5 Things Everybody Gets Wrong About The Batman Who Laughs

The Batman Who Laughs has quickly become one of the breakaway DC stories of the last few years. Started in 2017, the book tells the story of a sadistic, hateful, and vile Batman who is nothing like the Batman that we all know and love. In fact, this Batman is a living and breathing contradiction to everything that Batman stands for.

As with any character who is vastly different from what we all know, there is often confusion and uncertainty shrouding them. Sometimes, mistakes and misconceptions are made and their history becomes as lost as a tourist in the desert. 

To prevent that from happening here we’ve created a list of 5 things everyone gets wrong about The Batman Who Laughs.

1. From the everyday Multiverse

As a part of the Metal line of DC books, Batman discovers that there is a Dark Multiverse that exists beneath the regular Multiverse. The Dark Multiverse was created by every bad thought, action or decision ever made. Due to this, it is constantly deteriorating. Through his tinkering, he learns that there are seven different Dark Batman’s, one of which is the Batman Who Laughs. 

Earth -22, is much different from Earth One. On this Earth, which is nearing its end, characters like Red Robin, Martian Manhunter, Wonder Woman, and Red Tornado have been killed. 

From The Batman Who Laughs, “Stop me if you’ve heard this one…worlds will live, worlds will die…but imagine if your every fear, each bad decision, gave birth to a malformed world of nightmare. A world that shouldn’t exist. And desperate as it fights to survive in the light of the true multiverse far above… these worlds are doomed to rot apart, and die, because they are wrong at their core. Welcome to the Dark Multiverse. Home to stories that should never be…”

2. Batman doesn’t kill

Batman only becomes evil after doing the one thing he said he’d never do…kill his enemies. After the Joker learns that he is dying he embarks on a violent rampage that results in the deaths of many. In a fit of pure rage, Batman lunges at Joker and snaps his neck. At the moment of his death, Joker’s dead body releases the toxins that have infected him for so many years. With the toxins in the air, Batman breathes them in and begins his transformation into The Batman Who Laughs. 

What makes the character so deadly is that he is a combination all of Bruce Wayne’s intelligence, technology, money, and know-how coupled with the Joker’s twisted sense of morality and willingness to go too far. The Batman Who Laughs is unlike any villain in DC not because he’s a fresh idea. The Batman Who Laughs is unlike any villain in DC because he’s the answer to the question readers have been asking for decades.

3. Death of the Family

In The Batman Who Laughs story it isn’t any of his enemies that kill each member of the Bat-Family. Instead, it’s Batman himself.

In his early history as the character, Batman summons his family to the Batcave. Each show up believing that they are there to help him find a cure to what has ailed him. Worse yet, he leads them to believing exactly this. He tells them of how he has been infected and that he is slowly losing his sanity. 

During their greatest moment of sympathy, Batman pulls out two guns does the unthinkable…he riddles their bodies with bullets. That’s right. He kills everyone of them. Jason Todd. Tim Drake. Barbara Gordon. Dick Grayson. 

Gone.

4. He killed Lois Lane

If you think that murdering the Bat-Family is terrible, just wait.

After taking down each member of the Justice League, remember, according to the Tower of Babel he knows how to do this, he turns his attention to Superman. Superman. The Man of Tomorrow. Super. Superman. With Superman barely clinging to life, Batman unearths his most vile plan.

He brings the Super-Family (Clark, Jon, and Lois) together for the most sinister of family reunions. With the three in a room together, he tosses them a piece of Black Kryptonite. Black Kryptonite, for those who don’t know, turns Superman mad with anger. With the Black Kryptonite in the room, Batman watches as the Man of Steel mercilessly kills his own family. 

Because Superman actually killed his family, him killing Superman is something everyone gets wrong about The Batman Who Laughs.

5. The only Dark Batman

There are many things that everybody gets wrong about The Batman Who Laughs, but none may be more mistaken than how many Dark Batman’s there are.

As The Batman Who Laughs reigns down terror on the Dark Multiverse, it becomes apparent that his world is not the only in the Dark Multiverse. In fact, there are Evil Batman’s from every corner of the Dark Multiverse. More terrifying is that each Batman is an amalgamation of Batman and another character in the DC Universe.

• Red Death – Batman steals the Speed Force from the Flash and becomes the fastest man alive
• Murder Machine – A mashup of Batman and Cyborg
• The Dawnbreaker – A Batman who was given a Green Lantern Ring but instead of using it for good, uses it to avenge the death of his parents
• The Merciless – A Batman inspired by Wonder Woman and her death
• The Drowned – A female mixture of Batman and Aquaman who is at War with Atlantis after the Water Kingdom sunk Gotham
• The Devastator – Batman gives himself the Doomsday virus so that he may replicate what Doomsday did all those years ago

As he learns of the others he begins to recruit them to his side. Eventually, he gains the help of the six above and dubs them Dark Knight’s. With them by his side, The Batman Who Laughs begins planning his hostile takeover of Earth Prime.

And that’s it. 5 Things Everyone Gets Wrong About The Batman Who Laughs. What do you think? Do you know of other things Everyone gets wrong about The Batman Who Laughs? Let me know below.

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