Batman just met the infinite Batmans of DC movies, TV, and games and bested every multiverse montage
When I got to the page of Batman #135, in which Michael Keaton’s Batman from the 1989 movie pops up, I thought to myself, “Ah, they’re doing one of those.” You know, one of those multiverse sizzle reels.
It seems like they’re everywhere in superhero adaptations these days, from the CW’s Crisis on Infinite Earths to HBO Max’s Titans, and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness to Spider-Man: No Way Home. Let’s be honest: Expect at least one in this summer’s multiverse-shattering The Flash. They might not literally be sizzle reels, but they have that effect — a view of an infinite multiverse that is really just there for the cool factor. Reactions range from “Look at all the actors they rehired!” to “Those guys look like guys I remember but different! Wow!” We’re not going to spend any real time with these characters, they’re just here to tickle the nostalgia of a clued-in audience. The multiverse as hype.
The first multiverse montages felt new and surprising, but like any trend, it’s devolved a bit into a rote brand exercise. But in Chip Zdarsky, Mike Hawthorne, Jorge Jimenez, and Mikel Janín’s Batman #135, the world-breaking actually tells the story. The book’s multiverse sizzle reel tickles your nostalgia and makes your pulse race. Then it also fortifies a battered and bent Batman in the climax of a story arc and underscores that, deep down, the Batman of every universe is here to help.
And then it does something that only a comic book montage of Batman film, video game, and Elseworlds stories can do: interrogate the reason why so many damn Batman adaptations kill the Joker.
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