This Batman Storyline Is Everything 'The Batman Part II' Should Be

The future of Batman on the big screen is currently up in the air. There haven't been any confirmed updates on the current state of the Batman: The Brave and the Bold film since Deadline covered it over a month ago, and The Batman: Part II has been infamously plagued with production delays. But hey, at least a Gorilla Grodd show is officially in the works. While the DC Universe is still finding its footing regarding when we'll see everyone's favorite pupil-less superhero on the big screen, there's one comic book storyline that has the makings of a fantastic Batman film — more specifically, a fantastic final Batman film, with the stakes to surpass The Dark Knight Rises and almost reach the dramatic heights of an Avengers film. Ironically enough, it's called Batman: Endgame.

Written by the great Scott Snyder and drawn by the equally excellent Greg Capullo, the story follows Batman as he's forced to face off against the Justice League, who are all out for blood and seemingly not in control of their minds (yes, even Superman). This starts a chain reaction whihc leads to Gotham City being locked down and under siege by an airborne virus that threatens to destroy the entire city. With few options, even less time, and circumstances that keep getting worse and worse, this might be the thing that finally beats the Caped Crusader and kills everyone in the city.

Batman vs. The Justice League...Allegedly

At the time of its release, the plot of Endgame was kept highly under wraps, and all that was known leading up to the release of issue #35 was its cover, which showed Batman facing off against the Justice League. That's exciting on its own, assuming it's going to be a Batman vs. Justice League story, but at the end of the first issue, it's revealed that it was all a red herring and that the story follows the return of everyone's favorite clown: The Joker! The story is actually a sequel to the fan-favorite Death of the Family (following a stint in Zero Year), and sees The Joker back with a new haircut and his skin attached to his face (instead of being worn as a mask). It's also revealed that the previously mentioned airborne virus affecting the city is a new strain of Joker toxin that's turning citizens into lunatics mindlessly attacking one another with the trademark smile on their faces—almost turning this into a zombie outbreak. And within a matter of hours, it's going to kill everyone it infects. That's already intense, considering that the Justice League are among those who are incapacitated, so Batman's completely on his own. But the story also takes a new angle with The Joker and makes it clear that not only is he completely in control . . .he might not even be human.

This isn't just another "Joker's back" storyline. It plays up the otherworldly presence and allure that the character often exudes, and dials it up to make the audience wonder if he might actually be something more — maybe even something ancient. Endgame plays itself up as a horror story, and there are moments that feel like something out of Sinister — or, more appropriately, IT, as the characters find clues and evidence that The Joker might actually be completely unstoppable and perhaps even an entity that brings chaos, rather than a human. It brings into question Batman's relationship with him, re-evaluates everything that he thought he knew, and treats The Joker like a threat he's faced for years, rather than a "Villain of the Week" that he has to stop.

The Joker Might Be An Eternal Being

It's that feeling of being in uncharted waters that adds to the uncertainty of Endgame. Every Batman movie has him being out of his element and having to overcome whatever obstacle he has to face, but it's usually more on an ideological or personal level. Very rarely is he COMPLETELY outmatched, outmanned, and running out of time. Even in The Dark Knight Rises, he's certainly the underdog, but he also has thousands of cops to help him fight Bane. But in this case, it really feels like it's him versus the entire city. Because of that, he has to turn to not just members of the Bat Family, but also his enemies to stop Joker.

While Batman: Endgame may not yet be recognized as a classic comic book storyline that films could use as blueprints the way that The Long Halloween, Knightfall, or The Dark Knight Returns are, it laid the groundwork for what a great conclusion to the character could look like. Endgame is a harrowing six-issue run that pushes the titular character both mentally and physically in ways that we've never seen on the big screen, placing him dead center in an overrun Gotham City that looks like something out of Resident Evil, blending both action and horror (leaning into supernatural, borderline Lovecraftian territory), and giving resolution to his dynamic with The Joker. And all of it is done in a way that's fulfilling both as a standalone narrative and as the conclusion of their long rivalry (for the time being, anyway). It's the type of story that shows the scope and grandeur that comic books can accomplish and that film adaptations aspire to replicate and bring to the big screen.