Batman Mythology, History Gets New Boost From DC

DC Entertainment is putting a new spin on Batman’s origins.

The company is revisiting Bruce Wayne’s past and exploring a different mythology behind how the billionaire playboy became the Caped Crusader.

Some of the key elements of the Batman mythos, such as the murder of Wayne’s parents, will remain the same, said Scott Snyder, who has written Batman since its 2011 relaunch.

“It’s not ‘let’s redo the origin,'” Snyder said Monday. “It’s time for a new story showing how Batman became who he is in the New 52.”

Snyder said the decision to rework Batman’s past came out of the success of the first year-and-a-half of New 52, which saw many characters in the DC Universe get new origins and costumes that blended their original appearances with their contemporary changes.

Snyder said that, in this new Batman mythology, readers will see what challenges Bruce Wayne faced prior to putting on the bat cowl for the first time.

This new version of the Batman mythology will go into effect in June in an 11-issue story called The Year Zero. The issues will be illustrated by Greg Capullo, who has been working on The New 52 with Snyder since 2011.

“We tried to preserve as much of Batman’s history as we could and keep what we could of this history intact,” Snyder said. “It’s ‘The Zero Year,’ the one that no one has told the story of before. We see how Bruce became the Batman, built the cave, faced off with his first super villain.”

Snyder also said that the new mythlogy will not “take apart Year One,” the Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli four-issue arc that explored how Bruce Wayne returned to crime fighting after years away.

So what’s ahead for The Year Zero? While Snyder hasn’t explicitly stated which villain Batman would be dealing with in the new arc, he may have let it slip during a January interview with Newsarama. Snyder said, “I don’t want to give it away, but I tried to hint before that, like, Riddler is a character that we’re really going to be focusing on in 2013.”

The Red Hood Gang may also make an appearance in Year Zero if 2012 teasers are to be believed.

Batman isn’t the only superhero getting a new title launch in the summer. Snyder and Jim Lee will also be launching Superman Unchained in June, which will coincide with the release of the Superman reboot film, Man of Steel.

Are you excited for a new Batman mythology?

[Photo credit: Altz996/deviantart.com]