Max Eckhardt (Burtonverse)

Max Eckhardt
Burtonverse‎
Gallery
Real Name	Max Eckhardt
Affiliation	Gotham Organized Crime · Gotham City Police Department
Status
Alignment	Bad
Citizenship	American
Occupation	Police detective
Characteristics
Gender	Male
Origin
Universe	Burtonverse
Creators	Tim Burton · Sam Hamm
First Appearance	[[Batman (1989 Movie)]]
Appearance of Death	[[Batman (1989 Movie)]]

History

Lt. Max Eckhardt was a corrupt police detective working for the Gotham City Police Department. He was also employed by mob boss Carl Grissom. Eckhardt was in charge of looking after Grissom's illegal front companies such as Axis Chemicals. Police Commissioner Gordon always suspected that Eckhardt was corrupt, but presumably didn't have enough evidence against him to make any difference.

A few days before Gotham's 200th anniversary celebration, Eckhardt secretly met with Grissom's number one hitman Jack Napier to accept a payoff. The history between the two men is unclear, but each clearly held great disdain for the other. Eckhardt scoffed at the notion of Jack one day leading Grissom's organization, calling him an "A-one nut boy". In return, Napier warned him to think about his future and then pushed him against a wall. An angry Eckhardt pulled his gun on Jack, but Napier's loyal crony Bob produced his own weapon, forcing Eckhardt to ease up.

Embittered by the encounter, Eckhardt decided to teach Jack a lesson. He was aware that Jack had been having an affair with Grissom's girlfriend, Alicia, so he called Grissom to tell him what he knew. Grissom decided to set Jack up for a fall, using Eckhardt as his trigger-man.

That evening, Carl assigned Jack Napier to clean out their front company at Axis Chemicals. Eckhardt and several other officers raided the plant with orders to "shoot to kill". Unfortunately for Eckhardt, Commissioner Gordon learned of the attempted hit, and intervened. He pulled rank on Eckhardt and ordered his men to take Napier alive so he could stand trial. As police raided the factory, Jack Napier tried to escape via an upper level catwalk. Upon seeing Eckhardt down below, he withdrew his pistol shouting, "Eckhardt! Think about the future!" He fired a single shot that hit Eckhardt squarely in the chest, killing him.

Notes

The role of Lt. Eckhardt was played by William Hootkins.

Related

• 2 Appearances of Max Eckhardt (Burtonverse)
• 2 Images featuring Max Eckhardt (Burtonverse)
• 1 Quotations by or about Max Eckhardt (Burtonverse)
• Character Gallery: Max Eckhardt (Burtonverse)

Footnotes

Batman Villain(s) This character, team or organization, has been primarily an enemy of the Batman, or the Batman Family as a whole. This template will categorize articles that include it into the category "Batman Villains."

GCPD Officer This character is or was an officer of, or held a title in the Gotham City Police Department, in any of its various incarnations. This template will automatically categorize articles that include it into the "GCPD members" and "Police Officers" categories.