I'm Worried That DC's Latest Change to Batman's Origin Is Embracing a Problem That Haunts His Many Adaptations

Detective Comics #1090 by Tom Taylor, Mikel Janín, and Wes Abbott focuses on Thomas Wayne as much as it does Bruce, stressing Thomas’s commitment to saving lives even if they’re evil. The last page of the issue reveals that the abuser of a young mother and her child in Thomas' care was none other than Joe Chill, who goes on to murder Thomas and Martha Wayne in the future, changing Bruce's life forever.

However, the addition of Chill's daughter into his backstory shifts the motivation of the murders, implying that Chill killed the Waynes out of revenge for keeping his daughter away from him. This new aspect of the story is a massive change to Batman’s origin, and one which I feel embraces a problem plaguing many modern depictions of the Wayne murders: the desire to over-complicate them and, in doing so, losing the core of what makes their deaths so tragic.

I'm a Firm Believer that Batman's Origin Story Is One of the Best in Superhero Fiction

Why Batman’s Classic Origin Works

At its core, Batman’s origin story is simple: Bruce Wayne’s parents are gunned down in front of him in a mugging gone wrong. While other details, such as the shooter’s identity and whether their killer is caught, can play an important role in how the murders shape Batman, the core behind the narrative purpose of the murders remains consistent. The murder of the Waynes is tragic because it could have happened to anyone. It didn’t matter if they were rich or poor, it was simply a senseless act of violence without personal motivation.

The fundamentally senseless nature of the crime not only informs Batman’s character, but also informs every aspect of Gotham City as a narrative setting. That there was no real cause for their deaths allows Batman to be eternally haunted by their murders, but it also keeps his mission noble. There’s no revenge to enact on anyone, so Batman’s crusade becomes a mission to make sure no one else ever has to go through what he went through.

Other factors may flavor this characterization in differing ways. If Bruce knows Joe Chill killed his parents, and he’s successfully captured, Bruce's continued desire to be Batman creates the idea that his mission extends beyond his own tragedies. If Batman never finds out who killed his parents, then his characterization is given the additional hook of still chasing after those two bullets all these years later. However, both of these ideas are firmly rooted in the presentation of the deaths of Thomas and Martha Wayne as senseless tragedies.

The Change to Batman's Origin Story Could Irreversibly Change the Iconic Character

And I Don't Think It Would Be for the Better

Many adaptations of the character, however, create new spins on the Wayne murders, but these new takes on their deaths make the killings out as more complicated than they need to be. Some, such as the television series Gotham or the video game Batman: The Telltale Series, present the murder of Bruce’s parents as a hit placed on them, therefore making them intentional targets for the killer rather than victims of happenstance. Others, like the 2019 film Joker, frame the murders as ideologically driven, with the Waynes killed specifically because of their wealth.

These origins miss the point of the Wayne murders, transforming them from a senseless act of violence that could have happened - and does happen - to anyone into a deliberately targeted crime, where it couldn’t have happened to anyone else because they weren’t the Waynes. In addition, this change negatively impacts Bruce’s character, hurting his motivations to fight crime as Batman. When their murders are senseless, it’s as if the culture of apathy and criminality in Gotham City killed his parents. Batman’s mission becomes a mission against those abstract concepts that drove Chill to murder his parents.

Batman's Origin Works Best When It's a Random Act of Violence

Why Make Changes to Such a Perfect Motivation?

If Taylor’s writing does veer into the direction of the Waynes being killed out of revenge, then the entire premise behind Batman’s origin is changed for the worse. The murder of the Waynes stops being a random act of violence fueled by desperation and turns into a deliberate pair of murders, with Joe Chill having a personal reason for targeting the Waynes. This change also makes Batman a weaker character by eliminating the senseless nature of the crime. When it’s a deliberate act, Batman’s war on crime shifts into being focused on one man rather than an abstract concept.

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While it’s entirely possible that this creative team could be treating Chill's presence as a red herring, the idea that Detective Comics will even entertain this idea worries me because of how prevalent these kinds of changes have become in most versions of the Batman mythos. While reinterpretations of the Wayne murders sometimes work, such as in the 2022 film The Batman, most end up failing and making the character worse. The origin story is a foundational part of Batman’s character, and changing Joe Chill’s crime from a random act of violence into a targeted one erodes those foundations.

Detective Comics #1090 is available now from DC Comics.

Batman

One of DC's most iconic heroes, Batman is the vigilante superhero persona of billionaire Bruce Wayne. Forged by tragedy with the death of his parents, Bruce dedicated his life to becoming the world's leading martial artist, detective, and tactician. Recruiting an entire family of allies and sidekicks, Bruce wages war on evil as the dark knight of his hometown, Gotham City.

Created By Bob Kane , Bill Finger

Alias Bruce Wayne

Alliance Justice League, Outsiders, Batman Family

Race Human

FIRST APP Detective Comics #27 (1939)