I think it's less he's a villain and more he's just more overt with his different methods and that puts him in opposition to Bruce.
I don't see Tomasi writing Damian as a villain.
Yes they are. They could get affection and love if they weren't so brooding.
Hell, even when they do get (or even give) affection and love, they're still like that XD
To be honest, I don't understand, why everyone believe they're making Damian a villain, even Glass said they're not going to do this. They clearly want him as a anti-hero, DC editorial already made this clear, yeah, they really stubborn regarding their visions of characters (unlike Marvel). He'll probably be someone like Jason. But villain, not, I don't think so. It's way too controversial and useless move for them. And also, I think, they wouldn't let Tomasi write this story, if they would like to do something like that, they know, that he has different vision. Even with him being a threat for Bruce, it doesn't mean he will become a villain.
Anyway, Damian gets Tomasi instead of Glass and Thompson. It's already best news for a long time. And it's going to be an interesting arc in 'Tec.
Honestly, for me, it just comes down to not really being satisfied with anything non-Super Sons related that Damian's been up to for the past couple of years. And seeing as all of that has been building up to....this, I'm not very confident that the ends will justify the means. Or that even the ends will be a very satisfying turn for the character. I never expected him to become a full on, mustache twirling villain. But I knew the road he'd go down in Teen Titans would lead to an outcome like this and it's just...not something that interests me.
When he'll get his new name, I'd have liked to play on his frustration that Leviathan was taken from him somewhat and I'd have given him another Biblical name but sadly most seems taken.
While that could sometimes work to the detriment of a story (though I cant think of too many instances in Marvel where it has) I'll take that over the other extreme. Something I've noticed DC really likes heading towards whenever Didio's in the driver's seat. And, as shown by the New 52, his influence is very hard to shake.
A good balance of doing your own thing while trying to keep audiences happy is nice. But....from what I've seen Marvel tends to be better at doing both...not always (lest we forget the unfortunate situations that the X-Men and the Fantastic Four were in) but...more often. Whereas sometimes it feels like DC will go out of it's way to do something because it'll piss off readers.
I wonder if Damian is going to the whole anti hero route will he go at it alone or will he have a partner. I think maybe he gets Djinn since she also left the Titans. Also, Djinn would give him some extra muscle and she would feel some responsibility for Damian going in this direction. She would probably go with him to keep him from going to far. Maya wouldn't since she is traveling the multiverse and wouldn't agree with his methods at all. Djinn isn't against using fear as shown with her interactions with Emiko and Joystick. Not to mention she isn't scared to stand up to Damian if she thinks he's wrong.
How exactly is a 13 year old boy suppose to be a threat to Batman? What resources does he have that doesn't come from Bruce, Talia or Ra's? This story will require a lot of suspension of belief for anyone to think Damian is a viable/credible threat to Bruce.