Batman's Army???

[NiallC]

I personally feel, and I have seen theorised online, that Batman is building an army. He, Flash and Superman, though the latter is kept out of it a bit more, know that something funny is going on with people's lives and that something is coming.

Currently DC Rebirth is very heavy with Batman and his family having control over a lot of things. Batman himself is a member of the Justice League and is the leader and founder of the newest Justice League of America. Nightwing is the leader of the Titans, Red Hood has his Outlaws and Robin has the Teen Titans. Batgirl has her Birds of Prey. Batman himself also has his Detective Comics team being built and has Batwoman off doing stuff on his command. He has also come to peace with Amanda Waller meaning that the Suicide Squad is much more under his influence. Batman definitely has strings that he is pulling here, there and everywhere. There's also been quite a bit going on in the way of reforming villains. Clayface, Bronze Tiger, Defacer, Killer Frost and Lobo are all villains who have turned into heroes and the Run-Offs featured in Nightwing are no longer practicing a life of crime. There may be more going on in other comics that I don't read. Cheetah definitely looks like she has the potential to become more heroic in the current Wonder Woman run.

Now we also need to pay attention to the New 52 influence he had. There's all the heroes included with Batman Inc which includes the other Batmen around the world and the Outsiders. He was also a member of the Justice League International, though I don't know if this hasn't been retconned out. The way the Vixen one shot shows things she is a newer hero who wasn't a member of any Justice League whilst Blue Beetle and OMAC in Blue Beetle make it seem like the events of Justice League International didn't happen.

So who thinks that Batman is building an army or is this all purely coincidental? I feel like parts may just be coincidental but the efforts in the Bat Family books to reform villains and build a relationship with the Suicide Squad has to be deliberate. We all know that Batman loves his contingency plans, I feel he must be building those plans.

 

[BlueLanternKal]

Not just Batman. Superman had a "talk" with Lana Lang about something on the horizon.

Superman, Super-Lex, Superwoman, Supergirl, New Super-Man, Steel, Superboy are an army all to themselves and they will be crossing over soon.

And yeah your theory holds up. The DCU is prepping for war with the Watchmen.

 

[Milk Tray Guy]

The DCU is prepping for war with the Watchmen.

I just got goosebumps!

 

[NiallC]

Not just Batman. Superman had a "talk" with Lana Lang about something on the horizon.

Superman, Super-Lex, Superwoman, Supergirl, New Super-Man, Steel, Superboy are an army all to themselves and they will be crossing over soon.

And yeah your theory holds up. The DCU is prepping for war with the Watchmen.

Ah yeah, I forgot Super-Lex was a thing, the only super comic I read at the moment is Supergirl. But that's another reformed villain to add to the list.

Yeah, we know it's the Watchmen, they don't. It's gonna be cool seeing how they continue to slowly introduce them. With big events in the past it's either usual DC villains so the heroes and audience have some idea, or it is a completely new character so both the heroes and audience are totally unaware of what is to come. This has a really unique situation. I do wonder if it is gonna be all the Watchmen featuring as villains, or if they'll just have one or two and they'll just recruit regular DC villains which is why having so many reformed villains on the heroes side will make for an interesting part of the story. Maybe have one or two Watchmen join the heroes.

I've just been binging the new Captain Atom. I think he's going to play a big role considering they've gone to all this trouble of stabilising him. They've also changed his look, maybe to contrast to Dr Manhatten for better drawing purposes. It's also strange that neither Batman or Flash, the hereby leaders of this soon to be army don't appear. In the New 52 Captain Atom Flash was the only Leaguer to meet him IIRC and said that he had been wrong to pre-judge him so he would surely be willing to stand by Captain Atom now, and we all know what Batman is like when it's giving people a chance.

 

[BlueLanternKal]

Ah yeah, I forgot Super-Lex was a thing, the only super comic I read at the moment is Supergirl. But that's another reformed villain to add to the list.

Yeah, we know it's the Watchmen, they don't. It's gonna be cool seeing how they continue to slowly introduce them. With big events in the past it's either usual DC villains so the heroes and audience have some idea, or it is a completely new character so both the heroes and audience are totally unaware of what is to come. This has a really unique situation. I do wonder if it is gonna be all the Watchmen featuring as villains, or if they'll just have one or two and they'll just recruit regular DC villains which is why having so many reformed villains on the heroes side will make for an interesting part of the story. Maybe have one or two Watchmen join the heroes.

I've just been binging the new Captain Atom. I think he's going to play a big role considering they've gone to all this trouble of stabilising him. They've also changed his look, maybe to contrast to Dr Manhatten for better drawing purposes. It's also strange that neither Batman or Flash, the hereby leaders of this soon to be army don't appear. In the New 52 Captain Atom Flash was the only Leaguer to meet him IIRC and said that he had been wrong to pre-judge him so he would surely be willing to stand by Captain Atom now, and we all know what Batman is like when it's giving people a chance.

Not just Super-Lex. Maggie Sawyer is getting creative over at the MSCU. Atomic Skull is apparently the first of many villains turning over a new leaf and working with Metropolis PD as a form of community service.

 

[NiallC]

Not just Super-Lex. Maggie Sawyer is getting creative over at the MSCU. Atomic Skull is apparently the first of many villains turning over a new leaf and working with Metropolis PD as a form of community service.

Really? That's cool. It really feels like they're making an effort to reform villain. I just hope this doesn't negatively impact stories once this fight against the Watchmen is done.

 

[BlueLanternKal]

Really? That's cool. It really feels like they're making an effort to reform villain. I just hope this doesn't negatively impact stories once this fight against the Watchmen is done.

I don't think so because they're creating new villains as a result or bringing back throwbacks like Deathwing. Rebirth is doing a lot of things right. This creating new villains thing was probably an unintended consequence of reforming villains for the fight, but it's definitely not a bad thing.

Super-Lex as an antihero is something I didn't know I wanted until I got it. He's hillariously arrogant. He's like the DC version of Vegeta.

 

[BlueLanternKal]

There's also this.

Spoiler

Lazarus Contract seems like it will be a huge paradigm shift for Deathstroke.

 

[wolf.b]

Wait the watchmen are coming to the DCU??? And how the hell can that be spun as them being villains? This doesn't sound good at all.

 

[Babillygunn]

Watchmen as villains aren't much of a stretch.

I loved the Honest Trailers take on the Watchmen movie:
The Comedian: "Captain America...if Captain America was a d!@k"
Rorschach: "Batman...if Batman was a d!@k."
Dr Manhattan: "Superman...if Superman was a d!@k"