Top crazy and unusual versions of the Dark Knight: Ninja Batman, Kid Batman, Vampire Batman, Dinosaur Batman and others

One of the most popular superheroes of our time is, without a doubt, Batman. A new film has recently been released that shows Bruce Wayne as a broken and mentally unstable man, not much different from his opponents. We decided to recall the most interesting, strange and crazy reincarnations of Batman from comics, video games and movies. And also analyze why «The Dark Knight is Psycho» is by no means a new idea.

Often the Batman costume was worn by completely different characters — members of the Bat-family, James Gordon, Azrael and even Bane. We will not take them into account; we are interested in Bruce Wayne and his alternative versions.

Dark Knights of Steel is still out, making it one of DC's newest stories. All heroes and villains will find themselves in a fantasy world of the Middle Ages, wearing armor and acquiring swords and magic. Batman Knight is a brave warrior on horseback and wearing armor stylized as a bat. Just like in the original version, he has a servant to help him with all his affairs.

The creator of the comic was inspired by The Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones, which means the story definitely deserves attention.

All these versions are the same Bruce Wayne traveling through time. In the comic book series Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne, the Dark Knight had to restore his memory while traveling through different stages of human history. In the process, he managed to meet the founder of his own family and encounter real witches.

In the anime film Batman Ninja, the famous Gotham knight, his friends and enemies find themselves in feudal Japan. According to tradition, the main antagonist was the Joker. The picture has everything — katana battles, samurai armor and, suddenly, huge robots. What adds originality is that all the characters remember their past lives in modern Gotham and are trying to go back.

In one of the branches, Batman lived during the time of Abraham Lincoln and was his close friend. The hero guarded the president's gold mines and freed slaves — the «dark knights». The detective also had a friend and assistant — the Indian Red Bird (Robin). The comic was released in 1993 and was called Batman: The Blue, the Gray, and the Bat.

This story takes place in a parallel universe on Earth-10. Adolf Hitler won the war, taking over the world. Batman serves the Third Reich and protects only genetically ideal people. The degree of madness here is much higher than in all previous stories, but this is far from the limit. The character's first appearance was in Countdown to Adventure #4.

In the comic book Batman: Holy Terror, the United States has turned into a theocratic state where the church has become the power. Impressed by the death of his parents, young Bruce becomes a priest. However, information appears that the government itself ordered the murder of the Waynes because of their excessive tolerance for «sinners.» And so begins the path of retribution for the ecclesiastical Batman.

In this story, the greatest detective meets the mysterious Jack the Ripper. The version is interesting due to its steampunk style and alternative images of familiar characters. It's no secret that Batman has many of the traits of Sherlock Holmes. It is in this universe that comparison reaches its apogee. In 2018, a cartoon based on the comic was made — Batman: Gotham by Gaslight.

In different universes, Batman has wielded many power rings.

In the Green Lantern comic (Green Lantern vol 4), the yellow ring of fear chose Bruce because of his ability to instill fear in others. However, complete symbiosis did not work out — Batman knew how to control his emotions too well.

In the comic book Blackest Night: Batman — The Dawnbreaker, the Dark Knight received a green ring as a child, becoming a completely different person. Batman broke the will of the artifact and actively used it to harm others. This is how he turned into the most powerful Green Lantern of them all.

There is another story in which a Gotham knight became a real zombie. In the comic book Blackest Night, Bruce died and rose again, gaining the power of the black ring. It didn't last long, but the events were truly terrible.

Batman also wore a white ring, which was fueled by the power of life itself. This did not last long, as usual.

In this version, Bruce Wayne decided to gain control of the speed force. The result was a strange symbiosis between the Flash and the Dark Knight — the «Red Death». Initially, he did fight crime, but this led to the destruction of the world. Batman eventually finds the Red Death and offers to take over another universe. Details can be read in the comic «Batman: The Red Death».

An interesting and funny version in which Batman and many other heroes were turned into children. At the same time, his memory and abilities remained, so the little defender of Gotham continued his hard work even in such a body. The comic was published in 1962 and was simply called «Batman» (Batman #147). On the Internet you can find a web comic on a similar topic. There are even more jokes.

In the comic book Superman/Batman: Sorcerer Kings Bruce becomes a real wizard. In some ways his image is reminiscent of Doctor Strange. Together with other heroes, the magician fights zombies and communicates with dragons.

It is unlikely that Batman could have avoided the fate of a vampire. In the comic book Batman: Vampire, Dracula bites a famous detective. The consequences were not long in coming — pale skin, fear of light, thirst for blood. As a result, Batman became so powerful that he easily defeated the Prince of Darkness himself.

Sometimes the Marvel and DC universes merged to create something completely new. One such project was the Amalgam universe, in which famous heroes and villains from different worlds were mixed into new characters. This is how Logan Wayne was born. In Legends of the Dark Claw, after the death of his parents, he went to live in Canada, where he underwent the procedure for implanting adamantium. Returning to Gotham, the hero combined the cruelty of Wolverine and the habits of Batman.

In one of the universes, Batman became the God of knowledge, taking possession of the throne of Mobius. So he was able to find out the name of the parents' killer, as well as details of the Joker's identity. The story can be found in issue 42 of the Justice League: The New 52 series.

One of the craziest and scariest versions of Batman appears in The Batman Who Laughs. In the dark universe, Bruce still kills the Joker and becomes infected with his toxin. Very quickly the poison drives the hero crazy, turning him into a terrible monster. The Mad Knight kills all of his lieutenants and also destroys several other universes, making him one of the most bloodthirsty villains in the DC world.

In the Dark Nights: Death Metal series, the Batman who laughs (predicting his death) transfers his consciousness into the most powerful Bruce Wayne in the multiverse. It turned out to be Batman with the powers of Doctor Manhattan, the hero of Watchmen. The Darkest Knight has become pure evil, drawing his powers from the multiverse itself. As a result, his power reached unprecedented proportions, making this version of Bats the most terrible and powerful of all.

In Batman: Last Knight on Earth, Bruce also deviates from his principles. Having killed all the enemies, he establishes complete control over the city. To extend his own life, Batman begins to create clones with the ability to transfer his own consciousness into them (hello, Palpatine). One of the young Bruces joins the resistance to overthrow the tyrant.

Still in the same episode Dark Nights: Death Metal an alternative version of the elderly Bruce transfers responsibilities for protecting the city to Dick Grayson. Everything doesn't go according to plan, and the city is overwhelmed by a wave of crime.

Bruce sacrifices his son and the city, becoming an ancient, robotic Batman-like deity who controls metal. Its constituent parts were parts of Gotham.

Another character from Dark Nights: Death Metal is Dinobot Batman. When a cave collapsed on Bruce, his mind was downloaded into an animatronic dinosaur. In this form, Bat-Rex went to Arkham and killed all his enemies. This version is rightfully considered one of the most delusional.

Realizing that humanity can only be saved by radical methods, the Dark Knight developed artificial intelligence that was capable of giving Batman's mind to any technology. So the detective began to control absolutely all aspects of human life. The result was a war between the world's population and machines. You can read more in the comic book Dark Nights: Batman: The Murder Machine.

This version of the Dark Knight from the already familiar Dark Nights: Death Metal series defeated Darkseid, taking his place. Bruce actually became the god and ruler of Apokolips. The detective also changed dramatically in appearance and acquired a cannon capable of erasing any living creature from history.

The main game Batman turned out to be a very controversial character. The theme of the plot is the similarity between the Joker and the Dark Knight. Over the course of three games and one prequel, we watch the development of the relationship between two eternal enemies, and also witness how Bruce slowly goes crazy.

One of the most interesting Batmans. The authors completely changed the known canon, adding many details. Bruce's father is a gangster, and the Joker is practically his best friend. Batman himself was constantly confronted with his family's past and even became a double agent, infiltrating a gang of criminals.

One of the most intelligent Dark Knights. Bruce from Injustice was not only able to stop Superman, who had become a tyrant, but also attracted many heroes and villains to his side in order to maintain peace on the planet.

Among the cinematic Dark Knights, there is one that is seriously different from the rest. Batman from The Dark Knight trilogy by Christopher Nolan is as close to reality as possible. It is difficult for him to turn his head in a suit, and he has to use military equipment as transport. Perhaps it is this Batman who goes through the greatest development and reveals himself to us as a character.

Having examined a huge number of different versions of the hero, one can notice an obvious trend — Batman has never been distinguished by mental stability. Such a person could easily become a patient at Arkham.

This topic has not yet been touched upon in films. Even the most developed Batman from the Nolan trilogy was more of a broken man than a psychopath. Matt Reeves, the director of the new film, drew a lot from comics and games.

The problems with the Dark Knight's head are shown especially well in Batman: Arkham Knight — for most of the game the dead Joker constantly talks to the hero.

The new version of Bruce is closely connected with Falcone, a famous Gotham gangster. Something similar happened in Batman: The Telltale Series. There, a logical explanation is given for the Waynes' wealth: Thomas is a criminal who, along with Falcone, ruled the city with an iron fist. This moment was reworked in the film, but the main ideas are similar.

In addition, this is far from the only borrowing from the Telltale Games creation. In the game, Penguin appears as Bruce's childhood friend. At one time he lost everything, so he is angry with his former friend and envies him. In the new film, a similar conflict can be seen between the Riddler — the central antagonist — and Batman.

Alfred is the most important character in all Dark Knight stories. Often the kind butler does not want his ward to live the life he has chosen, which is why he quarrels with Bruce. Still in the same Batman: The Telltale Series, the argument with Alfred seriously affected Bruce's emotional state. In the new film, this moment is worked out much more deeply.

Batman's particular cruelty is also noticeable. We've seen time and again in comics that the greatest detective can be one of DC's toughest heroes. At the same time, this condition usually progresses, so the director has the opportunity to make a real anti-hero out of Gotham's defender.

As we can see, Bruce Wayne in 2022 has all the prerequisites to completely go crazy. The director has already announced the development of a sequel, so all the hero's emotional problems may well find their way, finally turning the Dark Knight into a character with gray morals.

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The new version of Batman is completely different from the previous film incarnations. At the same time, it is already obvious that Matt Reeves was inspired by a variety of works about the defender of Gotham.

Unfortunately, the film is not available in Russia, but Batman 2022 definitely took pride of place among the strangest, craziest and most interesting versions of the greatest detective not only in cinema, but throughout popular culture.