Even though it debuted months ago, The Batman has made sure the iconic DC character has remained in the spotlight. Batman has been around for over 80 years, and with the character's long and storied history comes a number of plot twists that have been implemented to keep the comic fresh. Some have become cornerstones of Batman canon while others have been ignored by writers for a variety of reasons.

Given the large number of plot twists that have been written into the Batman comics, there have been many contentious debates over which ones have worked and which were needless. Such is the case with the plot twists that Redditors wish they could forget.

Calendar Man Was Haunting Alberto Falcone

Calendar Man being interviewed by Batman through his cell in The Long Halloween.

Batman: Dark Victory is a somewhat overlooked story that expertly builds on the thematic ideas presented in The Long Halloween. It forces Bruce Wayne to consider his crusade against crime as another serial killer terrorizes Gotham.

Related: The 20 Greatest Batman Villains Of All Time

While Dark Victory has a lot of good going for it, Reddit users like confusionsteephands have derided the comic for its "Alberto/Calendar Man plot [which] reads like Hannibal Lecter fan fiction." The criticism is largely substantiated given that the plot thread diminishes the menace of Alberto as a character and doesn't give Calendar Man much motivation for going after him.

Batman Hates Rock Music

Batman smacks Robin's hand

Fortunate Son is often considered one of the worst Batman comics thanks to its silly villain and the eye-rolling arguments between Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson over rock music. Yet the true crime of the book, as pointed out by newfrontier58, is that "Batman hates rock and roll/punk rock because he was listening to it the night" his parents died.

Though Fortune Son attempts to treat the moment as serious and full of weight, the whole thing reads as a parody. No one wants to read about Batman being a music snob, hence the reason both readers and writers choose to ignore this work.

The Joker's Backstory In The Killing Joke Is Legitimate

The Joker in The Killing Joke

The Killing Joke is rightfully considered one of the best Batman comics due to its exploration of the Joker's psychology and how it disproves the villain's thesis that anyone can become evil if they experience just one bad day. Despite the book's rich themes and complex storytelling, many writers have taken the wrong lessons from the text.

Perhaps the most egregious interpretation of The Killing Joke comes in the mid-2000s story, Hush Returns. While the whole comic can be summed as a drawn-out mess, the fact that it made "Joker's Killing Joke origin definitive" as Redditor Kpengie put it, completely removes the mystery of the Joker and contradicts the notion that the character is an unreliable narrator.

Jason Todd Was Brought Back To Life By Superboy-Prime Punching Reality

Jason Todd Red Hood Holding Crow Bar

Despite being killed off because fans hated his attitude as Robin, Jason Todd has become one of the more popular members of the Bat Family thanks to his role as the rage-driven Red Hood. It's a role that he has inhabited for years, yet one whose origins people tend to forget about (in part because of the multiple reboots DC has attempted over the past decade).

Related: The Bat-Family Members Who Appeared Most In Live Action

While many believe Jason was brought back by a Lazarus Pit in all continuities, his actual revival was the result of Superboy-Prime altering reality in an attempt to escape a prison dimension. In hindsight, it comes across as a needlessly complicated explanation, with one Reddit user claiming "it was very dumb. The resurrection via Lazarus Pit the animated films had was way better."

Joker Replaced Harley With Another Girl In White Knight

Batman: White Knight, is a fresh and sometimes overstuffed book that offers a unique examination of the Joker and Batman dynamic with the latter's obsessiveness over the Joker proving a danger to Gotham. Despite the praise the book has received, there are some who have criticized the story for its muddied narrative, with BuffaloFront2761 noting they're "not a fan of the two Harleys thing" and calling the twist dumb.

While the idea of the Joker replacing Harley with another sidekick and not noticing the difference is intriguing due to the Joker's unstable mental state, such a twist is not really stressed in the narrative. It's used as a minor throwaway bit early on to introduce audiences to the real Harley and to offer a justification for why Harley has two distinctly different costumes in Batman media.

Gilda Was Really Holiday

Gilda Dent in Batman: The Long Halloween

The Long Halloween is frequently cited as one of the best arcs in Batman comics due to the stress it puts on Batman being a detective. It offers an engaging mystery that never overstays its welcome, skillfully portrays the rise of supervillains in Gotham City, and serves as the framework for both The Dark Knight and The Batman.

Despite the importance of The Long Halloween to the Batman canon, the story's conclusion is sometimes criticized as needlessly confusing, with Redditor wendigo72 noting "the twist isn’t brilliant in anyway [sic]." The idea that Gilda was Holiday complicates the narrative considering Alberto Falcone's role as the murderer for much of the story, and is the one reason why some readers refuse to revisit the text.

Hush Is Jealous That Bruce Wayne's Parents Died When He Was Young

Hush firing his pistols in the Batman Hush story

Despite the anticipation that Hush might have brought back Jason Todd as a villain back in 2003, all signs pointed to the character's identity being that of recently introduced childhood friend Thomas Elliot. It was a predictable reveal, yet as Redditor Tungee00 notes, "Thomas' reason for hating Bruce Wayne was absolutely terrible."

Related: 10 Villains Fans Want To See In A Sequel To The Batman, According To Reddit

While many are enamored with the idea that Batman has an enemy who hates him for his who he is outside the cape and cowl, what readers choose to ignore is that Elliot's jealousy stems from Bruce Wayne being able to inherit wealth as a kid while Elliot had to wait until he was an adult. It's a petty motivation that borders on laughable because of how absurd the whole premise is.

Bruce Wayne Has A Long Lost Brother

Batman Vs Owlman Bruce Wayne Thomas Wayne Jr Battle

The Court of the Owls is one of the more popular Batman comics from the past decade, due to the intrigue it brought to the world of Gotham. It posited that Gotham City had been run by a secret organization for its entire history and that the Waynes had been involved.

While the twists and turns brought excitement to Scott Snyder's run on Batman, some took issue with the revelation at the ending in the second arc, Batman: Night of the Owls, where March Lincoln claims to be Bruce's Brother. Beyond stooping so low as to utilize the long-lost relative trope, readers like Redditor glendonson criticized "how [the reveal] didn't resolve anything or answer the questions that the storyline raised."

Leslie Thompkins Let Stephanie Brown Die

Stephanie Brown in her Robin costume swinging on a rope

War Games is one of many Batman crossover event comics from the 1990s and early 2000s. It saw Gotham city erupt in a gang war due to Stephanie Brown's failed execution of one of Batman's constituency plans and saw the young heroine murdered by Black Mask.

While the death of Stephanie Brown was a tragic event, what makes it unforgivable for Redditors such as jurassicbond was the reveal that "Leslie Thompkins let Stephanie Brown die from her injuries to teach Bruce Wayne a lesson about the consequences of violence." It was an egregious moment of character assassination for one of Batman's most trusted allies, and one that DC themselves attempted to retcon years later.

Batman Has Known Joker's Identity Since The Very Beginning

Batman Three Jokers DC Comics

Batman: Three Jokers was a highly anticipated work that fans were equal parts excited and horrified about reading. The central premise of there being three Jokers was intriguing, but the ultimate execution left many readers baffled and disappointed.

Perhaps the most egregious sin of the book - besides the undercooked romance between Jason and Barbara - is the revelation that Batman has known Joker's identity for almost the entire time the two have been enemies. While thematically captivating considering how Joker learns Batman's identity in the book, the ramifications of the reveal make Three Jokers "Confusing for the sake of being confusing" in the eyes of Redditor BuffaloFront2761.

Next: 10 Batman Villains And One Quote That Perfectly Sums Up Their Personality