Batman’s origin story is pretty simple: Joe Chill kills Thomas and Martha Wayne while they were returning from the Opera when Bruce was just a small boy. This causes Bruce Wayne to take an oath to expel crime from Gotham, which leads to him donning the Bat suit a few years down the line.
However, a recent comic has added a new sense of irony and tragedy to this particular origin story. It is a known fact that Thomas Wayne was a doctor in Gotham, one of it’s most celebrated and the best. However, the death of his wife and himself might have been thanks to him following his own code of ethics, regardless of what the situation is.
Thomas Wayne saved Joe Chill from a fatal accident
In a recent development in the comics, it was revealed that Joe Chill was saved by Thomas Wayne when the criminal happened to come into his hospital. The character was very brutally injured, and doctors around the elder Wayne advised him to focus on other victims of the accident. Wayne, however, ignored that advice, and treated every member of the accident equally, despite there being plenty of evidence that Joe Chill was abusive to his 17-year-old pregnant girlfriend.
Joe Chill, of course, recovered and would go on to slay Martha and Thomas Wayne in Crime Alley in Gotham. This would lead Bruce Wayne to become Batman, who, like his father, would stick to his moral code regardless of the circumstances or the consequences. No matter what, Batman will not kill.
Batman’s ‘no kill’ rule has been scrutinized a lot
There has been a lot of debate over the years on whether Batman’s no-kill rule actually does more harm than good. Batman’s philosophy has him take down criminals, but never kill them, given that he believes that it makes him no better than the criminals he is trying to stop. Under no circumstances does Batman use his immense wealth to fight the likes of Joker with the intent of killing him, despite the Clown Prince of Crime having cheated the system and the police again and again.
Some believe that Batman, like the Punisher, should take it upon himself to eliminate not just The Joker, but also other criminally insane characters in Gotham, given that would put to rest a great deal of criminal activity in Gotham. However, Batman has made it clear that he cannot be the judge, jury, and executioner. It is his duty to deter criminals from committing crimes, but the trial and imprisonment part is completely on the system that Gotham as a society has set up.
