This article contains spoilers for Batman #111.
Batman has one last chance to avert Gotham's horrific Future State timeline. DC Comics began 2021 with one of their boldest initiatives, canceling their entire line and replacing it with comics that explored the future of the DC universe. These presented disturbing glimpses of the world as it could yet become - and since then, it's been clear several books are heading towards their Future State status quos. The Green Lantern Corps has been destroyed, Superman is being drawn to Warworld, and Jonathan Kent is being set up as his replacement.
But no Future State story was more troubling than Gotham's, which showed a timeline in which Batman had failed utterly. The city had turned on Batman and his fellow vigilantes, with the mayor unwisely turning policing over to a fascist group called the Magistrate. And that future is indeed coming to pass right now in James Tynion IV and Jorge Jimenez's Batman run, with the odds against the Dark Knight building every single issue. Now, he has just one chance to turn things around.
Scarecrow has been working with the Magistrate to generate fear across Gotham, with a terrorist attack leading to Mayor Nakano unleashing Peacekeeper-001 and his forces on the Unsanity Collective. The members of this group are simply scapegoats, but when Batman and his allies rush to their defense they are seen by the public as traitors, possibly brainwashed by Gotham's latest "villains." Effective immediately, Nakano expands the authority of the Magistrate to dismantle all costumed crime and vigilantism in Gotham City. Batman's reputation is in tatters, the Future State timeline appears to be becoming a reality, but the Dark Knight still has one shot left - if he can capture Scarecrow and reveal the truth to the city.
Ironically, Batman's greatest ally in all this may well be the Scarecrow himself. Dr. Jonathan Crane was always fascinated by fear - his pre-Scarecrow theories inspired Batman's own methods - but now he has brought an entire city to its knees. This power seems to have gone to his head, and he is turning against the Magistrate, even using his Fear Toxin on Peacekeeper-001. Scarecrow's vision of the future is undoubtedly even more terrifying than the Magistrate's, but Batman may well be able to play the two against one another. It's notable that Scarecrow's increasing ambition already deviates from the Future State timeline - and that deviation provides an opportunity.
But even if he defeats both the Magistrate and Scarecrow, Batman faces an almost impossible challenge. He must repair his tattered reputation, and somehow he must convince Gotham to trust him and feel safe once again. It feels as though the city has passed a turning point, and there is nothing good in any of Gotham's futures.