10 Changes to Batman’s Story in Movies and TV That Improved the Comics

Batman Has had countless interpretations in various movies and TV shows, which often make positive changes to the history of the character and other residents of Gotham city. Every comic book movie makes heavy changes to its inspiration, with many comic details often being too difficult to work into a film’s runtime. In many instances, filmmakers and showrunners present better ideas for Batman and his world than the comics themselves, improving on the source material.

There are several ways that the various Batman movies and series have changed the continuity of the comics for the better. Batman’s origins are often expanded further in the films and television shows, often adding interesting details that make prescient changes to the classic formula of his beginning as a superhero. The treatment of Batman’s villains in the movies is also a big area where the adaptations offer improvements, better explaining their backstories to fit Batman’s own.

10

Batman is trained by Ra’s Al Ghul

Batman begins

Although often overshadowed in pop culture memory by its sequel, The Legacy of Batman begins Made some impressive deviations from the standard Batman story that worked incredibly well. The film establishes Liam Neeson’s Ducard as the main villain, eventually revealing him to be the classic comics character Ra’s al Ghul.

But the film made the wise decision to tie Ra’s to Batman’s own backstory, being the one to train Bruce Wayne in the art of combat and stealth as an initiate of the League of Assassins. earlier, The Batman of the comics had many different masters who taught him in various aspects of his career.

however, Nolan’s ideas for Batman’s origins in Batman begins It was so clever and obvious that the comics later adapted it to its official origin. In the comic flow Batman: The Knight By Chip Zdarsky, the idea of ​​Ra’s al Ghul being the one to train Bruce is canonized in the comics.

9

Mad Hatter being a hypnotist showman

Gotham

The various ages of Gotham Provided a very different take on the residents of Batman’s signature city, providing alternate origins for most of Batman’s famous supporting characters and villains. While the depictions of The Penguin and The Riddler are both quite intriguing, the series’ treatment of the Mad Hatter works particularly well.

in gotham, The Mad Hatter stars as Jervis Tech, a street criminal and showy hypnotist who ends up using his powers to nefarious ends after the death of his sister, Alice. Meanwhile, in the comics (and most other media representations), The Mad Hatter is a much more disturbed individual whose powers of hallucinations and mind control come from genius feats of engineering, Obsessed about unrelated women named Alice in a more ominously romantic way.

Not only does GothamJervis Tetch’s changes make him a more dynamic and interesting character, But it also prevents him from being yet another copycat Batman villain with an inexplicable prodigy level of intelligence in the creation of certain technologies. The hypnotism of the Mad Hatter is a natural skill is much more compelling.

8

Connecting Thomas Wayne to the Falcons

The Batman

Thomas Wayne is the idealized paragon of justice in Batman’s eyes, always looking up to his father before his early murder. Indeed, in most versions, Thomas Wayne is usually considered a brilliant, but kind and philanthropy-minded business executive who has the respect of peers and the common folk of Gotham. However, in Matt Reeves the batman, The Wayne family is revealed to not be so squeaky clean.

The Riddler eventually reveals that Thomas Wayne has a connection to Gotham’s organized crime, doing business with none other than infamous mob boss and legacy Batman villain Carmine Falcone. Making Batman’s father less than perfect and an accomplice to the crime and corruption that Batman wages his lonely crusade against is a fascinating twist that forces Bruce Wayne to re-examine is idolatry and prejudice towards his own family. In a way, the criticism of Bruce’s own inherent privilege as a born billionaire makes for a more interesting story.

7

Bruce Wayne wants to kill Joe Chill

Batman begins

Ra’s al Ghul being Bruce Wayne’s mentor isn’t Christopher Nolan’s only change Dark Knight Trilogy makes from the get-go. In one scene in Batman begins, It is revealed that Bruce Wayne was not always so strict about his “no killing” rule, at one point being so devastated over the loss of his parents that he attempts to kill their murderer, Joe Chill, in a public courtroom.

Giving Batman more of an arc in grappling with his desire for revenge does wonders for his dynamism as a character, providing more layers to his moral code than previously thought possible. Seeing Joe Chill die may be crucial in the formation of Batman’s “no killing” rule. The idea of ​​Bruce being evil enough to circumvent his morality adds to his complexity as a dark defender of Gotham.

6

The Riddler is a spurned wine employee

Batman Forever

For the most part, the provided camp of Batman Forever It’s not really the place where one might expect to find some clever changes to Batman’s lore. As a whole, this outrageous film seems too busy setting up merchandising opportunities and extraordinary performances to worry too much about narrative cohesion. However, there is one narrative decision the film makes that actually strengthens the Riddler’s backstory as a villain, despite Jim Carrey’s ridiculous display of slapstick comedy throughout.

in batman forever, Edward Nygma is actually a former employee of Wayne Enterprises, a talented researcher on the cutting edge of technology that can manipulate the human mind. Swearing revenge on Bruce Wayne due to the dire implications of his invention, Nygma slowly becomes the Riddler, with his personality gradually deteriorating due to long-form exposure to his mind-reading device. While Riddler’s technical acumen may be a step too far, making him a Wayne employee is a fascinating concept with a lot of room to explore.

5

The Riddler uses his riddles to make a point

The Batman

The second film to use the Riddler as its main villain, The Batman Also had some brilliant changes to make regarding the character’s modus operandi. Historically, in the comics, the Riddler’s obsession with riddles is an inherent thing, something of a gimmick that writers use to help set him apart from similar mastermind-type characters. But the Riddler’s riddle in The Batman serve a greater purpose relating to Nygma’s motivations, which are much more than petty revenge or mere criminal ambition.

Here, Reeves ensures that every puzzle is used to make a point, Whether it’s exposing the true depths of Gotham’s police corruption at the hands of Carmine Falcone or forcing an informant to admit that he accepted a bribe. Rather than dishing out generic riddles whose answers are largely unrelated to his schemes, Reeves’ Riddler drives the narrative of his investigation with every clue he leaves. Otherwise, the Riddler is simply a criminal who essentially wants to be caught by leaving deliberate clues.

4

The creation of Harley Quinn

Batman: The Animated Series

It’s hard to talk about the influence of adaptations on the Batman mythos without bringing up Harley Quinn. Today, Harley Quinn is not only one of the most popular villains associated with Batman, but one of DC’s most well-known flagship characters in general. Since it was adapted into live action movies, comics and other animated shows, it’s hard to believe that Harley Quinn could never have existed if it wasn’t for. Batman: The Animated Series.

Batman: The Animated Series Introduced Harley Quinn as a psychologist in Arkham Asylum assigned to the Joker, who slowly falls for his insidious wishes to become his sidekick and love interest, Harley Quinn. From there, Harley goes on to take on a life of her own, becoming her own self-made supervillain and even something of an anti-hero in later appearances. It is interesting to note that one of the most beloved figures of DC Comics did not come from a comic book at all, but a cartoon from the 90s that adapted the stories of Batman.

3

Joker is the one to kill Batman’s parents

batman (1989)

Tim Burton Batman is credited with being the first Batman movie to really explore the comics’ darker themes surrounding the character, eschewing the camp of 1966’s previous Adam West star vehicle of the same name. Here, Jack Nicholson’s Joker is presented as a menacing enemy, with many of the same hallmarks of the iconic villain as the comic version. However, a key difference between the two is the origin of the Joker, which the comics tend to leave ambiguous, but is spelled out clearly in Batman.

The 1989 film reveals that not only was Joker once a common criminal, but he was the same man who killed Bruce Wayne’s parents, rather than the two-bit purse snatcher Joe Chill. This shocking revelation, accompanied by Joker’s iconic phrase from the film “You ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight?”Helps connect Joker to Batman better. The two have always been diametric polar opposites on the moral scale, and with a real conscious interest in one another the antagonistic dynamic seems more fitting than if they had only met for the first time later in life.

2

Lucius Fox being Batman’s armorer

Batman begins

One of the most underrated strengths of Batman begins is his depiction of Lucius Fox and Bruce Wayne’s relationship. In the comics, Lucius Fox is one of Batman’s few secret allies, running Wayne Enterprises in his place while waging his one-man war on crime. However, the Nolan films turn Morgan Freeman’s Lucius into more of the Q to Batman’s James Bond, surreptitiously supplying him with the coolest Batman gadgets of the Nolan trilogy, including the militaristic “tumbler” Batmobile.

While Batman never openly tells Lucius his secret, he slyly implies that he is well aware of what his technology is being used for, which makes for some great chemistry and banter between the two. Having a master engineer behind Batman’s tools of the trade makes a lot more sense than Bruce somehow finding the time to come up with his gadgets on top of everything else. It also heightens Fox’s importance on Batman’s support team, something the legacy character deserves.

1

Mr. Freeze’s animated origin

Batman: The Animated Series

Harley Quinn’s introduction is not the only one of Batman: The Animated Series Lasting impacts on DC Comics. The show was also responsible for completely reinventing the icy villain Mr. Freeze, resulting in a new version of the character that has been used as the basis for nearly every one of his appearances since, even the ice-slinging Arnold Schwarzenegger Mr. Freeze. Originally, Mr. Freeze was just one of Batman’s many gimmicky enemies, prancing about in a garish yellow costume and what looked like an office water cooler on his head.

in Batman: The Animated Series, Victor Fries was given an update to his outfit and his backstory. The show explains that Mr. Freeze cryogenically froze his terminally ill wife, committing crimes in hopes of finding a cure at the cost of his own unique condition. This was so much better than the comic version that it has since become the standard backstory for Mr. Freeze in both the comics and in any subsequent Batman Media.

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