The following contains spoilers for The Flash, in theaters now.
2023’s The Flash featured a few different versions of Batman from DC’s cinematic multiverse. Barry Allen continued working with Ben Affleck’s Batman in the DCEU as The Flash, though everything changed after he went back in time to save his mother’s life. He teamed up with Michael Keaton’s Batman from the Burtonverse to help him restore the timeline and save the world.
Each cinematic version of Batman has developed its own loyal fanbase. The same holds true for the comics, as multiversal variants of the Dark Knight have made a lasting impact on fans. What started as one-off appearances for characters like Gotham by Gaslight or Flashpoint’s Batman have turned into recurring roles in multiversal stories that extend into other media.
10 Kal-El/Batman
First Appearance: Superman: Speeding Bullets (November 1993) by J.M. DeMatteis and Eduardo Barreto
Some of DC’s best Elseworlds stories explore Superman’s origin in exciting new ways by changing the location of his arrival on Earth. In Superman: Speeding Bullets, Kal-El’s rocket landed near Gotham City instead of in Kansas. Thomas and Martha Wayne witnessed the ship’s crash landing and rescued the infant inside the Kryptonian rocket.
The Waynes named him Bruce and raised him as their own. When they were tragically gunned down in Crime Alley, Bruce’s Kryptonian powers emerged and he killed their attacker. Kal-El became a dark version of Batman who brutalized his enemies. However, Lois Lane convinced him he could be a better hero, and he abandoned his dark identity for a new role as Superman.
9 Dr. Kirk Langstrom/Batman
First Appearance: Justice League: Gods and Monsters Chronicles, Season 1, Episode 1, “Twisted”
Bruce Timm put a dynamic new spin on the Justice League a few years after he helped launch the DC Animated Universe with Batman: The Animated Series. A new DC Trinity appeared in Justice League: Gods and Monsters that replaced the usual Batman with a Man-Bat. In the Gods and Monsters universe, Dr. Kirk Langstrom’s research used bat saliva to potentially cure cancer.
While the serum cured Dr. Langstrom’s lymphoma, he also developed a vampiric need for blood. A unique variant of Zod named Hernan Guerra/Superman found Langstrom and helped him stabilize his condition. He gained enhanced strength, durability, and the ability to fly due to his vampiric condition, which inspired him to become Batman and join the Justice League.
8 Bruce Wayne/The Broken
First Appearance: Tales from the Dark Multiverse - Batman: Knightfall #1 (December 2019) by Scott Snyder, Kyle Higgins and Javi Fernandez
When Azrael refused to return Bruce Wayne’s title and severely injured the former Dark Knight, he created a dark multiversal reality. In the Tales from the Dark Multiverse - Batman: Knightfall one-shot, Azrael imprisoned and tortured Batman for thirty years. Jean-Paul Valley burned Gotham City to the ground and rebuilt it in his image, rechristening himself as Saint Batman in the process.
Saint Batman brutally removed all of Bruce Wayne’s limbs but kept his head and torso alive and in agony for years. Talia al Ghul allied herself with the Son of Bane to free Bruce Wayne. They injected his dying body with advanced nanotechnology that both rebuilt and empowered him as The Broken. He killed Azrael and reclaimed Gotham City which he could now rule for eternity.
7 “Batmankoff”
First Appearance: Superman: Red Son #1 (June 2003) by Mark Millar and Dave Johnson
Superman: Red Son is an Elseworlds story that explores an alternate landing point for Kal-El’s rocket as an infant. The powerful Kryptonian landed in a Soviet farm collective instead of Kansas. The state raised him as their superpowered military deterrent, kicking off a metahuman Cold War that reimagined the heroes and villains of the DC universe.
While his true name was never revealed, fans have affectionately referred to the Red Son variant of Batman as “Batmankoff.” After a Soviet police force murdered his parents, he grew up to rebel against Superman’s eventual rule as the mysterious Batman. He sacrificed his life in a last-ditch effort to weaken Superman, inspiring others to take up his mantle and fight back.
6 Bruce Wayne/The Batman Who Laughs
First Appearance: Dark Days: The Casting #1 (September 2017) by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo
The Batman Who Laughs is another terrifying version of the Dark Knight from the Dark Multiverse. When The Joker from Earth -22 pushed Batman too far, Bruce Wayne snapped the Clown Prince of Crime’s neck and killed his old foe. However, Joker exhaled a death toxin with his final breath that transformed Batman into a dark Jokerized variant.
The Batman Who Laughs killed his closest allies and conquered and destroyed his world with an army of Jokerized orphans that became his Robins. The evil Bat-God named Barbatos enlisted The Batman Who Laughs to lead a group of multiversal Dark Knights in an invasion of the DC multiverse. He eventually increased his power to become the Darkest Knight during the Death Metal event.
5 Logan Wayne/Dark Claw
First Appearance: Marvel Versus DC #3 (April 1996) by Ron Marz and Claudio Castellini
A brand new merged universe known as Amalgam Comics appeared in the ‘90s during the Marvel vs. DC/DC vs. Marvel event. Popular characters from each company merged together to become new heroes already established in an existing universe. DC’s Batman and Marvel’s Wolverine fused together to become Logan Wayne, a military man turned vigilante named Dark Claw.
After the Weapon X project attached adamantium metal to his bones and gave him razor-sharp claws, he returned to New Gotham City to become its costumed protector. He allied with an amalgamation of Jubilee and Robin known as Sparrow. Dark Claw fought against a brutal Joker/Sabretooth hybrid known as the Hyena and other deadly foes as one of Amalgam’s best heroes.
4 Batman: Vampire
First Appearance: Batman and Dracula: Red Rain (February 1992) by Doug Moench and Kelley Jones
Batman has always been a creature of the night, but Batman and Dracula: Red Rain gave the Elseworlds character a dark vampiric edge. When Dracula arrived in Gotham City and started claiming victims, Batman realized he needed to increase his power to fight the supernatural master of vampires.
He allowed one of Dracula’s thralls to slowly turn him into a vampire so he could take down Dracula on even terms. While Batman was successful, he eventually succumbed to the dark transformation. Batman used his new abilities to keep Gotham City safe, though the bloodlust ultimately led him to murder his enemies, turn on his allies, and vampirize his world.
3 Thomas Wayne/Batman
First Appearance: Flashpoint #1 (July 2011) by Geoff Johns and Andy Kubert
The Flash loosely adapted the Flashpoint comic event, which featured Barry Allen’s attempt to change the past by running back in time to stop his mother’s murder. This created a wildly different timeline that completely altered DC's heroes while placing the world on the brink of war between the powerful forces of Aquaman’s Atlanteans and Wonder Woman’s Amazons.
Allen sought out the help of Gotham City’s Batman. However, he discovered that Joe Chill murdered Bruce Wayne in Crime Alley instead of his parents. Thomas Wayne became an older and more brutal variant of Batman, while his wife Martha snapped and became Flashpoint’s Joker. Thomas Wayne’s Batman survived past the end of the Flashpoint universe due to his ongoing popularity.
2 Bruce Wayne/Victorian Batman
First Appearance: Gotham by Gaslight (January 1990) by Brian Augustyn and Mike Mignola
The first official Elseworlds title was 1990’s Gotham by Gaslight, which featured a Victorian-era take on Bruce Wayne and Batman. He spent time training with professionals like Dr. Sigmund Freud on a trek across Europe before returning to Gotham City. He soon learned of a series of murders that resembled London’s Whitechapel murders, committed by the mysterious Jack the Ripper.
The Ripper framed Bruce Wayne for his murders, so he broke out of Arkham Asylum to hunt down the real killer as Batman. The Victorian Dark Knight discovered Jack the Ripper’s true identity, cleared Bruce Wayne’s name, and became Gotham City’s protector. Gotham By Gaslight’s animated adaptation further expanded the influential DC Elseworlds comic.
1 Terry McGinnis/Batman Beyond
First Appearance: Batman Beyond, Season 1, Episode 1, “Rebirth”
In the future timeline of the DC Animated Universe, a new hero carried on the legacy of the Dark Knight in the popular Batman Beyond animated series. High school student Terry McGinnis started working with an elderly Bruce Wayne after he discovered the corporate mogul’s former secret identity as Batman.
McGinnis wore a new advanced batsuit that completely redefined Batman’s look for a new generation of fans. As McGinnis found his footing as the new Batman, he developed his own gallery of rogues and learned more about Bruce Wayne’s past and his broken relationships with his allies. McGinnis's success as Batman Beyond translated to the comics where his adventures continue.