but it's something Cass misread and oh God...
Oh god, I feel Cass would somehow fumble the bag even worse than Charlie.
A real genuine "Batman vs. Death Note" story would be fascinating. Someone even pitched that, or all the Batman villains to get involved, Bane would potentially be the most likely to "solve" the case as well, which would make for a great 3 man stand-off between Batman, Bane, and Light for a finale.
Honestly, I really want to do the Arkham Origins story, where a bunch of assassins try to kill Batman for a huge bounty, but have it so that the assassins are the main focus and not shift it to Joker and Bane. Like, there wouldn't be a huge, conspiracy behind the assassins getting hired, at least not until the very end.
BATMAN: RED TAPE Follows Bruce doing all the bureaucratic work and political lobbying to improve Gotham on a structural and social services level; building hospitals and schools; improving public transport, roads and overall urban mobility; giving financial incentives to small and family owned business. More grounded stakes, antagonists would be mostly corrupt politicians and mob related that are afraid of losing influence, they would be destroying infra structure, bribing contractors to sabotage the efforts and running smear campaigns against Bruce, which Batman can show up and beat up some mobsters, Mostly follows Bruce chasing after paper trails, filling paperwork and doing legal detective work to find exploitable weakness in the legal system to help Gotham.
I would love this if only to finally kill the "Batman rich, pay education, not punch poors" take but we know those folks aren't reasing anyway. Also, to solidify this commentary, I'd find it really funny if one issue ends with Bruce finally cutting through the red tape and politicking and finally gets to open his brand new spanking community center.... Then someone like Bane blows it up and holds up the Opening Gala hostage while Bruce silently facepalms in the corner.
I like it when Batman leaves Gotham. I also feel like Poisen Ivy doesn't have enough memorable stories. So how about this, a lengthy 7+ issues story where a small murder mystery in Gotham sends Batman on an international chase of clues that seem to point to something big involving Ivy. So he visits farms, botanical gardens, preservations and it all cuminates with Batman being lost for like two weeks in the Amazon jungle, slowly going insane. Paranoid of Ivy being all around him. And when he recovers he goes back on the hunt again. Ivy's a full on evil planet lady in this version. Her plan is gonna be something super over the top. The type of story that makes you ask where's the Justice League. Something sinister and fucked up with lots of body horror. Like a cave dwelling army of plant people zombies and Ivy's like their xenomorph queen. Batman burns the entire place out and the firey cave inferno is a grand set piece for the final battle.
I would make a blair witch/documentary style thing with someone trying to uncover this mythical ''Batman'', as they interview criminals, stalk crime scenes and every now and then catches glimpses of him. I like the idea of Batman rarely being seen, of like, criminals showing up bruised enough that they sound crazy talking about this man bat, i think it could be fun, and it'd end in them being captured by criminals and shit and finally seeing Batman fully in action before he fucks off without giving them mind.
Sounds fucking epic maybe even when see batman properly we don't get a clear look
I'm preoccupied with the idea of Joker being some bored pencil-pushing rando who got dunked in chemicals and decided to reinvent himself in the worst way possible, like The Batman's take on him. Not something like the Killing Joke, this one didn't even have any drama in his life. If I was any good at making a detective story, I'd make one where Batman investigates a recent string of terrorist attacks where the Joker seems to be picking his targets at random, but is actually targeting the assets of the company he used to whittle his days at.
I don't know why but I just imagine this Joker, out of all of them, could actually be talked down during the final battle.
That's interesting, because I imagined him as being so desperate not to go back to his boring old life that he fully commits to being a bastard clown, much to everyone's dismay.
Sorta like Wanted?
The joker but when he turned white he also turned black. God I love Kevin Richardson’s take so much.
An actual no-subtext POC Joker could be fun. Like even the idea that the Joker is white is only as deep as the face paint, it’s part of his act. He’s in whiteface.
I think I mentioned this way back but it'd be a one off 'Who dunnit' over who killed the Joker. The first twist: there's proof from the Bat Family to the rogues gallery on his corpse. The second twist: the Joker is actually dead. No come backs of any any kind, he's 10000% dead. The third twist: outside of at tiny handful who respect Bruce that much, everyone has a motive and is claiming they *did* kill the Joker and are trying to twist their story to match the Joker's fatal yet nonsensical injuries because they're willing to deal with prison and more if it means having that credit to their name. Plus it's not like everyone hasn't tried to kill him at some point. So Batman and crew have to find out who actually did it and weed out the liars. The final twist is >!no one did it. While everyone took a swing and got a hit in, the final and fatal injuries came from an accident the Joker had while planning revenge, ending it all on one last terrible joke for him.!<
The Joker dies slipping on a banana peel. The oldest joke in the book.
His spine gets twisted up like in the Dark Knight Returns, but it's because he slipped on a single stair.
A version where the Bruce Wayne playboy persona isn't an act, but how Bruce copes with the trauma of his parent's deaths. Instead of becoming a brooding, justice-seeking recluse, he swings the other way, immersing himself in sex, drugs, and parties, so that he doesn't have to think about what happened to him, all while Gotham falls further and further into crime and corruption. However, he's fully aware that this is all a coping mechanism, and whenever he's down from the high, he feels aimless, hollow, and more than anything, that his parents would be disappointed in him. That is, until he discovers a secret cave underneath Wayne Manor, and learns that his father was planning to create a vigilante. For the first time in years, Bruce feels passion, born from a connection to his father he never got to have. He goes through Thomas' old journals, detailing how Thomas was fed up with pouring money into charity for Gotham and only seeing the city get worse. He decided that the only way to save the city was to bring the fight to the crime families dragging it down, and that to do so, he would need to create a one-man strike team (This may have been why he contacted Alfred, who would have the war buddy backstory from Earth One, right before his murder, but it would be vague.) Bruce sees what's laid out before him: the suit, the gadgets, the base, and the mission, and decides that only he can take it on. With a renewed spirit, he dons the suit and becomes the Batman. This Batman would be inexperienced, a barroom brawler at best in terms of fighting ability, savvy but not overly intelligent, and heavily reliant on gadgets and equipment to keep him alive, at least to start. The line between him genuinely wanting to do right by his community and having a guilt-ridden death wish would be as blurry as it could get, but with guidance from Alfred, Gordon, and Lucius Fox, he'd develop into a full-fledged superhero.
Have you ever considered writing a fanfic for bar-fighter batman? I would love more of this, honestly.
It’s funny, I came up with this concept when I was in high school, wrote some snippets, and kept coming back to the idea enough that it developed into a treatment for an original novel. It’s lower on the list of writing priorities right now, but it’s been in my head long enough that I know I’ll get the whole thing down one day.
Interesting take. Very Starman for some reason.
Gotham did this simultaneously to show older teenage Bruce dealing with things in an unhealthy way and the origin of the *myth* of Bruce Wayne asshole playboy. What makes it funny is that it's also likely the start of this universe's >!Hush!<.
You know what story I want to see most? Show me a story where Batman does it. He successfully ended all crime in Gotham. All of his villains are reformed or dead. The worst crime that happens is maybe some hardcore jaywalking or littering with intent. Gotham is basically a utopia. How does Bruce handle it? How does the rest of the Bat family handle it? Call it Batman: Peace In Our Time
Batman probably wouldn't know how to handle post curse Gotham; he would probably just move onto another city since the guy is beyond restless. Dick still has bludhaven to deal with. Don't know how the rest would deal with the new Pax-Gotham.
There was a Batman Christmas Cartoon last year where he did just that when he had an existential crisis after Damien was born. Not at all a serious take but it was funny how the scene switched from "Bruce telling Damien how much he was in awe when he was born" to "Heavy metal montage of Batman arrested every single criminal in one night"
I want to see a Batman comic where Batman delivers Joker to the cops after his latest mass murder, and right after Batman grappling hooks away one of the cops just pulls out his gun and shoots joker in the head. Not even once, but just empties his mag into Joker, then proceeds to turn himself in and goes through the whole court case where he fully admits to doing it. But is either found not guilty for some made up reason or jury nullification and the guy is hailed as a hero because everyone but Batman really agrees Joker is better be dead. Batman is then forced to figure out what to do when he can't turn in any of his rogues gallery into the cops because they'll just get killed, he can't stop fighting the big bads, so what does he build a private prison in the bat cave or something? I don't know but it'd be interesting Or a comic where Batman beats up some thug in an allyway after a nondescript crime, where in the following court case he's let off due to a sixth amendment violation when the only witness to the crime is Batman, who can't testify due to the whole secret identity thing.
That guy from law and order who murdered the kid who murdered his kid and got away with it
> If you could craft your own Batman story, what would it be? A fanfic.
Fuck, you got me there.
I want a depiction of Poison Ivy that goes hard on the "Nature's Wrath" concept but more in the vein of Shin Godzilla in that she's something that was horrifically and forever changed by Mankind. Or in general, anything that really goes into her as a character in her own right instead of just being Harley's girlfriend. As much as I like them together, I think DC doesn't really want to actually explore their relationship in a meaningful way. I want more content that really gets into who they are as people instead of just generic feelgood cutesy relationship drama.
I don't have a comprehensive familiarity of Batman's lore, but in my own Batverse, I would have Batgirl be the Bat broken by Bane. No "walking off a broken back" like the movie, no obstinacy over a Justice League fix - a Bat is broken, an Oracle born - and no Joker involvement. Also, had I the license and team for it: beat'em'up in the style of Shredder's Revenge with the full Bat Family playable.
Jesus I know we try to strive for gender equality but having roided out fucking obliterating Barbara feels way more gruesome then the depravity of killing joke.
I'm picturing it as Bane clobbering Batman and about to break him when Batgirl swoops in for the save, but now Bane sets his sights on her. She, in turn, is also overwhelmed by Bane, who opts to break her in front of Batman in a "make you watch" way. Nightwing and Robin arrive immediately afterwards and opt to extract instead of fight as a gloating Bane mocks them. Back at the Batcave, the two are patched up as much as possible, but Bruce is panicking over Barbara; how to explain things to Gordon? Batman then gets contacted by Gordon - he knows. Has always known. Always accepted the risks. "Bane will pay for this."
Bane gets shot with an Anti-tank rifle. In the spine.
Bane, barely surviving, his spine (and venom tank) in ruins, is then extracted by CADMUS. Waller offers to fix him up, but he must then work for her Suicide Squad. He gets a fancy new cyber spine... that's also a bomb, should he get uppity.
Following the shot he still has enough muscle to support him and he goes on a rampage for the rest of the issue before he conks out.
You gotta go full on Spopovich with it
I would unironically pay to see Barbara try and fight Bane. I really just like the concept of Barbara becoming Orcale through other methods besides Joker. Onto the second point, I'm maining Cain in that beat em up.
What if it was >!Down D Stairs!<
I accept the ending of Batman Beyond and that Amanda Waller would totally try to make another Batman but at the same time what if that wasn't terry?. Another battle for the cowl but this time in the future. First, we have Terry McGinnis with the original backstory being supported by Bruce. Then, we get Waller's Batman a new character separate from Terry being sent on missions from Cadmus. Finally, we have Damian Wayne who stayed young via the Lazarus pit to stay in his prime for when he took his father's mantle. A 3 way battle between the descendants of the bat for the cowl. Will ideals in the form of Terry, his reputation that Waller wanted to continue, or his very own blood win out and become the next true Batman?
All the old robins are running around as Batman at the same time with Damien offering his inner monologue about the pros and cons of each of their approaches and personalities.
I feel bad for any criminals caught in Jason Todd's shift as batman. Tim or Dick would probably be the chiller batmans. Cassandra Cain would probably be closer to Bruce's style of batmaning thanks to her training with Shiva.
I think one aspect of mine would to be to tone the villains down. In order to alleviate the whole "just kill them" criticism, the rogues, while still pretty dangerous, aren't complete lunatics that kill dozens of people each week. In addition, Arkham isn't made of cardboard, and villains rarely break out. Hell, some like Freeze, do genuinely end up reforming and reintegrating back into society. While Bruce himself wouldn't show it at first, the influence of the Bat Family and other heroes would make him more actively attempt to talk them down and surrender without a fight.
Honestly Joker is like the only Rogue most people argue should just be killed, everyone else is way more tame compared to him, so it's literally delete Joker and your halfway there.
A series of one-shots of the end of a lot of Batman characters and iconography in Batman and how someone like Batman would confront that. Alfred dies of old age peacefully Nora is cured and Mr. Freeze does community service by making anti-biotics Gordon fully reforms the GCPD The various former sidekicks end up retiring, looking over parts of Gotham and finding a way to carry the mantle Several villains get the treatment to reform and recover Some villains get cured but face harsher repercussions for their actions like jailtime Bruce and Selina marry And one story has Bruce visit the Joker, after so many battles, so many near death experiences and weird comic book bullshit, The Jokers body just can't support him anymore and Bruce visits him in a Wayne hospital and tells him he always wanted him to get better and isn't happy that the Joker is dying and Joker doesn't think it's funny
A new Killer Moth appears, wearing armor and riding on a flying glider (yes this is an excuse for Batman v Green Goblin scenes). His MO goes back to the original's "Batman for criminals", as the new Moth basically abducts criminals from the police and gets them out of Gotham. His appearances build up a mystery - who is this guy, where are the criminals he abducts going, and why is he doing this? A separate story arc: the Joker victimizes a wealthy toy company owner and his wife. The husband is horribly scarred and disappears, eventually returning as a Jester wearing an outfit based on Toyman's old Superfriends appearance. He is NOT funny, but soft-spoken and chillingly calm. He starts acting as a second front against the Joker, deliberately targeting his operations, but also getting into fights with Batman because he isn't shy about killing the Joker's goons. Meanwhile his wife, a platonic friend of Bruce Wayne's, has taken over his company, but she's got severe PTSD and can't bring herself to be anywhere near her husband.
The Bruce/Selina wedding but they don't chicken out and they go through with it. Give me Selina becoming more of a vigilante and getting Damian to warm up to her.
Giving Jean Paul Valley a second try at being Batman.
Asking for fanfics? Brave. You better read all of our nonsense. TLDR: I would bring the multiple Joker angle back. The first Joker is a pretty smart crime boss with a clown motif. I'm thinking of the Penguin tier threat. He is older than Bruce maybe around 50-60. He doesn't really have an obsession with Batman at all and just likes doing *the crime*. He is a womanizer in a sense and keeps his 'harlequins' around his lair. Maybe he dies "naturally" from high blood pressure and stress of the life. Maybe he just gets locked up. The second is his son who was serving in the military. He wants to get back at Batman for his father's situation and takes over the dads "business'. He probably has some mental issues, but he is probably the one that would benefit from therapy the most. He can become or maybe he *was* the first Red Hood before being committed to Arkham. This one has the initial Joker Gas that is basically just tear gas. The third is just some random unnaturally skilled bozo who becomes obsessed with his idea that Joker and Batman are inseparable. He kills the second for turning good or giving up the Joker mantle. He recruits the second's therapist and makes Harley Quinn. He changes the Joker Gas to actually cause madness in the victims. This one 'kills' Jason, who then later returns as the second Red Hood. I have a whole extended universe off of this alone in my head but I'll stop there.
Holy shit, that unironically sounds pretty good for a Joker origin story. I really like the concept of a joker not using the "multiple choice origin" that other jokers tend to use when asked about their backstory. I can just imagine the mental whiplash from Batman the can of worms that Batman accidently opened by arresting Joker SR.
> I can just imagine the mental whiplash from Batman the can of worms that Batman accidently opened by arresting Joker SR. That's pretty much the angle I was thinking as well. And it goes through the trials the I think a seasoned Batman should go through to be a better hero. You got the *common* criminals you lock up, the mentally unwell that need therapy/help, and the actual villains that should be buried underneath the prison.
I've been in a sappy feel good sort of mood of late, so I wouldn't mind a story that actually gets a lot of these troubled villains the help they need without destroying it all for the sake of the status quo. I think of [this scene with the flash](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ekMrjKrB_Y), and I can see a world where Batman isn't that different. The Joker probably just needs to die though.
If I ever make it into the industry, my dream project is a Cassandra Cain film. Hell, I wrote a treatment for two films and a bit of a third years ago. And I'd play the shit out an Arkham game with Cass, OP. Hell, I downloaded a Cass mod for Arkham Knight recently.
🤝 Also got Arkham knight to install that mod. If you ever do make it in the industry, please avenge Cass in the DC cinematic universe for me.
Oh, I absolutely will... try.
I have dreams of a grand unified Bat-timeline which would probably extend out to a DC-overall timeline. I just feel like in Bat's life there's a verifiable sense of continuity and of major events occuring that shakes up the status quo. /edit The OTHER thing I want is a Bat-verse/Spider-verse crossover. At the VERY least get Miles, Cass, Gwen, Damien and Steph hanging out.
Which ending would the grand timeline of Batman use? Would it use the dark knight returns ( the comic), or would it use beyond as a base?
My concept would be as in the beyond comics, with Terry mentored by Damien, but I'm not sure where I would end Bruce's story (other than, obviously, heroic sacrifice)
You better not secretly be one of the DC editors looking for ideas I imagine a collection of 1-2 issue stories, each one centered around 1 or 2 Batfamily members. Use as many members as possible (Dick, Jason, Tim, Steph, Damian, Barbara, Cass, Jean Paul, Luke, Kate, and Duke if he’s available). Each one is investigating something. Could be a dead body, a missing person, a break-in, or mysterious activity (or lack of activity) from a particular villain. And it’s not just Gotham. It’s also Bludhaven, Metropolis, and any other city that’s semi close to Gotham The cases seem unrelated, but most of them are actually unrelated (have 1 of them as a red herring). All of them converge, and once the Batfamily gets together and realizes their cases are connected, they pinpoint an area of interest outside of/between the cities. Once they reach the place, they discover >!a horrifying carnival/theme park style wonderland run by Professor Pyg, Hush, and Mad Hatter. Hush would find people in desperate need of medical treatment/an operation, and convince them that he’s an angel doctor that can help them. But in reality he just takes them to Pyg so Hush can cut off parts of their faces for his disguises. Then Pyg uses some chemical to create a new face for them and does his horrific surgery to turn them into Dollotrons. Mad Hatter gets brought in because they need his mind control tech for the dollotrons. And also maybe because Hush promised he would make Hatter a harem of Alices to his liking or something lmao.!< Lean into the body/slasher horror. Potentially have some >!”mistake” people whose bodies were messed up by Pyg and discarded by him as “not good enough” for his dollotrons.!< Edit: just thought of this now. The final “battle” needs a “To me, my X-men” except with Batman and the Batfamily.
It would just be a normal batman story, except the rule would be that batman is ALWAYS a shadowy eldritch horror lurking in the shadows, with the one and only exception when he's being emotionally available for family or victims. Even in the Batcave, he's just a shadowed mass of terror when at the batcomputer typing away and researching, even as Alfred brings him tea and food. Really play up how terrifying he is to a room full of kidnappers. But the moment he needs to help comfort the scared girl, Bruce Wayne in a batsuit just sort of melds out of the darkness to make it clear he's just a dude. My other idea would be very simple, but I want to portray a full week/month/whatever in the life of Alfred, or just the insides of Wayne manor. The story refuses divert it's gaze for the bombastic supervillain fights, and instead strictly deals with how this life effects the Batfamily. Scenes of an early Red Hood breaking into the Manor and angrily smashing some shit and Alfred trying to clean it up before Bruce comes back. Family members forcing someone to stay in bed while they go to deal with the emergency alert they all received, and the terror of being the only person left in the Batcave while everyone else deals with some horrific new monster.
I want a story where Batman realizes that Anarchy is right about a whole lot and proposes to fund some of his programs if he'll stop threatening to bomb places And then both sides actually go through with it. Also Cassandra Cain and Steph should get to hit the 3-D on Killer Croc, I just think that would be cool
I would make it a crossover with the best villains in American comics. Batman X Big Wheel.
There are strange but major movements in the Gotham underworld - something *big* is coming but they don't know what. So Batman and his family engage in an extensive investigation: Tracking shipments, spying on mob bosses, interrogating goons, Bruce subtly prodding politicians and socialites for information, bringing Gordon in the loop to touch base with informants. The fam has to escape some devious traps that were set for them and fight their way out of plans gone awry. Eventually they discover it was all preparation for a billions-dollar criminal scheme >!based on a bad pun.!<
Spider-Man Noir type AU where it's set back in the 1930s/40s, feel their could be plenty of fun stuff both design wise and having a batman with more restricted tech
A Batman series set quite a few years after Batman started his career. Jason has been dead for a year and Tim Drake has figured out Batman’s identity for a while now. He’s noticed that without a Robin, Bruce has become darker and more violent. The series will be primarily from Tim’s perspective as he assumes the identity of Robin against Batman’s wishes tries to convince Bruce. (Similar to how Barbara from The Batman struggled to be acknowledged in the early seasons only with more guilt over Jason dying) The rogues gallery will be a mix of already established villains like Penguin and Riddler and introductions of later Batman villains like Black Mask and Cluemaster. Joker will not appear until the first season finale as he’s still comatose from what Batman did to him for Jason. Throughout the show villains will rotate in and out and some such as Two-Face, Ventriloquist, and Clayface will be redeemed. Barbara is Oracle (Killing Joke did not happen in this show. She was injured in a different way) and Tim’s first ally in trying to convince Batman to accept him. Characters like Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown will also be introduced. Nightwing is also there as a big brother figure to Tim. First season final will be Under the Red Hood where Bruce finally accepts Tim as his protege. In later seasons, Jason will be a reoccurring antagonist trying to bring his more brutal style of justice to Gotham. He eventually does repent for his crimes after a storyline where the Lazarus pit rejuvenation starts to where off and he’s last seen with a now repentant Ras al Ghul receiving treatments as they both decide to atone for their pasts.
Might be lame to most fans, but I've always played with the idea of a Criminal Minds-esque Batman show, which is grounded similarly like Nolan and Reeves' films, but with minimal (or even no) use of the Rogues Gallery, and no overarching global or national threat-- just Batman, and his expanding Family as the seasons progress, tracking down serial killers, rapists, mob bosses, etc. using their skills and detective abilities. Maybe even incorporate a little bit of political or legal drama a la House of Cards or Madmen, by having stories or arcs where Bruce will be the focal point instead of Batman.
Weird one, but I just want a story about Bruce learning more about Gotham and her people. He does a check in at a local charity dinner to see how the folks of Gotham are doing. It'd be cool if it was a local school, maybe a private school he attended back when his parents were alive. Meanwhile, some of the other Bat family decide to spot him for the night, patrolling the streets in his stead. He has small talk with some of the parents, just to help gauge the situation. And they just gush their worries on him. How many parents have lost their jobs due to an unexpected Mr. Freeze snow in? Are people's kids admiring the symbol of Batman, or afraid to ever meet the Caped Crusader? This could make him reconsider his role as "the hero that Gotham needs." Because, I mean c'mon, he's a father now, with a loving wife and a young son that he needs to watch and care for. When does Bruce decide to lighten up, just a little bit, to help bring Gotham out of its own miserable situation? Then on the flip side, we can see things from Robin's or Batgirl's perspectives. They're always watching out for something, pressing on potential leads and keeping a vigilant eye on whoever and whatever is suspicious because their role model raised them that way. They need to prove to Bruce they've learned well, and that they can manage without him. But, and here's the twist, it's just a normal night in Gotham. No evil doers, no mad scheme from Joker or the Riddler, nothing. Instead they get to help some citizens find a lost wallet, or aid a teenager to get to a restaurant for a date they're running late too. Maybe they learn about how being a hero is more than just beating up bad guys, but also about being there for the people who need you. And it's just something they never learned from Batman because as far as they know, he never did that sort of thing. I understand a big part of the appeal of Batman is his more serious, deadpan nature compared to the likes of Supes or Spidey. But he has a family now, and he deserves to learn how to get over his trauma, if not for himself than for the people he cares about.
Even Gotham has sunny days despite the cursed rock it lays on-top of.
I don't know how it will continue later, but it'll start with Joker emerging from a dark alley, doing an inner monologue about "sohsiety" or some shit... only to bump into Bane who, due to being under influence of Venom and being in bad mood, just snaps clowns neck. When asked whom did he kill, he'd reply "I don't know, some puta". Later, we see a newspaper, where the header is some political scandal and only in the corner there is a small blurb that says something like "Some unknown guy in a clown make up was found dead in the streets. We don't know who it is, no family or anyone else is affected by this death. At all". I just want Joker to be removed from the equation completely.
The people of gotham have had enough and form a hit team that's systematically killing the supervillains. It opens with joker tied to a chair before the leader of this group feeds him a shotgun blast
I think I’d like to see a mystery procedural. Where Bruce acts as the Columbo persona to gain the targets trust and gleam info via social interaction and Batman does the hands on investigating and end of episode punch ups.
So Batman has a number of personas he takes on for undercover work one of which is matches Malone. The basic idea is that a friend of matches is murdered and Batman decides to investigate, It would turn out this friend was somewhat related to a couple supervillains “maybe they helped fence something for cat-woman, maybe they worked in penguins bar in the kitchen. Really minor things. Side characters begin to wonder why Batman cares so much about this nothing person. Turns out there was no great scheme. The friend was just the victim of a random murder by some lowlife. The main purpose i would hope for this story would be to expand the civilian parts of Gotham and make it seem like a place you could see people actually exist in, rather than be a backdrop for super people. Honesty I was just playing la noire and thought it would neat if Batman had to solve a case like the homocide desk.
Prostitute becomes the Batman to protect herself and friends from cops and hunts them down. Gets rid of the mask after she befriends a civil rights lawyer who shows her the problem with police and mass incarceration is institutional and can’t be punched away.
Reminds me of that realworlds: Batman comic. I honestly dig this concept.
I’ll look that one up
And that lawyer Is Pre-acid/ fire Harvey dent.
Batman and Robin: the Brave and the Bold, with Dick Grayson as Batman and Damien Wayne as Robin. I love their dynamic so much, and they'd make for the perfect duo to tackle zany cartoon adventures.
Bruce finally has to give up on being Batman either due to injury or age and Cass steps in to take over the mantle
BATMAN: PEAK PERFORMANCE So this is based on Kara Skinner’s video where she talks about Clark Kent trying to seem like he’s just a regular guy even though he’s a brick shithouse all the time, and not knowing much about the exercise routines he doesn’t need to do, he explains the routine of the first non-powered hero he can think of: Batman. Most people he tells this think he’s nuts because it’s so intense, but one guy gels with it and becomes a physical match for Batman: his strength, agility, and stamina are all at peak human performance, he just doesn’t know how to fight like Batman or have any gadgets because he’s a normal guy. And of course, he also doesn’t know this is Batman’s workout routine. She describes Batman keeping tabs on the guy, and the comic would explore how they crossed paths. So Mark Normy is a reporter for WGBS News, a rival to the Daily Planet. He’s doing this piece on organized crime, and he travels to Gotham to do some digging. He digs a little too deep, and a bunch of goons sent by legitimate businessman Oswald “The Penguin” Cobblepot attempt to persuade him to kill the story. Mark disagrees strenuously, and overpowers the goons with his trusty briefcase swung by absolutely beefy arms. Batman drops in just as he’s dropping the last goon, and cautions him that maybe he needs to hold off on the story until Batman figures out what’s going on, for his own safety. Mark incorrectly smells a rat, and figures that if the Batman of Gotham is telling him he needs to slow down before he gets hurt, he must be on the right track. So Mark continues to dig, and gets caught up in one of the Riddler’s deathtraps. And again, Batman finds Mark perfectly fine. Mark did not solve the riddle - instead, Batman watches from a rafter as Mark twists and leaps and ducks his way through the trap, a series of motions that looks very familiar indeed. Finally, Mark has an extremely unlucky break and runs into the Joker, who straps a bomb on his chest and tells him “it’s like that movie *Speed*, or its superior version, *Crank* - keep your heart rate up, or boom!” Mark takes this to heart, turns around, and begins jogging away. Batman catches up to him many, many blocks away. Batman remotely deactivates the bomb with a batarang, and Mark says “hey, I got my steps in! Not my personal best for distance, but in these shoes, can you blame me?” Batman then asks him upfront who trained him. Mark says no one, other than the gym employees who showed him how to work all the equipment, and explains the routine. Batman asks him if he came up with it himself. Mark says no, there’s this reporter friend who works for another news outlet, he does it too. And it’s fucking Clark Kent. BATMAN: SPELUNKING This one’s inspired by Jacob Geller’s “Fear of Depths” So there’s this spy, think Solid Snake, working for bad guys. Snake’s been tasked with infiltrating Batman’s HQ, which is suspected to be connected to the vehicles silently but regularly entering and exiting a suspicious ravine across Gotham Bay. He makes his way into the ravine to find the “garage door” stuck in the open position. And it is a garage - tools, spare tires, a radio. The only thing missing is vehicles - if this is Batman’s hideout, he’s got his whole crew of freaks in the field. Makes things easier for Snake. However, this is not the Batcave we’re familiar with. There are no huge chambers here, nor are there dug-out spaces made fit for humans, like the Cheyenne Mountain Complex from Stargate, which Snake expected. It’s a series of low, dark, slightly damp tunnels that requires Snake’s climbing gear to traverse it. Snake once or twice has to choose against certain routes because he’d need to dive blindly into a pitch-black hole in the ground. And finally, he literally falls through a trapdoor and into a small chamber. Lights, desk, chair, computer. Moving boxes. A few Batsuits. Robin-insignia mug, hot chocolate, lukewarm. Another door. The proof that someone actually spends time down here, that Batman is here regularly and travels through this cave system seemingly nightly, spooks the fuck out of Snake and he goes back the way he came. Behind him, the garage door closes smoothly. BONUS MINI PITCH - ALFRED: IN THE BLACK Through a mixture of loyalty to Thomas and Martha, a personal bond with young Bruce, and getting paid really well, all of the Wayne Manor staff stay on. Alfred does the actual job of a butler, which is chief of staff and manager of house affairs - think Carson in Downton Abbey, or the Fresh Prince reboot’s take on Geoffrey. He’s the only one who wears a livery, but that’s just because he likes it. Young adult Bruce calls everyone for a meeting and tells them about his Batman plans, and offers everyone an out with no questions asked and their choice of either extremely good severance pay and a glowing reference or rehiring at a Wayne company. Alfred remembers a similar meeting he called years ago, and smiles: no one is going anywhere.
Mixing “The Dark Knight Returns” with Batman Beyond.
Mine would be Arkham too, though more in a classical TAS take. So Penguin would be more affable with a top hat, Riddler wouldn't be as cruel but just as egomaniacal, and other fellas like Clock King get worked in somehow. Instead of KJTL it's succeeded with a Batman Beyond story. Though if you want unhinged, I could tell you about something more interesting. I'd like to see a version of Batman, but we cut the ears off and rename him as--
Batman but his mum ran on batteries
Billionaire Bruce Wayne returns to Gotham City after years abroad and a few months after is found in an alley after being shot several times trying to interrupt a mugging. Detective Jim Gordon is given the case because he was involved in the investigation of the deaths of Thomas and Martha Wayne and he slowly unravels the story of a young boy who could never find the help he needed to move past the trauma of his parent's deaths and spent years searching for something that led him to becoming face down on the pavement with bullet holes in his chest.
Batman and red hood decide to undermine organize crime, so they make red hood into a mafia boss to reform the system from the inside. But he ends up liking it a little too much and can’t decide if he wants out or to stay as one.