Everybody and their mother knows who Batman is. Not in the actual comics’ canon, mind you, but in the our world, where Batman’s storyline has become so familiar because it’s remained relatively unchanged over the past 80 years: As a young boy, Bruce Wayne loses his parents in an armed mugging and grows up to become the Dark Knight, dedicating his life to cleaning up the criminal underground of Gotham City (all while never, ever taking another life).
However, if DC Comics’ Tom King gets his way, the Caped Crusader we know and love may be changing for good quite soon. King, who’s been writing a re-launched Batman title since 2016, is quickly approaching his 75th issue with the series. His run on the character has already featured many shocking twists, the largest of which saw Bruce Wayne nearly marrying Catwoman, only to be left at the altar, an event that will play a very large role in the future of the series as it nears its 100th issue.
Scheduled for release in July, Batman #75 is expected to launch the “City of Bane” storyline, which King told the Hollywood Reporter that he hopes will take the World’s Greatest Detective in a brand new direction that fans have never seen before:
“I could see people look at me: “You’re going to do 25 issues of Batman falling?” I was like, “Yeah, sure! No problem, it’ll be fine!” …It’s something that’s going to change the character for a generation, or maybe more. Maybe forever. I never thought we’d get this kind of stuff approved; when you’re working with a corporate character, you think you’re going to have to reset. But this is a change that’s going to shake the world of Batman and it’s going to leave my mark on the character.”
King has slowly been building toward Bane’s ultimate takedown of Bruce Wayne for quite some time, as he’s always thought of the villain’s standout storyline Knightmares as one of the most important arcs in the franchise. Considering Bane is mostly known for breaking Batman’s back, leaving him out of commission for a long stretch of comic books, it’s somewhat terrifying to ponder what evil master plan King thinks could top that.
But you have to give the writer credit. Changing such a well know figure in pop culture is not an easy feat, especially when it’s a superhero owned not just by DC Comics, but by Warner Bros. and AT&T as well. Yet, King has permission from every step of the corporate ladder, so they must have faith in his story. As such, it’ll be interesting to see where “City of Bane” takes Batman later this summer.
