Matt Reeves' The Batman built up to the mystery of who killed Thomas and Martha Wayne, Bruce Wayne's parents, unlike any Batman movie that came before. Much like the death of Uncle Ben in Marvel's Spider-Man projects, the death of Bruce Wayne's parents is a pivotal moment in the development of Batman, and has been featured in most Batman films in one way or another. After audiences saw a brief interpretation of this moment in Zack Snyder's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Reeves took a different route when exploring the murders of Thomas and Martha Wayne in The Batman.
Robert Pattinson debuted as Bruce Wayne, a.k.a. Batman, in Reeves' 2022 adaptation of the Dark Knight's story. The Riddler, an iconic Batman villain, was re-imagined for the gritty DC Elseworlds project, and The Batman showed him targeting Gotham's Mayor, the GCPD's Commissioner Pete Savage, Gotham's DA Gil Colson, and finally the city's reclusive billionaire Bruce Wayne. During The Riddler's attack on the latter, information about Bruce Wayne's past is leaked, shaking Batman's belief that his parents were good people. While Thomas and Martha Wayne's deaths motivate Bruce to become the Caped Crusader, The Batman also focuses on the detective side of the Dark Knight, allowing the mystery to slowly unfold.
Thomas & Martha Wayne Murders: The Batman's Conspiracy Explained
The Batman doesn't actually reveal who killed Thomas and Martha Wayne, so the details surrounding what happened are still vague. It's established that the Waynes were murdered 20 years prior, and that the pair were viewed as upstanding citizens of Gotham, with Thomas even having announced plays to run for Mayor. Based on the conspiracy leaked by The Riddler, Thomas and Martha Wayne's murders were connected to their darker pasts, however, with the villain revealing that Martha had paid many visits to Arkham Asylum due to her mental illness. The Waynes used their influence to cover up these trips, preserving the idea that they were a perfect, model family.
After finding out the truth, Edward Elliot, a prominent Gotham journalist, planned to publish the truth about these unseemly visits to Arkham. Elliot refused to take Thomas' bribe to keep Martha's struggles a secret, causing Bruce's father to ask Gotham's biggest crime lord, Carmine Falcone, for assistance. This information deepens the conspiracy surrounding Thomas and Martha Wayne's deaths. According to Alfred Pennyworth, Falcone was asked to silence Elliot without killing the journalist, but Falcone took care of the issue in his own way. Thomas and Martha Wayne were killed shortly after Elliot's own murder, and The Batman leaves the door open for several possibilities as to who pulled the trigger.
Who Killed Bruce Wayne's Parents In The Batman? Every Theory
Based on this conspiracy, it seems like Carmine Falcone is the leading contender to have killed Bruce Wayne's parents. The Batman suggests Falcone had the strongest motivation, as Alfred revealed that Thomas had plans to confess, implicating Falcone in Elliot's murder. While Alfred seemed convinced that Falcone was responsible, there was no concrete proof - though Falcone's death in The Batman would ruin the possibility of a confession. Sal Maroni could also be the culprit, as he is another crime lord who is mentioned throughout The Batman, though never seen. Elliot worked for Maroni, suggesting there may have been an elaborate plan to take down the renowned Gotham family.
The Batman also posits that one of Thomas Wayne's political rivals took out his opposition. Bruce Wayne's parents were killed not long after Thomas made his mayoral campaign public, and since Thomas and Martha were incredibly powerful in Gotham, the other mayoral candidates could have felt threatened by this political move. Gotham is notoriously corrupt, so it wouldn't come as a surprise for the existing Mayor or another candidate to have had something to do with Thomas and Martha's deaths. Of course, their deaths could have been due to some random thug, as Alfred even suggests this theory, and this is more in line with what occurs in DC Comics.
Who Killed Bruce Wayne's Parents In The Comics
DC Comics have generally made one man responsible for killing Bruce Wayne's parents, a common criminal named Joe Chill. Small-time mugger Joe Chill first appeared in Detective Comics #33 in 1939 and was created by Bob Kane. Joe's attempted mugging of the Wayne family comes as they leave a theater, ending in the deaths of Thomas and Martha Wayne after a struggle. He doesn't kill Bruce Wayne, as the young kid begins crying and calling out for help. Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins used Joe Chill as the Waynes' murderer, as did Zack Snyder, so it's possible that The Batman - Part II could confirm this too.
Why The Batman Doesn't Reveal The Killer's Identity
While it's unusual that Thomas and Martha Wayne's killer wasn't revealed, especially after so much focus was put on Batman's parents, it wasn't necessary for the killer's identity to be revealed. Batman still defeats The Riddler and steps up to help Gotham without discovering more about his parents' deaths. The Batman even suggests how important it is for Robert Pattinson's Batman not to learn the truth, as he seems to accept the fact that he doesn't need to know to be Gotham's protector. The ending of The Batman shows Bruce Wayne realizing that he's been consumed by vengeance, but that Gotham needs a symbol of hope instead.
The fact that Thomas and Martha's killer hasn't yet been revealed also means that this could be a future storyline for The Batman - Part II or beyond. The weight lifted from Bruce Wayne in future projects will allow Batman to not only be a beacon of hope but also perhaps allow him to once again get close to people and trust them - perhaps helped also by Zoë Kravitz' Selina Kyle, a.k.a. Catwoman. The mystery surrounding the deaths of Thomas and Martha Wayne could be a prolonged storyline for The Batman - Part II and HBO Max's spinoff series, allowing an overarching storyline to unfold.
How The Batman 2 Could Reveal Who Killed Bruce Wayne's Parents
The Batman - Part II could uncover the mystery of Thomas and Martha Wayne's deaths in two main ways. The first would be to confirm one of the existing theories, placing Carmine Falcone, Sal Maroni, a political rival, or perhaps even Joe Chill as the perpetrators of Batman's parents' deaths. The Batman's most convincing suggestion named Falcone as Thomas and Martha's possible killer - or at least the man who ordered the hit - so this could be developed in The Batman - Part II. However, The Batman also introduces a new version of Bruce Wayne's most iconic villain, who could have had a huge role in Batman's parents' deaths.
Barry Keoghan brought a deformed iteration of the Joker in The Batman - with the villain shown to be a prisoner in Arkham Asylum, and potentially already having a connection to Batman. A deleted scene sees Bruce Wayne enlisting the Joker's help in profiling The Riddler, so it's possible that the villain will see more development in future projects. However, Keoghan's Joker perhaps appears too young to have committed a murder 20 years prior, and pinning the crime on the Joker wouldn't exactly be an original avenue for The Batman. It's unclear whether the mystery of Thomas and Martha Wayne's murders in Matt Reeves' franchise will ever be solved.
