Batman is among the last of the heroes who have not succumbed to Brother Eye's corrupting technology.
History
When he sends Amethyst and Grifter to destroy the Firestorm Battery (while John Stewart and Blue Beetle provide a distraction), Batman engages a time travelling device that will enable him to prevent Brother Eye from ever having been built by him and Mister Terrific. When he receives a crippling injury from one of the Brother Eye units, he gives his successor, Terry McGinnis, the device and sends him thirty years into the past to do what Bruce cannot.
He does not perish after Terry's jump to the past, however, and is put on some form of life support following the battle, instead of being assimilated into Brother Eye. Frankenstein heads to a holding cell to fetch a nearly lifeless Joker, revealed to have also been kept alive and un-assimilated. Frankenstein reveals to both men that they have been spared thus far for an unspecified purpose that revolves around one another, to which the Joker regains his vigor with his characteristic laugh.
Bruce's scalp was then torn off as data from his brain was extracted to determine the location of Terry. Frankenstein then performed a horrific surgery on Bruce, "merging" him with the Joker to repurpose him as a soldier to murder Terry. In his new horrific form, Bruce was brought by Brother Eye and presented to Mr. Terrific.
Although Terrific tried to force Bruce to maintain himself, the former Batman was slowly losing hope upon realizing he had been turned into a monster. After being sent back in time, the Bruce Wayne side of the Bat-Joker had completely lost hope, finally giving in to Brother Eye.
By the conclusion of Futures End, however, the Bat-Joker finally located and critically wounded Terry. With a last ounce of defiance, Bruce fought past Brother Eye and urged Terry not to die. In Terry's last moments, the Batman finally destroyed the Bat-Joker and put Bruce to rest.
Batman Beyond: Rebirth
During the conflict with Brother Eye, Bruce was severely injured and thought dead by his allies. In truth, he was in critical condition when Carter Wilson found him in a rescue tent: Wilson, who went on to become the criminal known as Terminal, decided to use Wayne as an opportunity to realize his plans. First, he put Bruce into a coma and then into cryogenic preservation, than he carefully changed his appearance to make him look like the legendary criminal known as The Joker. With the fake promise of reviving the clown prince of crime, Terminal gathered a whole crew called The Jokerz who protected him while in truth he was using Wayne to take all the money from the Wayne fortune.[1][2]
Terry McGinnis, while undercover inside Jokerz Town, finds out the truth and also understands that Terminal is after Keystone, a device Bruce created able to find any type of information requested.[3] Defeating Terminal, who manages to flee, Terry saves the life of Bruce, who then comes back to the Batcave. Bruce is still shocked by something that happened during the final conflict with Terminal: one of the criminal's thugs got to him and talked to him, and in his voice he recognized the identity of the one true Joker, who really survived death. It was The Joker who once again tried to kill him, and he's alive only thanks to Terry's actions.[4] Still, now Bruce has to handle another problem: Terry is using a prototype suit he created that could endanger him, and he must find a way to convince him to put it away.[5]
While reflecting on his past and talking with Maxine Gibson, Bruce gets alerted by Terry's brother Matt that the Batman is not answering the Bat-Signal: understanding that Terry is in crisis after Bruce came back in his life and after he revealed to her former fiancee, Dana Tan, that he was Batman, Bruce finds a way to bring Terry back to Earth, showing him that him not answering the call could lead to the death of two people, with one of them being Commissioner Barbara Gordon.[6] After Terry intervenes, he discovers that Ra's al Ghul is back and he catapults himself to face him: Bruce tries in every way to stop him for two reasons, one being the suit and the other being that behind the identity of Ra's hides another man, Bruce's own son Damian.
After explaining to Matt that the suit is dangerous because he created it with an A.I. installed that pushes the user to succeed in completing the mission no matter what, even taking control of the user when needed, Bruce leaves alone trying to get to the Himalayas to rescue Terry and Damian both, as the suit shut down all communication to prevent him or others from restraining Terry's drive to complete the mission.[7] Once there, he's attacked by Koru, the Demon's Right Hand, seeking revenge for his father Ubu, an assassin that Batman beat times and times again. But Koru undervalues Bruce, who tricks him and knocks him out. Once in the League's headquarters, Bruce finds Damian ready to strike the killing blow, but his son does not do it, as killing an opponent so inferior brings no honor.[8]
Trying to understand how he could make sure both Terry and Damian survived, Bruce saves the life of Goliath and then tries to disengage a set of missiles Damian wants to launch to complete his grandfather, the original Ra's al Ghul, vision.[9] But again Koru tries to kill him and Damian saves his life, also thanks to the fact Terry overcame the suit. Bruce then convinces Damian to not launch the missiles, also thanks to the fact that Bruce saved Goliath from death, but a still alive Koru triggers the mechanism: Terry is able to save the day, and Damian rescues him saving his life when all looked lost. With the promise of coming back to Gotham one day, Damian and Bruce reconcile and then him and Terry are able to get back home, with Bruce happy now: both his sons are with him.[10]
Powers and Abilities
Abilities
- Acrobatics
- Business Management
- Deception[11]
- Gadgetry
- Genius Level Intellect
- Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced)
- Throwing
Weaknesses
Notes
- Bruce attended neither Green Arrow's funeral[12] nor Barbara Gordon's wedding.[13]
Related
- 88 Appearances of Bruce Wayne (Futures End)
- 31 Images featuring Bruce Wayne (Futures End)
- 9 Quotations by or about Bruce Wayne (Futures End)
- Character Gallery: Bruce Wayne (Futures End)
Footnotes
- ↑ Batman Beyond (Volume 6) #3
- ↑ Batman Beyond (Volume 6) #5
- ↑ Batman Beyond (Volume 6) #4
- ↑ Batman Beyond (Volume 6) #5
- ↑ Batman Beyond (Volume 6) #6
- ↑ Batman Beyond (Volume 6) #7
- ↑ Batman Beyond (Volume 6) #8
- ↑ Batman Beyond (Volume 6) #9
- ↑ Batman Beyond (Volume 6) #10
- ↑ Batman Beyond (Volume 6) #11
- ↑ Batman Beyond (Volume 6) #49
- ↑ The New 52: Futures End #2
- ↑ Batgirl: Futures End #1
  This character is or was an incarnation of or an ally of Batman, and a member of the Batman Family. This template will automatically categorize articles that include it into the "Batman Family members" category. |
 This character has been a member of the Justice League of America, or the Justice League in any of its various incarnations, sworn by a duty to act as guardians of America and the world by using their skills and/or superpowers to protect Earth from the clutches of both interstellar and domestic threats. |