Warning! Contains spoilers for Batman: Dark Ages #5!One of the things that makesBatmansuch an enduring hero is that he knows how to take down so many different people. Both friends and enemies fall to Batman’s planning, but in one universe, Batman comes up against a villain he doesn’t believe he can plan against: Ra’s al Ghul.
Ra’s al Ghul nearly causes Batman to hang up his cowl inBatman: Dark Age#5 by Mark Russell and Michael Allred. Ra’s returns to torment Batman, causing Arkham Asylum to explode and killing the love of Batman’s life. Unfortunately for Batman,Ra’s has full control of the criminals of Gothamand even takes over Wayne Enterprises.
With no other choice, Batman goes to the Justice League to ask them for help, but his timing couldn’t be worse.The Justice League was just informed about the Anti-Monitorand that their universe is about to be destroyed. In the face of universal destruction, the League doesn’t really care about Gotham City, and thispushes Batman to nearly give up the cowl entirely.
BATMAN: DARK AGE Poignantly Reinvents DC’s Most Famous Origin (Review)
Batman: Dark Age re-examines the Caped Crusader in an amazing out-of-continuity tale that brings a new perspective to Bruce Wayne’s origin story.
Batman Thought Fighting Ra’s al Gul Was Completely Hopeless
And He Might Be Right
Batman is a highly trained individual with first-hand experience in the art of war. Unlikemost depictions of Batman, though, this one didn’t travel the world. Instead, to get out of a prison sentence, Bruce Wayne agreed to a tour in Vietnam, where his enemies were hoping he’d be killed. But instead of dying, Bruce flourished.He trained under Ra’s al Ghul and became an expert hand-to-hand fighterand a master of stealth. But these skills are mostly employed on criminals and people who have never seen war. Using them against Ra’s al Ghul, the very man who taught him, seems impossible.
Ra’s al Ghul being one of Batman’s teachers is one of the more interesting changes that DC has leaned into over the past few years.
Combine Ra’s' return with the fact that Earth seems doomed to be destroyed in the next few years, and going up against Ra’s seems entirely pointless. It’s unclear why Batman should even bother if the entire planet is destroyed in under a decade. This was the first time in his career thatBruce Wayne considered giving up being Batman.Ra’s al Ghul being one of Batman’s teachersis one of the more interesting changes that DC has leaned into over the past few years. It was brought up in Christopher Nolan’sBatman Begins, andit was also revisited inBatman:The Knightby Chip Zdarsky and Carmine Di Giandomenico.
DARK AGE Makes Ra’s Bruce’s Teacher
Sometimes it’s difficult for Batman to stay motivated, and it’s not unreasonable for him to have doubts. Even in the main DC Universe, Batman has expressed his doubt over his ability to make Gotham City a better place in the past. It’s no surprise that these doubts only get worse as Batman is faced with an enemy he doesn’t believe he has hope of beating — and the knowledge that even if he does win, it still won’t matter in a few years. While characters like Bane and the Joker have pushedBatmanto the limit, only Ra’s al Ghul has made him consider entirely giving up.
Batman
One of DC’s most iconic heroes, Batman is the vigilante superhero persona of billionaire Bruce Wayne. Forged by tragedy with the death of his parents, Bruce dedicated his life to becoming the world’s leading martial artist, detective, and tactician. Recruiting an entire family of allies and sidekicks, Bruce wages war on evil as the dark knight of his hometown, Gotham City.
