Let say either his mom/or dad survived the shooting that night, would Bruce Wayne still have the strong desire to become the batman? Would Alfred still take on a parental role for the young lad?
Let say either his mom/or dad survived the shooting that night, would Bruce Wayne still have the strong desire to become the batman? Would Alfred still take on a parental role for the young lad?
Honestly? I don't think so.
The sheer tragedy of losing both his parents the way he did, and not having either of them in his life, was central to his decision to becoming Batman.
I think I agree with this. But perhaps a some Elseworld tale could convince me that he would still become Batman, I don't know. In a way I'm saying that there is no real answer, only a more persuadable or less persuadable story.
But I would think it would be difficult to get around the idea or ideas that a) the living parent could/would condone such a dangerous life for their son and/or b) that Bruce would so risk hurting his living parent, who has lost a lot already, in various ways by pursuing this life (Bruce knowing he could die or disappear at any moment).
Last edited by JBatmanFan05; 02-16-2023 at 03:07 PM.
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Grant Morrison: “Adults...struggle desperately with fiction, demanding constantly that it conform to the rules of everyday life. Adults foolishly demand to know how Superman can possibly fly, or how Batman can possibly run a multibillion-dollar business empire during the day and fight crime at night, when the answer is obvious even to the smallest child: because it's not real.”
For an Elseworld in that kind of situation I could almost see something like Flashpoint Batman happening; Thomas Wayne becomes Batman to avenge the loss of his wife and to protect children like his son from losing their mothers with Bruce discovering his father's identity later on and trying to be Robin(which his father would fight against).
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I think you could do the same type of thing, Martha becomes a vengeful mama bear Batwoman, maybe with instead of Bruce becoming Robin in secret he's actually brought in by Martha the thinking being that the only way to keep him safe is to make him a weapon.
I'd read it.
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If he grew up in a world with the JSA then he still might be tempted to become Batman because there is an outlet for his grief. Regardless of which parent lives he still would have the loss to contend with. If his mom lives, it's more likely Alfred would still be a father figure.
^^^Counter question.
If Bruce did become Batman, what kind of Batman would he be?
With a parental figure to…ground him(?) and Alfred in a slightly different role, would he have turned out more like Nightwing, maybe? Dark to be sure, but able to better see and show ppl the light?
Very likely.
Incidentally, according to 'Tec #500 ("To Kill a Legend"), Bruce would become Batman in a world where both his parents lived (having been saved by Earth 1 Batman and Robin). So the OP's idea has some 'canonical' validity...
I think the other part of the equation here is what direction would the surviving parent go in.
As it happens, this has already been answered:
https://screenrant.com/batman-saves-...change-origin/