Welcome back to Strange Times & Places, where we’re looking to Batman’s future in “The Knights of Tomorrow” from Batman: The Brave & The Bold season two.
How’s It Different?
It’s an Imaginary Story, ultimately based on the one from Batman #131 – right down to being Alfred’s real person fanfic about the Batman Family.
What’s The Story?
Bruce Wayne has retired and settled down with Selina “Catwoman” Kyle, passing the cape and cowl on to Dick Grayson. While taking their teenage son, Damian Wayne, to visit the Batman Museum, they are attacked and murdered by a successor to the Clown Prince of Crime called Joker Jr. This spurs Damian into becoming the new Robin, fighting alongside Dick until he takes over as Batman with his own son serving as Robin.
Best of Differences
- This version of Damian neatly blends elements from several different Children of Batman:
- He has the name and costumed identity of his comic book counterpart, right down to being Dick Grayson’s Robin.
- He has the parentage of The Huntress, right down to their deaths inspiring his superheroic career.
- The whole framing device is based on Bruce Wayne, Jr’s origin tale, with the notable exception that he’s reluctant to accept his role in the family business. Further, Damian’s son is a ginger just like Bruce Jr was.
- A montage loosely styled after the Batman ’66 opening shows Dick & Damian beating up then-recent additions to Batman’s comic book Rogue’s Gallery – specifically, the unique villains Grant Morrison gave them. That was bleeding edge, especially for a show that looked predominantly to the 50s and 60s for design cues.
Worst of Differences
In this TV show’s universe, in keeping with its mixture of modern and Silver Age elements, Alfred raised Bruce Wayne after the death of his parents. That makes him writing real person fanfiction about Batman just that much weirder than it was in Batman #131. Especially since this fan fiction includes Bruce Wayne being murdered. That’s…not normal.
Come Back Next Week for a New Installment of Scripting Errors!
