Groundhog Day 2: Adventure In Gotham

[The Watcher]

As many of you know, the holiday you know as Groundhog Day played a very significant part of Pittsburgh Weatherman Phil Connors life. For one year on that festive holiday he found himself reliving the same day over and over again, waking up at the same time in the same condition no matter what happened to him. Not even death could permanently free him from this temporal recursion. Eventually his tale has a happy ending, for after falling in love with his producer Rita and becoming a better person, he was finally freed from his endless cycle.

What many of you may not know was the version of Phil Connors who had that experience in the DC Universe emerged with a most peculiar ability. He could choose to relive any day he wished as many times as he wished. Just like that fateful Groundhog Day he would wake again as healthy as he was the first time he lived that day. And should he die unless he specifically wishes not to he loops back to the beginning of the day, with no need to consciously will himself to do so. Only his girlfriend/producer Rita knows he possesses this power.

And it is a good thing he's got this power too, for a year later Phil, Rita, and cameraman Larry find themselves in Gotham to cover the its famous Groundhog Gus Festival due to Punxsutawney Phil having been kidnapped by Deathstroke earlier that week. Unluckily for the trio this was the day a number of Gotham's villains decide to enact their plans and unleash mayhem on the city. What's worse is that the city's regular protector, Batman, is caught in a trap so intricate and complex that it will take him 25 hours to escape.

With Batman nowhere to be found, and the city facing a carnival of chaotic calamity, it falls to Phil Connors to save the citzens of Gotham. Of course he doesn't stand a chance the first day, but luckily he has potentially infinite do-overs. Whether he eventually saves everyone is a certainty. How many iterations of the day it takes him and what tactics and strategies he employs to successfully do so are less determined.

And thus the question I pose to you all...

What If Phil Connors Protected Gotham During Groundhog Day?

[Dr Will Hatch]

I haven't seen the movie in a long damn time, but I bet that Bill Murray could do anything if he's given an infinite amount of tries! I've heard in real life that he's fond of inserting himself into random people's lives and then saying that no one will ever believe you. I'd pay to see a comic where he trolls The Joker like that.

[Powerboy]

Just to note, Phil Connors relived the day way more than one year's worth, opinions ranging from 25 years worth or about 10,000 times to literally thousands of years.

Anyway, yes, given an infinite number of repeats, he eventually takes care of everything as long as it's standard Batman villains and not somebody with time manipulating powers. Phil showed the willingness to actively kill himself by a variety of means including burning to death, jumping off a building, head-on collisions, intentionally taking poisons, intentionally freezing to death, etc. First, he would just keep searching every nook and cranny of Gotham until he found, say, the Joker, even if it took him 10,000 repeats to do it not by deduction but by endless repetition. He would be willing to confront the Joker, and die horribly just to get to that first step. Then, on the next loop, he would get one step further and then one further and one further, each time avoiding a previous mistake or getting extra help or prep. Sure the Joker poisons him, burns him, dismembers him, kills him in a variety of ways. So what? Phil has done most of those things to himself on purpose. Eventually he wins and he only needs to win once. Joker wins 9999 out of 10,000 but once Phil gets that one win, it's over. Same with all the other villains. Phil also studies diligently and becomes a very skilled detective. Probably not Batman level because he doesn't have that potential but good enough when combined with all his repeats and "future" knowledge.

[Tami]

I hope you don't mind, but I found this article that I thought was fascinating and might be relevant to this challenge.

[Powerboy]

I hope you don't mind, but I found this article that I thought was fascinating and might be relevant to this challenge.

LOL. And, if this were "Birdman", where everything was indicating the whole thing was a delusion, I'd go with that.

[90'sCartoonMan]

Batman may be tied up, but the GCPD aren't. All Phil needs to do is a lot of recon, finding villains and their schemes and whatnot, and then he can eventually go to Gordon and detail how many men he needs to send where and then bam, Gotham is safe!

He would be willing to confront the Joker, and die horribly just to get to that first step. Then, on the next loop, he would get one step further and then one further and one further, each time avoiding a previous mistake or getting extra help or prep. Sure the Joker poisons him, burns him, dismembers him, kills him in a variety of ways. So what? Phil has done most of those things to himself on purpose. Eventually he wins and he only needs to win once.

That actually reminds me of an episode of The Batman called "Seconds", where he fights a guy who can rewind time who is able to escape Batman just by going through enough loops and getting further and further each time in their fight.

[Photon Torme]

Cool Idea. I've been giving it some thought. Initially, I was thinking how much fun it would be to see The Joker's reaction to being stymied, stumped and out Manuevered by some weatherman from Pennsylvania. Then I thought..... Well what about Februrary 3rd? From That day forward Phil would have one hell of an enemy to worry about. Sure, with unlimited time. He could master the tecniques of all kinds of unarmed and armed combat but he's never going to be physically fitter, or more agile. Maybe he's get a mask and costume before taking the joker on. Or... as an another poster said he could just concentrate on getting Gordan's credibility over the centuries and just choreograph everything for the GCPD

[Carabas]

Hmmm... Would Phil abide by Batman's no-killing rule, or does Batman's entire Rogues gallery suffer a freak, one-in-a-million fatal accident of the piano dropped on the Joker's head kind?

[The Watcher]

Cool Idea. I've been giving it some thought. Initially, I was thinking how much fun it would be to see The Joker's reaction to being stymied, stumped and out Manuevered by some weatherman from Pennsylvania. Then I thought..... Well what about Februrary 3rd? From That day forward Phil would have one hell of an enemy to worry about. Sure, with unlimited time. He could master the tecniques of all kinds of unarmed and armed combat but he's never going to be physically fitter, or more agile. Maybe he's get a mask and costume before taking the joker on. Or... as an another poster said he could just concentrate on getting Gordan's credibility over the centuries and just choreograph everything for the GCPD

This Phil has gained the power to relive any day he wants as many times as he wants and loop back to the beginning if he dies, so he's got no problem doing the same thing to the Joker February 3rd and beyond. He just doesn't have to because Batman would have freed himself by then.

Hmmm... Would Phil abide by Batman's no-killing rule, or does Batman's entire Rogues gallery suffer a freak, one-in-a-million fatal accident of the piano dropped on the Joker's head kind?

Phil doesn't strike me as the murderous type. Though I suppose given sufficient provocation...

Of course, if someone like the Joker makes him mad enough I guess Phil could kill him repeatedly for a bunch of days till he gets it out of his system.

[Carabas]

Phil doesn't strike me as the murderous type. Though I suppose given sufficient provocation...

Of course, if someone like the Joker makes him mad enough I guess Phil could kill him repeatedly for a bunch of days till he gets it out of his system.

I think we can take it as a given that by the time he gets everything just right, all of the Rogues have killed or tortured him dozens of times.

[Photon Torme]

How many years do you supposed Phil is stuck in Gotham's Groundhog day before he wins? Gotta be several centuries.