Before Batman: The Animated Series, Mr. Freeze was just another gimmicky Batman villain who loves cold just for the hell of it. The famed '90s series gave him depth by portraying Victor Fries as a tragic figure who would do anything to save the life of his terminally ill wife Nora, whom he cryogenically froze to keep stable. As a result, the crimes he committed weren't to get rich, but to save her life. By the time of The New Batman Adventures, Nora has been cured, but has left Fries for the doctor assigned to her case. Not only that, but Fries' body has deteriorated to the point where only his head remains, which controls his robotic body. With the last of his humanity taken away, Freeze strikes back at Gotham to make them suffer. At the end of their confrontation, Batman discovers Freeze's body, but sees the head is missing. Fast-forward 40 years to Batman Beyond where we learn that Freeze's head has been kept in cold storage at Wayne-Powers all these years, making him immortal. Derek Powers and Doctor Stephanie Lake approach Victor with a way to make a new body for him Freeze, eager to be mortal again, accepts. They clone him a new body, and with his humanity restored, Freeze attempts to atone for his past sins. Unfortunately, the body starts to deteriorate to its previous cold-like condition, and Powers and Lake want to conduct a biopsy to see what went wrong. It turns out, the main purpose of the experiment was to come up with a body for Powers, who by now had become the radioactive Blight. Betrayed, Freeze escapes and digs up one of his old suits out of cold storage (literally). Returning to Wayne-Powers, Freeze kills Lake and attempts to kill Powers, forcing Powers to engage Freeze as Blight. Batman (Terry McGinnis) intervenes, and in a moment of humanity, Freeze saves him from Blight. Unfortunately, Freeze is injured, and although Batman tries to save him when the building starts to collapse, Freeze refuses his help, stating, "Believe me, you're the only one who cares." Batman escapes, but Freeze is crushed by the debris.
Adam Holmes is a writer who loves a good story whether it's fact or fiction. When he's not day-dreaming about time travel, he's usually immersing himself in all things film, television and comic books. He hopes to one day break into the entertainment journalism industry. Yes, he is aware of his resemblance to Clark Kent and McLovin. Keep up on the latest geek news by following his articles at Unleash The Fanboy: http://www.unleashthefanboy.com/author/adam-holmes
