DC Reveals Batman Is Destined To Die Just Like His Parents
DC Future State reveals Bruce Wayne's tragic destiny; to die in the same way as his parents, for all his heroism as Batman.
DC's Future State reveals Bruce Wayne is destined to share his parents' fate. Everyone knows Batman's origin story; that he was the son of two wealthy Gothamites who saw his parents gunned down in an alley, and swore to avenge their deaths. Many oaths are forgotten, but that one proved both definitive and transformative. Bruce Wayne transformed himself into one of the world's greatest vigilantes, and Gotham City sheltered under the shadow of his bat-wings.
But the future looks pretty bleak for Batman. In the present, Gotham City is turning against him, fed up with being caught in the crossfire between the Dark Knight and his various insane enemies. DC is about to reveal the ultimate outcome of these events as part of their Future State initiative, which reveals the future of the DC Universe. It seems Gotham is destined to completely reject vigilantism, coming under the sway of an organization called the Magistrate who crushes anyone who dares to stand against them. And Bruce Wayne... is apparently dead.
DC has released a preview for Future State: Dark Detective #1, on sale on January 12. It's only a short excerpt, but it reveals Bruce Wayne is destined to die in the most shocking way. Batman's story will not come to an end in some grand act of heroism, but instead, it will be brought to a tragic conclusion when Bruce Wayne is gunned down in an alley. Gotham's favorite son will share his parents' fate.
No doubt the people of Gotham felt there was a certain tragic irony to all this, even if they probably didn't realize who Bruce Wayne really was. But notice one key difference in this scene; Bruce's parents were killed in a mugging gone wrong, while Bruce himself has clearly been targeted. This fits with other previews, which suggest the rest of the Bat-Family believe he was deliberately targeted.
Of course, unlike his parents, the preview also strongly suggests Bruce Wayne will survive his fateful encounter in an alley. Presumably, he will decide this is the perfect opportunity to fake his death, perhaps in order to throw off the Magistrates. The disturbing question is just what has happened to the rest of the Bat-Family, because all the books starring characters like Robin and Nightwing are set in 2025, two years before Bruce Wayne's apparent death. It's beginning to look as though Batman will have lost everything by the time of the Dark Detective series - and that he may be the last of Gotham's defenders left.