There's a new Batman regime change on the way, and it's already looking to redefine Bruce Wayne for his biggest transformation in years. But that isn't all: Gotham City is about to become as dark, twisted, and broken as the Batman himself once 2020 arrives. Will fans be ready for this big a change?
There is precedent for such a massive shift, so the changes coming from new Batman writer James Tynion IV aren't exactly starting from scratch. As those fans who have been reading the last year of Batman stories already know, Tom King's epic "City of Bane" event and coming finale have left as much of a toll on Gotham as Bruce Wayne. And while nothing in the world can bring Alfred Pennyworth back to life, and King's Batman/Catwoman series looks to end Bruce and Selina's romantic disputes for good, Gotham's next age is just beginning. Tynion has already explained how the new Bruce Wayne will work to rebuild Gotham, but that doesn't mean the city's future is bright. In fact, going by Tynion's new tease, it sounds like Gotham is about to become the most terrifying version of itself since Tim Burton re-imagined it completely.
The seasoned Batman fans know that Gotham is as much a character in a Batman story as Bruce himself (or it should be, many would claim). For his Batman movie, Burton made it as oddly Gothic, exaggerated, and ominous as the rest of his vision. For Scott Snyder, it was a city reaching into the sky -- allowing centuries of secrets to spread through the shadows. Now as Tynion explains via his new personal newsletter, Gotham's changing with its hero.
The city of Gotham, like its greatest new champion Bruce Wayne, appears unbroken, undefeated, energized, and determined. But at the same time, giving the distinct impression that there's no way of knowing exactly what it's transforming into. Readers can find the excerpt from Tynion's continued "mission statement" below.
After the events of City of Bane, Gotham City is rebuilding.
That rebuilding should be part of the spirit of the city itself in 2020. There are strange metal spires and scaffolding jutting out into the air. There are spotlights all over the city, as construction continues 24 hours a day. The clangs of industrial jackhammers lend a new dark music to the city. Gotham feels like it’s in the midst of a metamorphosis, change is in the air. There are giant cranes and spotlights everywhere, the way it all juts into the sky it feels like a claustrophobic nightmare… You can’t tell where one building stops and another begins. A kind of eerie, industrial fog drifts through the city at all hours. The skies of Gotham are a dark, eerie red. It always feels like night-time. The city itself should be juxtapositions of strange Art-Deco insanity by way of Anton Furst and Tim Burton, and sleek modern towers that somehow look MORE frightening. Strange high tech skyscraper cathedrals, complete with sleek modern gargoyles.
It’s a new industrial age in the city, and people are walking around covering their mouths to not breathe in the smog. Construction dust falls like snow around the city. It’s a strange and isolating place. Weirdly, I’d think of the people of Gotham City as “under construction” in their own way. I’ll be calling this out in the scripts, but I see more people with casts and leg braces. People damaged, but trying to heal. Even the way people wrap their faces to move through the streets is a kind of “bandaging”.
Gotham is not New York City. It is a nightmare of New York City. It shouldn’t feel like a real city, it should feel like GOTHAM. It’s the grime and grit of the 1970s and 80s in a world where the city never got cleaned up, but kept growing. Now it needs to become something new… But the eerie sense needs to be that it might become something even more horrifying than before. We’re creating a present day dystopia that will serve as the bridge to what’s next. Every element of it should be visually dynamic and exciting.
Here's hoping the city can live up to the ambitions Tynion lays out in this newsletter entry -- and that the average citizens of Gotham bounce back with the same vigor as Bruce Wayne, himself. Readers will find out in January.
Batman #86 arrives on January 8th, 2020.
Source: James Tynion IV