Batman’s Batcave is one of the most decked out superhero lairs in the history of comic books, but after DC’s Marvel crossover, it got infinitely better with one ultimate upgrade that gave the Batcave something it should have had all along.
While the Batcave is used as a place of quiet tranquility for Batman as well as an effective storage facility for all his gadgets, suits, and vehicles, its main function is that of a command center, as it houses one of the world’s most powerful supercomputers, the Batcomputer. Through the Batcomputer, Bruce (and oftentimes Alfred or Oracle) is able to monitor everything that happens in Gotham, and even the entire world. The information gathered by the Batcomputer is integral to Batman’s superhero process. Batman doesn’t have superhuman abilities like the rest of the Justice League, but what he does have is the capacity to obtain every bit of information on any given situation in the blink of an eye, and then retain that information before putting the appropriate measures into place. Basically, the Batcave and everything in it is an extension of Batman himself, though it is missing one key component that would make Batman an even more effective hero–something that isn’t introduced until the Amalgam Universe.
Batman’s Wolverine Variant has an X-Men-Style Danger Room in the Batcave
In the Amalgam Universe comic Dark Claw Adventures #1 by Ty Templeton and Rick Burchett, Dark Claw (the amalgamation of Batman and Wolverine) is on a mission to find out who killed his parents when he was a child. To do this, he consistently hangs out at seedy underground clubs and illegal gambling tables to hopefully gather some information he can act on. However, after a failed attempt one night, Dark Claw goes back to his Batcave-equivalent lair and says that he’s going to let off some steam by training in the “Danger Cave”, and even asks his sidekick to set up a “strenuous program”.
Everything about this ‘Danger Cave’ that Dark Claw is about to train in sounds exactly like the Danger Room the X-Men train in at the X-Mansion, and honestly, this is something Batman should have had in his Batcave all along. The one thing other than Batman’s world-class detective skills (which are made more effective by the aforementioned Batcomputer) are his combat skills. Batman is a ninja-trained warrior who’s mastered every martial art in the world. Batman can go toe-to-toe with monsters, aliens, and literal gods, and that’s because of his physical abilities. So, it would make sense that Batman would have a training facility akin to X-Men’s Danger Room in order to hone those skills. Bruce Wayne is a billionaire, afterall, and it’s not like his ‘Batman-spending’ is under too much scrutiny, given all the gadgets he already has. With a Danger Room-like training gym, equipped with robotic challenges, holograms, and difficulty levels, Batman would be able to ensure that he and those he goes on patrols with are at their very best before putting themselves in life-threatening situations.
The Batcave is an informational hub, safe house, and storage facility rolled into one, but with the addition of a training gym–specifically one of Danger Room quality–it could be the perfect superhero headquarters. After breaking down all the benefits, it’s surprising that Batman doesn’t already have one of these on-hand, and that it took a Marvel crossover to give the Batcave this ultimate upgrade.