What Does The Ending To Batman #50 Really Mean?
2. The Culmination Of Fifty Issues
With Batman #50's ending, it's been made clear that Bane - the man who broke Batman once before during the nineties' epic Knightfall arc - looks set to take on the identity of The Dark Knight's greatest enemy.
The revelation at the end of the comic shows the venomous terror of Santa Prisca perched atop a throne of skulls. To his left stand Riddler, Joker and Psycho Pirate, while Gotham Girl, Flashpoint's Thomas Wayne, the Ventriloquist and Scarface, Skeets, and lastly Hugo Strange stand to his right. It's an immense conspiracy, with Holly Robinson - Selina Kyle's closest friend - having also played a part to destroy Batman's chance at happiness.
The villains themselves are all obviously clued in on the fact that a happy Batman means a vigilante at his best. For them, the wedding would spell bad news all around, but if someone could stop it at the last minute, the heartbreak would - in theory - leave the Bat broken, dejected and despondent.
While fans will have to wait to see how Bruce recovers from his failed wedding, there's no denying the way this forces readers to reassess King's run up until this point. The implication here is that Bane masterminded all the events leading up to the destruction of the wedding, including the War of Jokes and Riddles which - lest we forget - took place early on during Bruce's crimefighting career; all the stuff involving Gotham and Gotham Girl just as DC Rebirth commenced; Skeets' shenanigans with Booster where he seeded the idea that a wedding would lead to a world without Batman and subsequently leave it in chaos'; and all the drama between himself and the Ventriloquist too.
Less clear, perhaps, is Thomas Wayne's inclusion. The father Batman's arc had seemingly been resolved by the end of 'The Button', but now it appears he's alive and well, and in cahoots with the rest of Bruce's rogues' gallery.
It's a lot to chew, especially when everyone's expectations have been subverted so dramatically, but it's clear that Batman is going to have to fight for his happiness - even if it does seem difficult for Bruce and Selina to return to the place they were before the engagement collapsed.