Batman Beyond Just Brought The Future [SPOILER] Back To Life

When it comes to family, its hard to not follow in their footsteps regardless if you want to or not. In Batman Beyond #44, former leader of the League of Assassins Damian Wayne follows in the footsteps of his grandfather Ra's as he uses a Lazarus Pit in order to escape death. The real kicker is that it's a Lazarus Pit owned by his father, Ra's persistent nemesis Bruce Wayne.

Created by Grant Morrison and Andy Kubert, the genetically-engineered son of Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul spent his childhood raised by the League of Assassins as he was groomed to either inherit his father or grandfather's empires. Choosing to rebel against these predestined plans, he chose to stay with his father and became the newest Robin. This new identity and the responsibilities that came with would clash with Damian's personality and temper but in the end, it helped him become a better person. Throughout his career, different possible timelines were shown of Damian inheriting the mantle of Batman from his father or in this instance, in a world where Bruce retired and eventually let the mantle of Batman be succeeded by Terry McGinnis, he became the new Ra's Al Ghul and commanded the League of Assassins. Although Terry and Damian's last interaction didn't end on the best of terms, Terry's return to his role as Batman is interrupted by the appearance of Goliath, Damian's pet bodyguard, who leads him through Neo-Gotham to find Damian's tattered and unconscious body at death's door.

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As Terry and Goliath fly through Neo-Gotham while alerting Bruce of their situation, they are interrupted by the League of Assassins eager to finish the job their leader, the mysterious Mr. Zero, had failed to do when he usurped Damian from his current title. As they are unsuccessful, Terry and company are able to get to the current Batman headquarters where Damian is placed in a recovery pod whose rejuvenation powers and design look a little too familiar. When Terry comments on it, Bruce reveals that the pod is his own interpretation of Ra's famous Lazarus Pit, the ooze responsible for Ra's iconic longevity, and that it should heal Damian so they can find out who wants him dead and why.

Comic book characters escaping near death situations isn't news and it hasn't been the first time that Damian has almost or actually died but the real surprise is at the revelation that Bruce Wayne technically owns a Lazarus Pit. Having seen firsthand the power of the Pit and the price those who use it pay for their "immortality", it feels like Bruce justified crossing a line that could end up being a slippery slope all for Bruce's crusade against crime and evil. Although Bruce claims to have borrowed some of the elements from the Pit, he clearly hasn't tweaked the madness that overcomes the subject upon immersion as Damian emerges in a feral frenzy, attacking Terry with an alert Goliath prepared to protect his master. Although Bruce defuses the situation in a surprising manner, it still doesn't shake the fact that Batman himself has a working Lazarus Pit, something that in the Batman Beyond history he was once offered and refused, and it makes you wonder what other surprises he has stored away.

Although Damian survives and fills everybody in on his usurper Mr. Zero and his plans to execute one of his grandfather's old doomsday plans, it's clear that the rejuvenated former Robin will waste no time working alongside Terry and his father in stopping him. Although he is both Bruce's son and Ra's grandson, Damian proves that he chooses to make his own destiny regardless if he gravitates to one lifestyle or another. The lingering concern is more about the morality of his father and his ownership of one of his greatest enemies signature weapon. Although he chooses to use it for good, Batman Beyond's Bruce Wayne is playing with the forces of life and death and the price for that is usually unclear until it's too late. 

NEXT: Batman Beyond & Damian Wayne Are Saving The Future Gotham

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July 05, 2020 at 04:01AM