I want to reinvent Batman's origin story. I want him to be easier to relate with especially among commoners and "real" people. Bruce Wayne is inherently rich, making his character less common than the normal folks of lower economic status. Batman's character as a man of justice and a hero without superpowers makes him more interesting than the usual costumed super-creature, yet his being a scion makes his story a little bit less inspiring.
I want to see Bruce Wayne growing up, not as a rich kid of wealthy parents, but as a boy who would see and experience poverty yet would struggle and rise from it with due diligence. His father, Thomas, would be a rescue worker (probably a fire fighter or a medic) and his mother, Martha, a highly skilled seamstress.
His parents dying in front of him while walking along a dark alley would remain as part of the origin plot, but instead of a mere low-level thug doing the killing, it would be a high-end assassin hired by an obscenely affluent crime syndicate. Now why would a crime syndicate hire an assassin to murder a working class couple? Well, there can be a variety of reasons and the Gotham Police would have to find that out. If they would be too incompetent to do that, then someone close and loved by the couple would have to take the initiative.
Little Bruce would resolve to avenge his parents death but his hunger for violent retribution would be trimmed by Alfred, who would not be the Wayne family's butler, but a loyal friend of the parents and an adopted tenant grateful for having his life saved by Thomas Wayne in a prior event.
Young Bruce would study hard. While growing up as a computer whiz kid, he would become an excellent inventor and innovator, and eventually rise up as a wealthy techpreneur. Albeit his dark desire to seek revenge for his parents' death had been toned down by his now guardian and surrogate parent, Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce's thirst for justice would never be quenched. He would learn martial arts and harness his gadgets to enable him to fight against thugs, crime bosses, and super-powered freaks.
Thus, in my reinvention of Batman's origin story, he becomes more inspiring to kids of all social levels; a man who overcomes social adversity and injustice, and not just a fictional hero who fights psychotic criminals.
Below is a "Batman Beyond" short film from DC Entertainment paying tribute to the Dark Knight on his 75th anniversary last 2014.
His parents dying in front of him while walking along a dark alley would remain as part of the origin plot, but instead of a mere low-level thug doing the killing, it would be a high-end assassin hired by an obscenely affluent crime syndicate. Now why would a crime syndicate hire an assassin to murder a working class couple? Well, there can be a variety of reasons and the Gotham Police would have to find that out. If they would be too incompetent to do that, then someone close and loved by the couple would have to take the initiative.
Little Bruce would resolve to avenge his parents death but his hunger for violent retribution would be trimmed by Alfred, who would not be the Wayne family's butler, but a loyal friend of the parents and an adopted tenant grateful for having his life saved by Thomas Wayne in a prior event.
Young Bruce would study hard. While growing up as a computer whiz kid, he would become an excellent inventor and innovator, and eventually rise up as a wealthy techpreneur. Albeit his dark desire to seek revenge for his parents' death had been toned down by his now guardian and surrogate parent, Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce's thirst for justice would never be quenched. He would learn martial arts and harness his gadgets to enable him to fight against thugs, crime bosses, and super-powered freaks.
Thus, in my reinvention of Batman's origin story, he becomes more inspiring to kids of all social levels; a man who overcomes social adversity and injustice, and not just a fictional hero who fights psychotic criminals.
Below is a "Batman Beyond" short film from DC Entertainment paying tribute to the Dark Knight on his 75th anniversary last 2014.
Recommended for You
I like this notion.
ReplyDeleteHowever, there is a significant change in (and I realize we're talking about comic book heroes) how practical it would be to be both working more than full time as an entrepreneur while simultaneously doing everything that batman does.
It seems like the result would be more like a benevolent Lex Luthor - Batman is good because that's who he is, that's his life - Lucius does most of the business managing, Bruce just trains, plots, practices and patrols. If he had to run a business during the day his crime fighting would suffer.
He could still grow up to be an Elon Musk type entrepreneur: someone from a modest background who had the brains and the elbow grease (and the luck) to become a super wealthy business mogul, giving him plenty of time and resources to fight crime. As a matter of fact, what exactly does Musk do in his off hours?
Deletehe doesn't have any off hours. he works 100 hours a week https://www.quora.com/How-did-Elon-Musk-work-for-100-hours-a-week-for-more-than-15-years
DeleteBatman already IS inspiring to kids of all socioeconomic levels. His parents were killed and he was orphaned very young, do you think poor kids are really envious of that childhood? Money isn't everything, and just because you don't like the wealthy doesn't mean Batman's origin story is weak in some way.
ReplyDelete