4. Perchance To Dream
A world without Batman. I think a nerd somewhere just caught a chill. Relax folks, don't burn me at the stake. It's just the premise for one of the best episodes of
BTAS. Batman's foes tried every evil plan and scheme under the sun to rid themselves of the caped crusader. Until "Perchance to Dream" no one had come even close to succeeding Then the Mad Hatter had a brilliant idea. The easiest way to get rid of Batman is to simply erase him from existence. At first, it sounds like one of Killer Croc's half-baked ideas from "Almost Got 'Im" but Mad Hatter's plan was more thought out. He decides to attempt some
Inception-style acrobatics in Batman's mind. He captures Batman and taps into his inner consciousnesses, re-configuring the wiring so that when Batman wakes up, he doesn't exist. The murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne never took place. As a result, there is no Batman. Bruce Wayne is not a masked vigilante patrolling the streets of Gotham, but the head of Wayne Enterprises (succeeding his still-living father) and is engaged to the artist formerly known as Catwoman, Selena Kyle. There is no Robin, no Batcave, no gadgets or any trace of his former life. Needless to say, it's a very trippy experience for Mr. Wayne. Even though the viewer, and later Bruce, figure out that something is wrong with this pretty picture, you can't help but enjoy the glimpse of what might have been. If anything, the idea itself is sold short by the show's 30-minute format. The viewer never gets a chance to get immersed in what a world without Batman would be like. It would have been nice to have a cameo by Dick Grayson, and maybe even some of the villains as ordinary citizens. Still, the idea is solid and leaves you wondering well after the episode has ended, not just about a world without Batman, but about the very nature of existence itself.