Warning: spoilers for The Monkey Prince #1 are ahead.
In DC Comics, Batman hasn’t always abided by his famous “No-Kill” rule, and he may have just accidentally returned to those brutal roots in a new series. The Dark Knight only ever took up this rule following the introduction of Robin, due to rising popularity with kids and the parental complaints that followed. Alternate Batmen are no stranger to bending this rule every now and then, however, and it isn't entirely uncommon to encounter a version of the vigilante that pushes the boundaries of violence. The Monkey Prince #1 written by Gene Luen Yang and illustrated by Bernard Chang explores this more violent Batman, introducing him as an antagonist to the titular hero, one that fuels his hatred for other superheroes.
In Monkey Prince #1, Marcus Sun, the Monkey Prince himself, first encountered Batman as a child when the Caped Crusader had a run in with his parents, revealed to be collaborators with The Penguin. Batman broke into their home and viciously threw his father around before fleeing the scene, permanently traumatizing young Marcus. Being exposed to this more savage side of the hero not only sets the stage for Batman to become a recurring series antagonist but functions as excellent foreshadowing to his shocking accident at the end of the first issue.
Being traumatized by Batman at such a young age led Marcus Sun to develop several fear responses to various stimuli, such as wet floors, bats, and thunder. This left him vulnerable to bouts of bullying from his peers which only further ostracized him from his classmates. Once Marcus fully realizes his powers and becomes the Monkey Prince at the end of the chapter, he finds his bullies in a locker room and proceeds to enact his revenge. Unbeknownst to Marcus, however, one of the students in the locker room turns out to be none other than Damian Wayne, son of Batman. After Damian makes a quick call to his father, Batman soon arrives on the scene and confronts Marcus, tossing a Batarang in his direction to separate him from the bullies. Things don’t go as planned though, as the Dark Knight misses and the weapon takes Marcus’ head clean off.
After Marcus’ head comes rolling off he’s still able to talk which implies that either the Monkey Prince has some form of quasi immortality or another kind of trickery is at play here. Although Batman claims he wasn’t aiming for the Monkey Prince’s head, it’s still worth noting that he threw the Batarang with enough force to separate a person’s head from the rest of their body…at a teenager. Not only that but Batman missed solely because one of the bullies managed to pull Marcus forwards into the path of the projectile, which seems odd for a hero with astounding accuracy and observational skills.
This mishap poses a few questions as both the bully and Marcus were clearly in Batman’s line of sight. Was Batman really aiming for the stick? If that small interaction could cause Batman to miss, has something like his happened before? Has Batman’s repressed anger finally begun to push him over the line? With the way Batman has begun to be framed as a villain for the Monkey Prince, it’s not unlikely that he will repeatedly turn to this more aggressive side, though whether these acts are truly accidental or purposeful remains yet to be seen.