Transcription
Absolute Batman just introduced his newest villain, and it's kind of a shock. So hopefully the internet hasn't spoiled it by the time this video comes out.
But picking back up with Absolute Batman continuing the Abomination storyline. What this does is, of course, picks up in the aftermath of the last video that we did, which was essentially Alfred Pennyworth being taken by surprise with the arrival of Absolute Catwoman.
Now, here's a cool thing. Absolute Catwoman has been around the Absolute universe for quite some time, right? We know that it's Selena Kyle, and we know she's been there kind of doing things, but this is one of the first real meaningful interactions that you get between herself and Bruce and their costumes. Because, as you guys know from reading DC comics, when Selena Kyle and Bruce Wayne are just their normal selves, right? Bruce Wayne and Selena Kyle walking down the street, they interact one way. But when it's Batman and Catwoman on a rooftop somewhere, their dynamic completely shifts, whether the writer intends for that to be the case or not.
And that's kind of what you see here. Because Bruce asks the question, "Why are you here, Selena?" And she says, "Look at us, right? Our ears match. I'm here because your mother called me." And he just says, "I'll ask one last time." And she's like, "I mean, she actually did, right? But come on, Bruce. Like, you've been missing for months. I was worried. All right? Like, I came to help." And Bruce's response, "I do not need your help."
Now, something to understand here, and this only makes sense in the context of the larger Absolute Batman story. If you have not been keeping up with Absolute Batman or this is your first video, it looks like Bruce Wayne just being a crotchety dude like he always is, right? Batman being a dick. But like, the reality here is that this is kind of coming off the heels of everything that's happened. Because keep in mind, right? Bruce Wayne dawning the mantle of Batman in the absolute universe was to try to make Gotham a better place. Along the way, he ends up facing off against Black Mask, who warns him, "If you topple me, something worse will arrive in your city." And Bruce ignored it, right? Bruce thought that he had the upper hand, only for Absolute Bane to show up. He crumpled his friend Oswald Cobblepot like a piece of paper, and that's why he's the Penguin. He literally destroyed the skull of Riddler, hooked his brain up to all kinds of electrodes and whatnot, and that's how he becomes the Riddler. He lit the entire side of Harvey Dent on fire, and that made him Two-Face. And this, of course, is coming off the death of his father, which we learned about in the first story arc called The Zoo. So his life has really been nothing but loss and sacrifice. But more recently, him becoming Batman has cost him so much. So that's where this is coming from, right? "I do not need your help." Which is really a statement of saying, "You should not be here." And he's not directly stating, "Because if you are here, something bad could happen to you, and I cannot handle that." That's really what he's saying here, right? It's a very, very great moment with Scott Snyder.
And so that's why she says, clearly, "I mean, you've got such a superstar team already." Because Alfred Pennyworth is just sitting under her foot, right? And that's where Alfred just says, like, "I've heard about you, the Catwoman, what you pulled in Penang, no loyalty or anything." And that's when she just like wraps her whip around his neck, which, I mean, let's be honest with ourselves. Catwoman wrapping her whip around our necks. I can't think of anybody who would say no. But she says, "All right, like, if I'm not wanted, I can leave. What's it going to be?"
And this is one of those really interesting elements of Alfred Pennyworth. Because I want to pitch something to you guys, right? Alfred says, "Do not trust her, kid." And this is an important thing. Because up until this point in time, Alfred Pennyworth has kind of been the mentor for Bruce Wayne in a lot of ways. He's not like the main DC universe where he was a kindly butler who raised Bruce Wayne after his parents were killed, and at one point he was in the army, served as a medic, and that's how he patches Bruce Wayne up, and he's got contacts from his old days, which is how he's able to help Bruce Wayne out in various ways depending on what's happening in the story. No, no, no. This Alfred is literally a merc, right? I mean, this guy, this guy is a soldier of fortune, right? And so he's kind of taught Bruce Wayne what he needs to know from battle strategy. But Selena Kyle only really means good here.
And so the question that I would pitch to you guys is, is Alfred really actually helping Bruce Wayne? Is he actually doing what's best for Bruce, or is there something under the radar that's happening here? Is he a Trojan horse for Absolute Joker? And you guys will see what I'm talking about here in a minute.
Because the response of Bruce Wayne, right, and talking to Alfred is like, "Enough, right? Like, I don't need advice. She's leaving right now." And when Bruce says "she's leaving," he means they're leaving, and they're going back to their place, and they're going to touch naughty bits, which is exactly what they do, right? It's a very intimate and romantic moment. And it's one of the things that I'm glad Scott Snyder's keeping, right? That whole kind of relationship between Bruce Wayne and Selena Kyle. It's a hallmark of the Batman comics, right? The "will they, won't they," on again, off-again type of thing.
But that's when Bruce Wayne just kind of sits up. And of course, having been experimented on in Arkham and being given the Venom formula the same way that Bane has, of course, is most everybody knows by now, it's in the shape of a bat on his back. Selena just asks, right, "What did they do to you?" And that's where Bruce is like, "Is that really what you want to ask about, Selena?" And she just says, "No." Bruce kind of avoids this at every opportunity. He never really talks about what happened to him in that place. Instead, he just sort of brushes it off, or he's like, "Ah, yeah, I don't really want to discuss it or anything along those lines." And so he just kind of changes the subject. He says, "So, your helmet, right? It looks a lot like the gear that Black Mask uses." And she asks the question, "Is that really what you want to talk about, Bruce?" And he says, "No." And then he's just like, "Do you want to go on a date?"
Right? So the interesting thing about Selena and Bruce here is kind of a lot of what you see in the main DC universe. They're in love. They care about each other, but there's a wall. They never really let the other person in, right? I mean, they're physically intimate and they're physically vulnerable, but emotionally intimate and emotionally vulnerable, the true meaning of interpersonal connection, they kind of lack that in a lot of different ways.
And so that's where they take off out into the street. And it's pretty much everything that you would hope it would be. It's kind of awesome, right? Because when they arrive at this sort of carnival, Bruce says, "They're called the Red Hood. They're an outlaw collective, hacking, disruption. We had a loose alliance." And so Selena asks, "And this is their hangout, right? So if it is their hangout, then where are they?" And that's where the Red Hood gang pops up and they say, "You are not welcome here." And they literally say, "Stand down. Wasn't that your order to us? But we do not take orders from anyone, do we?" And that's where everybody's just like, "Nope, we absolutely don't." And he's just told, "Get out." And Bruce just says, "We're not leaving until we speak with your leader." And that's where the gang is just like, "Have it your way." Right?
And Selena's like, "This is my kind of date, Bruce." Right? Let's just beat the crap out of people. She brandishes a bullpup rifle and opens fire on all these guys. And my initial thought is that she was using live ammunition. I was like, "Jesus Christ, Scott Snyder. Like, you're having Catwoman open fire on a crowd of people. Like, holy hell." And even Bruce is just like, "What are you doing?" Right? "They're just kids." And she's like, "You know, I hate kids. But she's like, "Take it easy, right? It's just a catnap." Because she's basically firing tranquilizer darts. Now, she's firing tranquilizer darts from an automatic bullpup-style rifle. So some of these guys are probably getting more than one. But the fact is, it's really just kind of knocking him out.
At that point, one of the members of the Red Hood gang from up above fires a bazooka at these guys. And Batman, in this moment where he kind of starts to turn, actually starts to channel the power of the Venom formula and knocks down the entire Ferris wheel. Literally knocks out the foundation of this thing and sends it crashing into the ground.
Now, we already know that like, on his own, Bruce Wayne is like, basically 7 feet tall, 420 lbs. Dude is a beast, you know what I mean? Like, he is gigantic. But with the Venom formula coursing through his veins, it's all the more dire. Because as he starts to use it, he starts to lose himself. And where Selena walks up on him, right, she was like, "What the hell was that?" Right? "Are you all right?" He just says, "Get away from me right now."
And this is not him lashing out at her. Instead, it's the Red Hood gang actually looking at everything and they're like, "Oh my god." Like, "He's one of them, right?" And one of the guys says, "The boss was right." Right? "They are making monsters." And Selena tries to bring him down, right? You know, "Listen to my voice. It's all right. You need to calm down. You need to get it under control." And the Red Hood gang actually has this idea of attacking him in that moment.
And that's where Bruce says, "Wait." Right? He was like, "I told you to stand down because the truth is, they almost broke me in a place called Arkham where they do make monsters, abominations like a man called Bane. But they did not break me. And now I'm going to destroy him. And not just him, his bosses, Arkham. I'm going to burn it all to the ground. But I need your help." And that's where one of the guys is like, "You're the abomination, man. Like, we have to get him."
And this voice comes out of nowhere and says, "Hold it." Right? And they say, "I was never sure about you. I'm still not. But if you're really talking about burning down Arkham, now you're speaking my language." And she says, "My name is Harley Quinn, leader of the Red Hood. So, what's the plan?" Absolute Harley Quinn is here. Thank God.
Now, the real question here is, the weapon she has are, of course, nunchucks. Nunchucks are dope. Technically, they're illegal to own in the United States. But the question here is this: Which one do you guys think is better? Harley Quinn with a mallet or Harley Quinn with nunchucks? Knowing that we haven't seen her with nunchucks. Maybe she's like Bruce Lee, right? She's just going to start pushing people around with nunchucks, right? Just dominating people with these things. We don't really know.
But what we end up doing is jumping to Bane. Now, one of the cool things about this is that we learn a little more of what's going on here, right? That we get this statement where they say, "Good news. We've managed to push your system even further. As of this moment, you're officially at maximum infusion. We never imagined a human body could reach these levels. If I may say so, it's a real inspiration to be working with you, Bane. You're a damn unicorn." And of course, Bane responds and he says, "A wild ass good for work whose meat is too bitter to eat." That's from the first ever description of a unicorn, doctor. And he says, "Soon you'll have my replacement, and he will have his new Bane. Then I'll finally go home." And the questions asked, "Forgive me for asking, but you really believe that he will let you go?" And Bane just simply says, "He has to. I've given him everything. Any moment now, Batman will give in, and my work will be over."
Now, of course, what Bane is referring to is Absolute Joker. If you guys remember the video that we did, and again, it's in the Absolute Batman playlist, it was the origin of Absolute Bane, right? That he was approached by Joker and basically became the Joker's soldier, became what he is now to work on behalf of the Joker, is essentially his hired muscle. But the other big takeaway from this, and it's kind of easy to skim over here, the idea that Bane is just now at maximum infusion, it means that what we saw him do before was not even him at his strongest. It was not even Bane at his absolute peak. That was Bane at maybe 80%. Right? It's it's Frieza, right? You know, "I've been using 1% of my power," right? I mean, it's bonkers. It's absolute bonkers what we're getting here. And it's kind of crazy when you think about that, because you can only imagine what he'll actually look like when he's at his peak.
But at that point, the entire conversation between the doctor and Bane is halted by one of the lab assistants who says, "You're going to want to see this." And you end up finding out that Bruce Wayne has basically hijacked all the news feeds in Gotham City. In the middle of this news anchor talking, right? Basically being a mouthpiece for the mayor, that Batman just says, "Shut up." Right? And he says, "People of Gotham, our city is under attack, not by criminals or outlaws, but by its own leaders. Leaders who have sold Gotham out to line their own pockets. Who've sold our safety, our freedom. There's nothing they will not sell. They've even sold the ground beneath our feet where right now they are growing actual monsters, horrors too terrible to imagine. I tried to show you with Black Mask, but I made the mistake of relying on the news networks. Not anymore. This time, I will show you myself because I'm going to drag one of these monsters out into the light for all of you to see, and then I'm going to beat his ass. I'm talking about you, Bane. I know that you're listening. Tomorrow, midnight, the old Veterans Arena. You and me alone. You win, I will go back to Arkham and become whatever you want, but you will not win. And you people of Gotham get to watch. And just in case any of you are wondering who I am, I am Batman." And at that moment, he ends the feed.
And so, in that moment, we actually jump back to a moment between Bruce Wayne and Waylon Jones. And this is a very, very important moment between these characters in the story because it kind of builds into the tragedy of Waylon, but it also shows why Bruce Wayne is doing so much of what he's doing. Because what this does is it switches to a conversation between these guys. Because Waylon asks, "Right? All the way to the seventh?" And Bruce says, "The end of the seventh." Waylon, he says, "You last, right up to the bell. That's much further than anyone has you going. Every single site has you down by the third, maybe the third." And he says, "This way you go out with dignity, and you make enough cash to open the gym. You win."
Now, of course, what Bruce Wayne's talking about here, and it's kind of a behind-the-scenes story, background story, is that in the past, before Waylon Jones became Absolute Killer Croc, he was going to be in a boxing match, a fight with a guy named Bibbo Babowski. But the reality here was that Bruce didn't think he could win. He didn't really have any faith in his own friend. He called it honesty, but in a lot of ways, it was kind of a betrayal. And that betrayal was exacerbated by the fact that he and Selena Kyle had gone to Falonee or Falcone. I like calling him Falcone. They had gone to that guy and basically arranged a deal, right? The idea was that essentially Waylon Jones would fall, like he would take a fall. He would throw the fight. And that's what Bruce is telling Waylon about here.
And Waylon just asks. He says, "Do you know why I hired you to train me, Bruce? I mean, skill-wise, you're mediocre at best." He says, "I hired you because you're my best friend. Guys like Bibbo, Falcone, they're ruining our city. So, no, I don't want to cut a deal with them. I want to beat them here in this ring with someone in my corner who believes in me, man. Believes in all of it and what we've been through. You, me, the odds we've overcome. I thought you were that person, but I guess I was wrong. So, you, Bruce Wayne, are fired." And Bruce tries to seemingly apologize here, but Waylon just says, "No." Right? He says, "And I'm going past the seventh. I'm going to win the whole thing now. Get out of here. I have a fight to get ready for."
And so it's Waylon Jones' feeling of incredible betrayal by Bruce Wayne. And that feeling of betrayal seemingly never went away. And so when Bruce Wayne became Batman, and then Waylon Jones was taken by Arkham because of Batman's actions with regards to Black Mask, Batman carries that weight with him everywhere he goes.
And so when you switch back to Bruce and Selena, right, Selena says, "There's not much around the vet to use to your advantage." And that's where Bruce says, "No, right? That's the point. It's isolated. It's run down. Just me and him. Last man standing." And so she says, "I get it, right? I just need you to promise me one thing." And Bruce asks, right? He's like, "You know, what is it? Like, what is it that you want me to promise?" And she says, "Do not use the Venom, Bruce. It's what they want, and it's not worth it. I've seen what it does to people."
And that's the interesting thing. Because Bruce kind of already seems to be tumbling down the path. And while we haven't necessarily seen the ins and outs of everything that Bane did when he first received Venom and the injections from Absolute Joker, it seems to have followed this pattern. Because Bruce says, "When I use it, I could see every move those Red Hood kids were going to make. I was 10 steps ahead, 50 steps. I just have to learn how to control it. But Venom is the only way that I can win." And that seemed to be the case of Bane, that the Venom formula does enhance your mind and your body. It puts you that much further ahead of everybody. You become a master of strategy in a way that most people can only dream. Bruce Wayne was told by Alfred that's the effects of Venom. And Bruce Wayne witnessed it firsthand when Bane pummeled him like a ragdoll. And that's kind of what Bruce is starting to adopt. He's tumbling down this rabbit hole of needing Venom in order to come out on top.
And that's why Selena says, "It's not the only way. You have people who can help. I can help." And Bruce just says, "You have not seen him, and you have not seen what he can do." But she says, "I have." Because she has seen what happened to Harvey Dent. She saw what happened to Edward Nigma. She saw what happened to Oswald Cobblepot. Sure, she herself has not been grasped by Bane and crushed in some capacity, but she's still seeing what he can do. And she says, "They're my friends, too, Bruce, even when I'm not here. I want to take this Bane down as badly as you do, but not like this."
And so Bruce fires his own words back at her, right? Where he says, "If the rules aren't fair, stop playing by them. That's what you said." And she just kind of says, "Well, you know, maybe, maybe I was wrong." And his response, "It's easy to say that now that you've got everything, right? Like, now that you've achieved everything that you wanted, or you have all the stuff that you were acquiring, right? Your gear, your suit, your gadgets. Now you have the luxury of sitting back and saying, 'Well, maybe I didn't go about it the best way, right?' But you've crossed the finish line, right? Words like that don't mean anything once you've crossed the line. They matter when you're on your way to that finish line because then you can turn back and you turn down what you were shooting for because you realize the way in which you were trying to get it was the wrong way to do it."
And that's what Bruce says, right? "Look at your helmet, your gear. Don't tell me that you got where you are by playing clean." And she just says, "No, right, I didn't. But you're better than this. And you always were." And that's where Bruce just says, "Not anymore." Right? "I'm going to wreck that guy, and I'm using the Venom. If you can't handle it, then maybe you should go again." And her response, "Maybe I should." Right? "Take care of yourself, Wayne." And she just seemingly walks away.
And that's where Alfred just says, "I'd ask you if you're all right, but I already know the answer. Right? You're just gonna say that you're fine." And Bruce, of course, says, "You know, I am fine." And Alfred says, "Good. This is the part I was telling you about, kid. The part where you have to push through the tunnel. You stop. You even slow down, you'll get ground up. So, let go of what you were, that man, soft and weak. Bury him deep in the mud and become what you need to be, what you were meant to be, and rise as the monster. Because this is war, and there are no rules except winning."
That's why I'm asking you the question: Is Alfred actually helping Bruce, or is Alfred mentally preparing Bruce to replace Bane? Because Alfred actually works for Absolute Joker. Let me know what you guys think down in the comments section. With that being said, we're going to bring this to an end. Hopefully you guys enjoyed this video. If you did, drop a like. Make sure you guys hit the subscribe button. Thank you all for watching, and I will catch you all later. Peace.