Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Absolute Batman #1-22DC Studios is wasting no time capitalizing on the major success of the Absolute Batman comic series. Less than two years after Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta launched the bestselling comic as part of DC’s new Absolute Universe, an animated series is confirmed to be in development with Snyder as its showrunner and Dragotta attached as a producer.
Despite being such an incredibly fast turnaround, it makes all the sense in the world considering just how good this massive reimagining of the Batman mythos truly is. Bruce Wayne is younger, more brutal, and far more physically imposing than his mainline DC counterpart, while also having none of the wealth or vast resources. Likewise, every supporting character and major villain has been boldly reinvented as well, with some looking far more horrifying than they ever have before.
With the animated series officially on the way, there’s no shortage of incredible moments worthy of adaptation in the 22 issues that have been published thus far. Keeping that in mind, here are the top ten moments I most want to see recreated in DC Studios’ upcoming Absolute Batman animated series.
“Batman AF”
One of the best descriptions of Absolute Batman comes surprisingly early at the beginning of the series’ second issue.
After meeting with and watching the new vigilante up close, MI6 special agent Alfred Pennyworth attempts to explain in his reports what makes The Dark Knight so impressive (and so terrifying to those who cross his path). Calling back to his time with Speical Forces, Alfred says he was taught that every conflict has advanced forwards and retreats and regroups, AFs and R&Rs. However, Alfred’s never seen Batman retreat, eventually coming to the realization that Batman’s mission in Gotham is just one long and unrelenting advance forward: “Batman AF“.
Obviously, there’s a great secondary meaning from Snyder beyond the military acronym that’s quite awesome, while also being all kinds of true. This version of Bruce Wayne truly is “Batman AF”, taking what it means to be Batman to the extreme. Naturally, it’s an idea that should definitely be communicated early on in the animated series, just like in the OG comic.
Absolute Batman’s First Batmobile
Absolute Batman’s first Batmobile is a giant all-black weaponized Caterpillar 797 mining truck. Capable of fully mowing down other vehicles, this new Dark Knight has no need for sports cars, being far more about function over form. While the Absolute Batmobile will no doubt be in the series, I’m also hoping that the way Bruce got it is featured as well, having commandeered the vehicle he’d eventually heavily modify from a group of white supremacists he brutally took down.
Absolute Mister Freeze
While most versions of Mister Freeze are tragic, Absolute Mister Freeze is completely horrifying. Rather than relying on a technological bio-suit to keep his body temp low, Victor Fries Jr. was transformed by a prehistoric mutagenic bacterium, resembling a monstrous cryptid not unlike a White Walker. When you also consider his connections to Jack Grimm V and his Ark M Project, I’d be very surprised if Absolute Freeze wasn’t featured in the new upcoming series.
Absolute Batman Breaks Bane
Absolute Batman versus Absolute Bane might be the best version of the classic DC rivalry. After brutally breaking Bruce Wayne’s friends (Waylon Jones, Harvey Dent, Edward Nygma, and Oswald Cobblepot), Batman was looking for some major payback, challenging Bane himself to a major showdown inside Gotham Arena. However, Bruce ends up rejecting an injection of Venom to even the odds, relying instead on himself and new allies like Pennyworth, Harley Quinn, and Jones, who’d been transformed by the Ark M Project into Killer Croc.
Combined with Absolute Bane being the biggest and most monstrous version of the villain we’ve ever seen, The Dark Knight ultimately breaking him without cutting corners is all kinds of satisfying. There will no doubt be more, but if only one fight from the comic could be adapted into the animated Absolute Batman series, it would have to be this one.
The Origins Of Absolute Joker
Jack Grimm V may be the single biggest departure from the traditional Joker mythology. Rather than keeping his exact origins and identity more of a mystery like in the main DC timeline, the Absolute Universe gives us a very clear and very dark picture of exactly who Absolute Joker is.
Manipulating history for centuries, Grimm has massively profited from playing both sides of major wars and conflicts, while thriving on humanity’s pain and suffering. His long lifespan is the dark result of horrific science and magic, while also having the ability to transform into the stuff of pure eldritch nightmares. Unlike Bruce Wayne, who’s just a civil engineer in the Absolute Universe, Absolute Joker is the one with the billions of dollars, a mansion, untold resources, and even a secret cave.
Keeping that in mind, Absolute Joker’s backstory definitely deserves an entire dedicated episode in the upcoming animated series, especially with Grimm being behind every other villain this alternate Batman has faced thus far.
Absolute Batman & Wonder Woman Team-Up
Although the Absolute Universe is still relatively new with limited crossovers, one major partnership of Absolute heroes does exist between Batman and Wonder Woman.
Following an initial team-up involving cultists, Absolute Batman requested Diana of the Wild Isle’s help to find a cure for Waylon, or at least a way to restore his mind and suppress his crocodile side. As such, Bruce and Diana’s journey to the Underworld is easily one of the best issues of the original Absolute Batman comic. Likewise, an episode of the animated series featuring Absolute Wonder Woman could be a great way to tease additional animated projects set in the Absolute Universe.
The Bat-Nasty
As outrageous as Absolute Batman’s first Batmobile is, his second is just as awesome.
Nicknamed “The Bat-Nasty” by Harley Quinn, this new car features a fully gyroscopic cockpit, allowing Bruce to flip the car completely upside down or backward while he remains perfectly upright, not unlike a classic RC car. As a result, police barricades become meaningless, and Batman is also able to make his way down the narrowest of alleys to avoid detection. While Bruce might not like the name, “Bat-Nasty” is far too fun to let go of for such a unique Batmobile.
The Absolute Robins
Few supporting characters in the Absolute Universe have changed more dramatically than the Robins, as they’ve all become major antagonists. In the pages of Absolute Batman, Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown, and Duke Thomas were all taken in by Jack Grimm and trained by Slade Wilson’s Deathstroke, becoming an effective paramilitary taskforce of mech pilots tasked with hunting down Batman and “protecting” Gotham City.
Absolute Batman Meets Absolute Joker
Absolute Batman’s first face-to-face encounter with Absolute Joker has to be in the new animated series, word for word and shot for shot.
Meeting Bruce atop a skyscraper under construction, Grimm casually scares Bruce into falling off a girder before effortlessly catching him, effectively saving his life. He explains that only he gets to decide when Batman is done, as Absolute Joker claims he created Batman. Likewise, their first encounter also echoes the ending of Christopher Noan’s The Dark Knight, with Joker claiming he now can’t imagine life without Batman, and wants to keep the dance going for as long as possible.
The Absolute Scarecrow Conspiracy
If adapted faithfully, one of the more recent arcs in the OG Absolute Batman comic could be all kinds of intense. Following his recent debut, Absolute Scarecrow believes modern humanity no longer fears individual monsters. Instead, the world exists in a permanent state of anxiety, dread, and uncertainty. As such, his mission (and toxins) amplify those feelings, resulting in heightened aggression and paranoia in his victims to the point of self-harm and suicide.
Working for Grimm, Crane helped engineer a citywide conspiracy framing Batman for Jim Gordon’s murder, which turned Gotham against The Dark Knight. However, it’s also revealed that Crane and Grimm orchestrated “Project Batman” years prior. They set up the zoo shooting that killed Thomas Wayne and saw Bruce hiding for hours in the bat enclosure, all part of an elaborate “long joke” targeting Martha Wayne and her role with the Court of Owls to make her son a bat-themed vigilante (as bats are the natural predators of owls).
Furthermore, the most recent issue of Absolute Batman has even hinted that Thomas Wayne may still be alive as Crane’s prisoner, though whether that’s true or just part of Crane’s ongoing psychological games to break Bruce remains unclear. Whatever the ultimate result, Absolute Scarecrow and his work for Grimm should definitely be included in the upcoming Absolute Batman series.
The Absolute Batman animated series is currently in development from DC Studios.
