We already know this version is basically a serial killer of billionaires and the book takes heavy inspiration from slasher horror and his theme has that intensity and terror to it but is also kind of action paced when you think about that blends well with this comic.
I’ve been thinking about how they should handle Joe Chill in this version of Batman’s story.
I know Gunn has said he likes the idea of Chill never being caught, which is classic and reinforces that randomness/meaninglessness behind the Waynes’ murder. But honestly if the DCU is jumping into a more established Batman (especially if Damian is still a big part of The Brave and the Bold), I wonder if it actually works better if Batman did catch Chill at some point in his career.
@ Batman who:
A: Has already faced the man who killed his parents
B: Didn’t break his rule
And D: Has now fully processed that trauma to some degree, feels like a Batman who’s more emotionally stable and at least slightly more equipped to handle raising a kid like Damian who is you know… a homicidal 10 year old who is just as emotionally repressed as his father if not more.
It could also be a nice way to differentiate the DCU Batman from past versions, where Chill is usually either already dead or never caught, or in the case of the Nolan verse arrested but killed before Bruce can do the deed himself.
I understand not wanting the kind of gap we got with Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill in the DCEU, where Bruce felt like he was from a completely different generation. It leaned to hard into the older, worn-down Batman
But making them the exact same age kind of flattens an aspect that’s actually really interesting about their relationship.
Bruce being a bit older like 5 or 6 years just makes sense. Not in a “he’s better” way, but Bruce had to build himself into Batman. Years of training, traveling, failing, and refining before he ever put on the cowl. He’s someone who chose this life long before he could actually execute it.
Clark, on the other hand, didn’t have to “prepare” to become Superman in the same way. His journey is usually more about acceptance and understanding his powers, deciding what kind of person he wants to be, and then stepping into that of a hero and savior personally I feel It gives their dynamic a bit more meat to it if they are around 6 years apart.