Why THE Gun should never be part of the Bat Symbol

March 15, 2020

During the production of Batman (2022), there has been a lot of speculation. Every time a new detail has been released; people have jumped on them to attempt to guess plot elements for the upcoming film. This is far from uncommon for any anticipated film. Sometimes a random production photo leaked online has produced some amazing fan theories.

One theory that has arisen since the Batman costume was revealed, is that the Bat insignia might be made from the gun that killed Bruce Wayne’s parents. This was also seen in the comics during the Detective Comics #1000 issue written by Kevin Smith. The theory leading to this is the very intricate design of the insignia as though it’s made from existing machinery. This idea has been run with by the internet as being such an interesting concept for the character.

However, the idea of the gun permanently being attached to Batman, much less right by his heart, gives off a very creepy and unsettling vibe. The reason Batman was created was because of that gun. The gun that took the life of Thomas and Martha Wayne in Crime Alley in front of the young Bruce Wayne. Batman, largely, has sworn off the use of guns because of the devastation it caused to his life. While the idea of that gun becoming part of his armour is viewed as being a clever play on it’s impact, it could also be seen as Bruce now physically carrying around a sick reminder of what happened to him. By being Batman, it is clear that he is not over what happened to him. He is still heavily traumatised by it. But were he to carry that gun permanently, it would become a festering wound. He would constantly be carrying around the baggage of his trauma, and with it all hope of him recovering, or the possibility that everyone would someday be saved becomes a terrible burden.

Perhaps the best thing Batman could ever do with that gun was in Batman: Year Two. In the final issue, after having to work with Joe Chill, the man who used that gun to kill his parents, and having now taken down the Reaper. Batman decides to burry the gun in the one place it could do any good to him. In the foundations of the Wayne Foundation building.