Batman: Bad Blood 2016

Six months after the defeat of the Court of Owls, Batman [Jason O’Mara] intercepts a crowd of criminals in Gotham—the Electrocutioner, Tusk, Firefly, and Killer Moth—where a masked leader calling himself “Heretic” emerges, claiming to be a vision of Damian Wayne as Batman. With his right-hand man Onyx, the Heretic detonates explosives planted inside the facility, and Batman shields Batwoman [Yvonne Strahovski], but the blast leaves Bruce Wayne seemingly dead.

Two weeks pass. Alfred Pennyworth [James Garrett] sends a distressed signal to Nightwing as the city grapples with the disappearance. In a Himalayan monastery, Bruce’s twelve-year-old son, Damian Wayne, watches news of the caped crusader’s vanishing and sets out to Gotham, driven by a need to confront the mystery himself. Back in Gotham, Batwoman’s civilian alter-ego, Katherine Kane, meets with her father Colonel Jacob Kane [Geoff Pierson], confessing that Batman’s apparent death unsettles a childhood trauma she still carries. Katherine digs into her past—abduction, rescue, and the loss of her sister Elizabeth and mother Gabrielle—before she was discharged from the military and chose the vigilante path that led her to Batwoman.

As Bruce resurfaces, Nightwing—alongside Katherine—pursues the reappearance of the Dark Knight, quickly recognizing that the figure isn’t Bruce’s usual return but Nightwing in an older Batsuit. The pair start their own inquiry into the Heretic, uneasy about Bruce’s fate. The Heretic and his crew strike Wayne Enterprises, forcing Lucius Fox [Ernie Hudson] to unlock the vault, threatening his son Luke Fox so that the Heretic can steal Wayne technology. Nightwing and Damian arrive too late to stop the theft, and Lucius is wounded; the Heretic also claims Electrocutioner’s life as a chilling warning.

Back at the Heretic’s hideout, it’s revealed that he answers to Damian’s mother, Talia al Ghul [Morena Baccarin], who has her own agenda. She keeps Bruce prisoner as the Mad Hatter [Robin Atkin Downes] works to brainwash him. When the Heretic infiltrates the Batcave and abducts Damian, he is revealed to be a clone of Damian created by a genetic program run by Ra’s al Ghul and the League of Shadows. Talia arrives and kills the Heretic for defying her orders, leaving Damian furious at the manipulation. Nightwing, Batwoman, and Luke Fox [Gaius Charles], wearing his exosuit as Batwing, arrive to rescue Bruce and Damian, while Talia and most of her henchmen vanish.

A week later, Bruce appears recovered but still under the Hatter’s mental influence. Katherine and Luke work to bring him back, while they uncover that the League of Shadows plans to brainwash world leaders at a tech summit hosted by Wayne Enterprises. As the brainwashing unfolds, Nightwing, Robin, Batwoman, Alfred, and Batwing clash with Talia’s forces. In a pivotal moment, the Calculator [Jason Spisak] is killed by Alfred, disrupting the mind control and taking the Mad Hatter’s life in the process. Bruce, still under the brainwash, fights Nightwing and is ordered to kill him and Damian, but a stirring speech from Nightwing helps Bruce resist the manipulation. Enraged, Talia escapes in a vessel, only for Onyx to strike back in an act of vengeance for Heretic’s death; the vessel crashes and explodes, and Onyx with Talia are presumed dead.

Bruce consoles Damian, and Alfred notes that despite Talia’s madness, she remains Damian’s mother. The city’s Bat-family—Batwoman, Batwing, and Nightwing—join Batman and Robin on the rooftop of the police station, ready for their nightly patrol. A fresh threat looms as a robbery unfolds nearby, carried out by the Penguin, prompting the team to mobilize. On a nearby building, Batgirl watches the group and contemplates joining the pursuit. The night’s old guardians and new allies stand ready to defend Gotham together.