Hello, my friends. With my family slice of the overall fandom still going strong, it’s time to continue with my critical thoughts that ring loud and true. Once again, I welcome you all to another entry of…
Before we begin, I’d be remissed if I didn’t take this moment to wish the Dark Knight a Happy 80th Anniversary for giving us various tales surrounding him, his Bat-Family, his allies, his rogues gallery and his mythology in both good & bad lights.
As we head back into the New 52 Animated Universe (or “DC Animated Movie Universe” if you’re more formal), it’s time to return to Gotham City. Last time we were there, our familiar Caped Crusader had unintentionally grown a Bat-Family of his own. However, all that he cares, depend on & worry for are now in the crosshairs of someone who looks to take him down. As such, it’s time that we make some noise within a tale known as…
After making its debut on July 19, 2019 at San Diego Comic-Con, it would ultimately come out for Digital Download on July 20 before making its way onto DVD, Blu-Ray and 4K Ultra HD Blu-Ray on August 6. Based on the 12-part storyline told within the pages of Batman, Vol. 1 #608-619 (released from October 2002 to September 2003), it was originally written by Jeph Loeb, drawn by Jim Lee, inked by Scott Williams and colored by Alex Sinclair. With one of Loeb’s works getting the animated adaptation treatment for the first time since the early days of “Public Enemies” and “Apocalypse”, how does this modern classic translate into this particular movie? Let’s raise our hushed tones and find out.
We open in Gotham City where Bruce Wayne (voiced by Jason O’Mara) is attending a gala. He then contacts his butler Alfred Pennyworth (voiced by James Garrett) about any suspicious activities, to which there are none as of now. Bruce then notices a familiar female entering the vicinity, which turns out to be Selina Kyle (voiced by Dr. Allison Cameron and Emma Swan herself, Jennifer Morrison). Despite her thieving persona of Catwoman, she hasn’t taken part in any illegal activity for the past sixteen months.
However, Dick Grayson a.k.a. Nightwing (voiced by Sean Maher) is also connected to the conversation and isn’t buying it. With Wayne hearing some grunt sounds coming over the transmission, it turns out that Dick is stopping an illegal heroin shipment as he manages to take out the various thugs before eventually heading out. Just as Alfred wonders what Selina’s interest within the gala might be, she notices Bruce as he heads over to find out. When Wayne asks if there’s been anything new with her recently, Kyle discreetly mentions that she’s currently at a crossroads of sorts since she doesn’t seem to enjoy her past “work” as much, to which he exclaims that some change would be nice.
Just then, they’re met upon by Dr. Thomas Elliot (voiced by Maury Sterling) who was Bruce’s childhood friend and is now a skilled surgeon. As Thomas goes to order some drinks, Bruce gets contacted by Alfred who informs him of a developed incident involving a kidnapped child. With a cell phone call getting used as a distraction, Bruce tells Selina that it was nice to see her and that they should get together again sometime soon.
Shortly after he takes his leave, Kyle gets a text message from someone who tells her “Here Kitty, Kitty”. Suddenly, she goes into a trance and heads out as Thomas returns to comedically find that he’s been left alone with a pair of drinks.
As Bruce reaches his car and suits up, the police have the Dupree Chemical Company surrounded while a reporter (voiced by Tara Strong) talks about the present hostage situation. It turns out that the young boy in which Bane has captured is Edward Dupree and that he’s the heir to his family’s business venture. With “an undisclosed ransom” ordered, the Dupree family instantly decide to pay as Commissioner James Gordon (voiced by Bruce Thomas) arrives with the payment, places it onto a bomb-disabling robot and sends it inside.
Meanwhile, Batman has arrived as he sneaks in and proceeds to beat up the henchmen. As Alfred mentions that Edward was at a playground in the middle of the day at the time that he got taken, Bruce exclaims that it isn’t like Bane “to be so public”. Ultimately, he reaches the child and unties him. However, he’s then approached by Bane (voiced by Adam Gifford) who attacks our hero while the boy is able to hide.
A fight breaks out as the struggle ultimately makes its way from the platforms to the main level. Alfred chimes in as he exclaims how Bane isn’t talking in his usual “eloquent” manner, to which Batman assumes that it’s a side effect from the new design of the venom that his foe is using. In the end, the fight concludes when Bruce uses a Batarang to cut Bane’s venom tubing before it slices some electrical cords and shocks the massive foe into unconsciousness.
After Edward heads outside to reunite with his family, Batman uses some highly-enforced cuffs to properly subdue Bane. Just as he notices a familiar leaf on his foe’s neck, he’s then approached by Lady Shiva (voiced by Sachie Alessio) who had overseen the recent action. She tells him that the League of Assassins have been in a state of constant change with various factions looking to assume control. Not only that, but she mentions that someone has broken into the facility and used a Lazarus Pit as she asks him if he’s heard of this recent event. Batman exclaims that he hasn’t, but he’ll look into it as she proceeds to take her leave.
Shortly afterwards, Gordon arrives with a pair of cops in order to take Bane away. Just then, he notices that the ransom money has disappeared. They hear a noise as they look up and see that Catwoman has taken it and is escaping through a window. As such, Batman proceeds to chase after her.
A rooftop pursuit ensues before she lands on top of a subway train. As Batman uses his grappling hook to swing after her, a nearby assailant takes aim and fires a shot which takes out Bruce’s line. He tries to grab onto a gargoyle statue’s head, but it easily breaks away as he painfully slams down onto the pavement and lies motionless.
Following the title card, we immediately resume the scene as a trio of thugs notice the fallen Dark Knight and approach him. One of them tries to remove his cowl, but gets shocked by the electric defense mechanism. Despite that, he prepares to just shoot our hero to death. Fortunately, Catwoman noticed Batman’s deathly fall as she returned and proceeds to beat the goons up.
Just then, more help arrives as Barbara Gordon a.k.a. Batgirl (voiced by Peyton R. List) rides in and delivers a final beating to the thugs. Shortly after they run off, she tells Catwoman to back away from Batman since she assumes that the feline fatale is working with Bane as a brief fight breaks out before Kyle takes her leave. Afterwards, the scene ends as Batgirl contacts Alfred and informs him that Batman is badly injured.
We then cut to a rooftop greenhouse as Selina arrives within the presence of Pamela Isley a.k.a. Poison Ivy (voiced by Golden Glider and Ivy Pepper herself, Peyton List). Side Note: Yes, there are two actresses involved here and both of whom are indeed named Peyton List! After noticing a concerned tone in Catwoman’s voice when hearing about what happened to Batman, Pamela tells her not to worry about anything else before she receives the stolen ransom money. Afterwards, she kisses Selina in order to transfer some more mind-controlling toxins before excusing her.
Shortly afterwards, the lights go out as she’s suddenly approached by the mysterious assailant who demands for his half of the money pot. Because her toxins aren’t able to affect his mind, she summons some plants in order to take him out. However, he came prepared as he threatens to unleash a herbicide bomb should he be harmed. After Pamela calls off her attack, he proceeds to offer her a job that’ll pay out ten times the size of the ransom money. He even gives her a glowing gift that comes in her “favorite color”.
We then shift over to the Bat Cave as Bruce lies unconscious. Alfred did all that he could with his medical skills, but the serious head injury is beyond what he’s able to deal with. Nightwing exclaims that they must get him to a hospital by staging a car crash as he tells Barbara to drive his roadster over to Forest Road and purposefully wreck it. From there, he’ll submit Bruce into the hospital while in his civilian guise. As Batgirl heads out to execute the plan, Alfred states that he’ll contact Thomas Elliot at once.
We then cut to the next day at the hospital where Dr. Elliot was able to perform a successful surgery. Bruce thanks him and admits that he hasn’t been a good friend in the past. As such, he says that he wants to hang out with him a bit more and “be a better friend”. Thomas then says that he’ll always be his friend before taking his leave.
Sometime later, Bruce is back at Wayne Manor and back to work in the Bat Cave despite doctor’s orders for him to rest for two more weeks. He then tells Alfred that he has to go to Blackgate, to which the faithful butler brings up a specialized Bat Suit with extra padding inside the headpiece. As such, Bruce suits up and heads out in the Batmobile.
Later on at Blackgate Penitentiary, Bane is being prepped for transfer. It turns out that Amanda Waller (voiced by Vanessa Williams) is behind this order as Gordon questions her actions since Blackgate is already a heavily-fortified prison. As he heads out to contact the mayor on this dubious action, Batman shows up and tells her that he needs to chat with Bane since he believes that the fiend currently has an alliance with both Poison Ivy and Catwoman. However, Waller refuses despite him stating that he would be willing to swap some information with her before mentioning that he knows about her Suicide Squad program.
Just then, Bane breaks free from his restraints despite getting heavily sedated beforehand as he proceeds to mutilate the guards. Batman tells her that the musclebound being is using a new type of venom which nullifies her sedatives. He then presents a round of specialized tranquilizers that she’ll be able to fire from her helicopter’s gun as he hands them over while offering his service in helping her capture Bane. From there, he heads out to take care of it.
Later, Catwoman arrives back at the rooftop greenhouse only to discover that it’s abandoned and that the plants have become withered. Suddenly, she’s approached by Bane who demands for his ransom money. Selina tries to explain that she only stole the cash due to being under Poison Ivy’s plant-based mind control, but it doesn’t phase him as he rips off an air conditioning unit and manages to hit her with a successful toss. Fortunately, Batman arrives with a drone as it fires a specialized net which traps Bane within it before pulling him outside. Afterwards, Amanda flies in and fires the specialized tranquilizers at him. With Bane down for the count again, the drone attaches itself to the copter as Waller heads out with her captured prisoner.
As Batman prepares to take his leave, Catwoman approaches him and offers to help him hunt down Poison Ivy. However, he refuses since he’s not about revenge. Fortunately, Selina mentions that she knows where “her pheromone-controlled minions” are and that they would know where she went. Ultimately, Batman agrees to work with her. However, there’s one last thing that Catwoman wants before she informs him on the whereabouts of Ivy’s goons. As such, she mentions how they’ve been at this “dance” for a long time and proceeds to kiss him as they embrace.
Later, they find and beat up Ivy’s henchmen as they learn that she’s taken her leave for Metropolis. From there, Batman contacts Alfred and tells him to get both the jet and “the jewelry” prepared.
Sometime later, we cut over to the Daily Planet where reporters Lois Lane (voiced by Rebecca Romijn) and Clark Kent (voiced by Jerry O’Connell) are working on a news article about a recent save by the latter’s superheroic persona: Superman. After they mention that she’s about to have an interview with someone who’s going to show up at their office, the interviewee arrives which turns out to be Bruce himself. As Lois heads out to make sure that their conference room is prepared, Clark suspects that it’s not just an interview that brings his superfriend into town as he asks Bruce if there’s any kind of “business” that he can share, to which he tells Kent that there isn’t any at the moment. From there, Lois arrives back as she and Bruce head out to proceed with their interview, unaware of a familiar green glow from Clark’s eyes.
That night over at LexCorp, Batman approaches Lex Luthor (voiced by Rainn Wilson) and demands to see the prior week’s delivery list for “a fortified ethylene compound” that helps exotic plants survive temperature and locale changes. Lex asks why he can’t just get the list from the actual delivery woman, to which Batman exclaims that the information was deleted from her computer system and was easier to access due to Luthor’s own console having several safeguards. From there, Lex brings up the list as the compound deliveries have been sent to the third floor of the Triffid Building. As the Caped Crusader is about to head out, Luthor demands for some respect since he helped out in defeating Cyborg Superman and thus became a Justice League member. However, Batman reminds him that it’s on a probationary status before taking his leave.
Over at the rooftop greenhouse at the Triffid Building, Catwoman arrives and pretends to be under Poison Ivy’s control. However, Pamela was able to notice her act and thus has a plant smack her. Selina puts up a valiant effort, but gets subdued by Isley’s plant. After noticing that Catwoman was wearing nose filters, Pamela orders her sentient seedling to strangle the feline fatale. Fortunately, Batman arrives as he uses a Batarang to free Selina.
However, Poison Ivy came prepared as she reveals that she managed to take control of Superman with her own mind-controlling methods. Batman and Catwoman attempt to run away, but the mentally-corrupted Kal-El uses his Heat Vision to blast the floor as they end up falling into the river. Fortunately, the Dark Knight had a pair of breathing apparatuses as they proceed to swim into the nearby sewer.
Back on the Triffid Building, Poison Ivy scolds Superman for not killing them off. Fortunately, Kal-El is slowly starting to mentally break free. However, Pamela rectifies that by using a particular item that she acquired from the mystery assailant as she applies some kryptonite-laced lipstick and kisses him before giving the order to hunt Batman & Catwoman down.
Over in the sewers, Bruce & Selina are on the run as Batman mentions that the tunnel walls are lead-lined due to LexCorp’s involvement and will thus buy them some time. They arrive in the central part of the system before he preps himself with the aforementioned “jewelry”, which turns out to be kryptonite spikes attached to some brass knuckles. With Catwoman already informed about her “standard smash-and-grab” role, she heads out to take care of her part just as the walls begin to rumble.
Just then, Superman bursts in as Batman warns him that the main gas line is open and thus should refrain from using his Heat Vision. From there, Bruce proceeds to attack with a series of strikes. However, Kal-El recovers by grabbing Wayne’s leg and tossing him to the wall. With Batman pinned, he admits to lying about the gas main before striking Superman again and then using his grappling hook to hastily exit the sewer system.
However, Kal-El easily recovers as he speeds over to Bruce and grabs his neck. Just then, Batman’s secondary plan gets underway on top of the Daily Planet as Catwoman has kidnapped Lois. Bruce tells Superman to regain control in order to save his fiancee, but Kal-El doesn’t comply as he slams the Caped Crusader into the wall. As such, Selina decides to push Lane off the building. Thankfully, her scream and cry for help snaps Superman out of his mind-controlled state as he manages to fly in and save her before they meet up with Batman and Catwoman.
Later, Poison Ivy is confronted by the Dark Knight and the Man of Steel as she tries to escape. Fortunately, the feline fatale comes in and stops her with a kick to the face. As Catwoman ties Ivy up, Superman berates Batman for his recent plan since Lois was put in danger. However, Bruce simply exclaims that he had faith in his friend to come through and save her. Afterwards, Selina finds something on Isley as she tosses it over to Batman which out to be the lipstick made out of synthetic kryptonite.
After being woken up, Poison Ivy exclaims that she was forced into using Catwoman to take Bane’s ransom money in addition to taking control of Superman. Batman wants to know who this mystery man is, but Pamela doesn’t tell at first. As a result, Selina places her claws onto her jugular and demands for a name as Isley exclaims that he goes by the name of Hush, someone she never met before yet knew a lot about her. Afterwards, Superman steps in and flies off with Poison Ivy in order to place her within the proper facility. From there, the scene ends with Batman saying that tossing Lois off the roof wasn’t part of the plan, to which Catwoman exclaims that it was an improvised move due to the situation before they once again share a kiss. However, they’re unaware that Hush is watching them from far.
We then cut to sometime later at Wayne Manor as Bruce is getting prepped for his upcoming date with Selina while Dick looks on with some witty banter. Later, Bruce is driving towards his evening endeavor when he’s suddenly contacted by his son a.k.a. the current Robin himself: Damian Wayne (voiced by Stuart Allen). Accompanied by the family dog named Titus, he tells his father that he was informed about the upcoming date with someone who used to be a criminal. Though he doesn’t entirely approve of his dad’s current action due to their perpetual fight against Gotham’s crime being “a lonely endeavor”, Damian accepts this if it allows for a “release” of sorts. However, he still brings up his father’s laundry list of failed romances. Just as he starts to ramble on in that vein, Bruce hangs up on him.
Over at an abandoned toy factory, Harley Quinn (voiced by Hynden Walch) is feeding her three hyenas named Larry, Moe & Shemp. Just as she starts to wonder why “Mr. J” hasn’t shown up yet, three tranquilizer darts fly in and hit the hyenas, causing them to pass out. It turns out to be Hush as he exclaims that “he” won’t be showing up. Harley grabs her mallet and demands to know what happened to her “puddin'”, to which he reveals a picture of the Joker being captured. Hush promises to release him, but only if she does him a favor.
Meanwhile, Bruce arrives at Selina’s apartment. Before they head out on their date, they decide to have a drink of champagne. From there, he tells her that he’s been thinking about making some necessary changes to his life. She then mentions that she’s done some personal adjustments since their first meeting and that she’s toned down part of her wild personality since she felt that she wasn’t refined enough for his social crowd. However, he says that he actually likes that side of her as they agree “to balance things more” with themselves.
From there, we cut over to the Opera House where Bruce, Selina, Thomas and his date take in a performance of Pagliacci. Suddenly, Harley appears and knocks out the main performer with her mallet as she arrives with her henchmen to rob the patrons of their present possessions.
She also tells the crowd that she has to kill someone to get her man back. After spotting Bruce up in his box seat, she opens fire as he and his fellow attendees duck in time. He then tells Thomas to get his date and Selina out. After they take their leave, Bruce jumps down and begins to fight off the goons.
Shortly afterwards, Selina arrives back as Catwoman as she engages Harley in an on-stage fight before the scuffle makes its way up to the light fixtures. Meanwhile, Thomas sends his date out with the crowd before heading back to help his friend.
Meanwhile, Catwoman almost has Harley defeated. However, Quinn pulls out a knife and throw it at a line as a set of stage lights slams down onto Selina. Fortunately, Bruce arrives back as Batman and manages to catch her. From there, Harley takes her leave. Because of her injury, the Caped Crusader tells Catwoman to stay put before he pursues Quinn.
Suddenly, he hears a gun shot as he heads outside and makes a horrifying discovery: Thomas Elliot has been killed. Not only that, but the man behind the trigger was his archenemy himself: Joker (voiced by Jason Spisak).
He then proclaims that he’s actually innocent, even saying that he was in a basement five minutes earlier and that he’s trying to find Harley, but Batman is far too enraged to listen as he thoroughly beats him up. From there, he proceeds to strangle the Joker. Just then, Gordon arrives and tells him to stop this right now. He even threatens to shoot his longtime ally as he exclaims that the city “needs Batman”. Fortunately, the Dark Knight calms down and relinquishes his grasp before walking away. From there, James tells his fellow officers to thoroughly secure the Joker for his arrest.
From there, we have a quick scene where Bruce, Selina, Dick, Alfred and company attend Thomas’ funeral as the priest reads an actual passage from the book of Matthew (specifically, Chapter 6, Verses 19 through 23).
Afterwards, we shift over to the Bat Cave as Batman and Nightwing discover that Hush captured the Joker due to knockout gas hidden within a jack-in-the-box. The gas only kept the Clown Prince of Crime out of action for 15 minutes before he used his acid-spewing boutonniere to break free from his ropes. Bruce exclaims that Hush wanted the Joker to escape, thus having it timed so that he would arrive just as Harley finished up her rampage at the opera and just as Thomas was murdered. With Nightwing stunned to hear that their longtime foe is actually innocent, Batman then looks over the past incidents that were orchestrated by Hush as Dick wonders about Thomas and how he connects into this. Bruce exclaims that his newly-deceased friend had a connection with him, thus believing that Hush knows about Batman’s secret identity.
Just then, Selina calls him as he thanks her for being by his side doing the funeral. He promises that they’ll meet up again right after he takes care of some personal business. She then tells him not to wait around for too long since she does mention a “mystery man” that’s also in her life. Bruce secretly knows as he claims for the best man to win before they conclude their call.
With Nightwing having overheard the conversation, the alarm suddenly goes off as traffic footage catches an armored truck speeding through the streets. Fortunately, one camera manages to get a good-enough look at the cluprit: Edward Nygma a.k.a. Riddler (voiced by Ethan Gross & Matt Mahoney himself, Geoffrey Arend). Dick doesn’t take the guy too seriously, even calling him a “C-Lister”, before he and Batman take off in the Batmobile.
They manage to catch up to the armored truck before Riddler’s henchmen open fire, but are unable to penetrate the Batmobile’s bulletproof design. During this, Nightwing tells Batman that he supports his current relationship with Selina. However, Dick says that he’ll have to “tell her everything”. Afterwards, Batman activates the car’s battering ram and drives right into the armored truck, toppling it over.
Nightwing proceeds to take care of the goons while Batman goes after the Riddler. The fiend ends up tripping over himself before the Dark Knight catches up and demands to know where Hush is. Just then, they notice the featured fiend looking over the scene from afar as Batman pursues him after handcuffing Edward.
As the Caped Crusader looks around, he hears Hush telling him that he’ll “destroy your life before taking it”. He then notices someone heading towards the fitting room area as Batman continues his search. As Hush mentions that he’ll kill off each of our hero’s friends and that none of them are safe, he appears in several mirrors as Bruce smashes each one of them. However, the fiend has managed to slip away.
Later, Selina arrives back at her apartment as she’s stunned to find Batman inside. He tells her that she knows who she is and that it’s her place. Not only that, but he wants her to leave Gotham for a while since Hush is willing to harm those that’re closest to him. As such, he decides to reveal his identity to her. He even lets her remove his cowl as she discovers her boyfriend’s familiar face underneath the mask.
With this reveal adding more onto their relationship, they proceed to sleep with each other. After their nighttime bed session, Selina then notices all of the scars from his years of crime-fighting as well as familiar claw marks on his chest from her earlier thieving days. He then explains that since he knew about her secret identity and because of her theft-filled past, he wasn’t willing to believe that she was capable of changing for the better. Thankfully, he admits that he was proven wrong. From there, he invites her over to his place.
Later, they arrive in the Bat Cave as Dick is stunned to see that Batman has actually committed to the relationship. After he and Alfred give their proper introductions, Bruce assures her that only they and Damian know about her secret identity.
From there, we have a quick montage where Batman and Catwoman have become crime-fighting partners as they take out some notable villains including the Penguin, Two-Face & Mr. Freeze.
They even execute some teamwork skills during a fight against a group of thugs in a rundown warehouse. Even though he has to stop her from performing a potentially-lethal slash on one defeated goon, this doesn’t deter from their romantic partnership.
We then cut to sometime later within Wayne Manor as Selina proposes the idea of them going on a vacation filled with “extreme” activities. Bruce says that he’ll agree to this, but they have to catch Hush first. She then mentions that the fiend hasn’t been seen for a long while and that she’s not asking him to give up the cowl entirely, but that they need to spend some time away from their crime-fighting venture. Just then, Alfred comes in and tells Bruce that James Gordon is calling. The commissioner informs him that a silent alarm was recently tripped over at Thomas Elliot’s medical office. Wayne informs her as she agrees that this is something that he needs to do by himself. As such, he takes his leave.
Later, Batman and Gordon are investigating Elliot’s ransacked office. The Caped Crusader discovers that the thief was professional enough to not leave any fingerprint or DNA upon any of the discarded papers. However, it’s not the paperwork that the burglar was after, but particular medical information about the nearly-inoperable Glioblastoma multiforme brain tumor. On a hunch, Batman decides to take Gordon with him to Arkham Asylum. However, Hush was watching them from afar as he calls up a “professor” and informs him that they’ll need to “pay our respects”.
Over at the Bat Cave, Nightwing prepares to head out on patrol as Catwoman decides to tag along. As Dick learns from Selina about her dating experience with Batman, they hear a call from the police band about a break-in at Gotham Cemetery. They ultimately discover that someone has dug up a corpse, only to find out that it’s Thomas Elliot’s body that’s been grave-robbed.
Just then, they’re attacked by Jonathan Crane a.k.a. Scarecrow (voiced by Chris Cox). He manages to spread his fear gas onto Nightwing as the raging terror has the former Boy Wonder terrified and at his mercy.
Fortunately, Catwoman intervenes and proceeds to fight him. He tries to use his Fear Gas, but she came prepared with her nose plugs as she manages to trip him up with her whip. He then sorrowfully says that he can’t lose this confrontation since “he’ll” kill him, but she puts him out of his misery as she knocks him out with a swift kick to his face.
Afterwards, she notices Nightwing trying to inject himself with an antidote. However, it slips from his trembling grasp before he sees Catwoman in a terrifying sight. From there, he attacks her in a blind panic. Fortunately, she evades his strikes before she gets the antidote and injects it into him. Afterwards, she helps Dick reach the Batmobile as Alfred proceeds to auto pilot the car back to the Bat Cave.
She then returns to subdue Scarecrow, only to discover that he’s disappeared. Suddenly, someone manages to sneak up and knock her out. When she finally wakes up, she sees Hush and tries to attack him. However, she’s chained up to a heavy slab. From there, he activates a construction claw and traps her within its mechanical grasp.
We then cut to Arkham Asylum as Batman and James prepare to interrogate the Riddler. Gordon wonders how Edward is involved in any of this, to which the Dark Knight says that he noticed a particular name within Thomas’ files: Arthur Wynne, the historical figure who created crossword puzzles. It turns out that Nygma used that name during his visits to Dr. Elliot in order to properly help him with his brain tumor. Riddler then explains that following the failed surgery, he refused to let that medical ailment be the thing that took him down. It turns out that he was the one who bribed his way towards using the Lazarus Pit. While he was within the healing reservoir, it opened his mind to the most startling of revelations: Bruce Wayne’s secret identity of Batman.
From there, he came up with a cunning plan in order to not only destroy his hated foe but also get back on the various criminals that belittled him in the past. He created the persona of Hush before he went off to convince the likes of Bane and Poison Ivy into working for his scheme, in addition to being the one who positioned the Joker into his unintentional murder.
