Wrath was one of Batman’s most ingeniously constructed villains, created by Mike W. Barr and Michael Golden in 1984. Many people believe the Joker is Batman’s wicked equivalent, but they seem to overlook Wrath, a man who lost his criminal parents on the same day Bruce lost his law-abiding parents.
But, while one orphaned youngster treaded on the thorny path of justice, the other walked on a seemingly perfect bed of roses. Both wanted vengeance on the individuals who had left them orphans, but Batman wanted to protect while Wrath wanted to destroy.
In this video, we’ll look at Wrath in three different incarnations, as seen in Batman Special Number 1, Batman Confidential Issues 13–16, and a spectacular episode from the animated programme The Batman.
Batman’s Antithesis – Wrath comic book origins
Appearing for the first time in Batman Special Number 1 or The Player on the Other Side, Wrath proved to be one of the most perfect anti-Batman characters. But before we go into his tragically dark, yet venomous story, it’s important to note the philosophical origin of the character.
Back in the day, English biologist Thomas Henry Huxley quoted the titular phrase in one of his speeches; he was trying to emphasize the importance of education on young minds and how it impacted our understanding of nature. He spoke of nature and humans to be the opposing sides of a chessboard. So, the player, on the other side, may play by the rules; but they are always unforgiving towards any and all mistakes.
Writer Barr adopted this concept and gave it a darker spin to create Wrath. In this one-shot, Barr gave the story a sheen that’s unapologetically and consciously comic book-like. The chessboard transformed from an abstract philosophical concept to a Gotham, where Batman was fighting his evil counterpart. Batman, who was the harbinger of justice and protector of law, was now struggling to rid Gotham of Wrath, who was the dispenser of evil and destroyer of law.
The comic begins with a reflection of Gotham’s grim underbelly and dark reality. The night Bruce Wayne was left orphaned by Joe Chill, another child was left orphaned. But unlike Bruce’s upstanding parents, this child’s parents were criminals, who were shot down by a cop, who was none other than James Gordon.
Both the orphaned children swore to avenge their parents’ death, but while Bruce took up the mantle of Batman to dedicate his life to eliminating crime and criminals, this other kid became Wrath, a reckoning for everything righteous, and especially the keepers of law and order, that is cops.
Many years after the murders shook the lives of Batman and Wrath, the latter returned to Gotham to assassinate Gordon, who was now serving as the Commissioner of Gotham. Wrath makes two attempts on Gordon’s life but fails, and subsequently, Batman takes Gordon to a safe house. Wrath investigates Batman’s life and whereabouts, only to learn that Batman visits Crime Alley every year on the death anniversary of Wrath and Bruce Wayne’s parents. Quick enough to figure out that Batman was Bruce Wayne, he tricks Batman out of Wayne Manor, only to defeat Alfred.
Meanwhile, Batman himself begins an investigation of this mysterious assassin, and visits Grayle Hudson, the heir to a crime family and mortal enemy of Gordon, who had sided with Wrath. But Wrath seemed to be a step ahead of Batman. He abducted Leslie Thompkins and wanted Commissioner Gordon as ransom. Batman and Gordon devise a plan to save Leslie and take care of Wrath one way or another. Batman and Gordon meet Wrath on a rooftop, where Wrath shoots Gordon in the chest.
His bulletproof vests were attached with fake blood packs, and Wrath assumed that his criminal parents had been avenged, but when he was trying to kill Batman, Gordon surprised Wrath. In a desperate attempt to escape, Wrath started a fire, but became a victim of his own conspiracy, ultimately falling down the rooftop and to his death. That was Wrath’s story from the first iteration, but Wrath is a unique character because he has more than one iteration.
Published in 2008, the Batman Confidential story arc introduces Wrath, who was a bit different from his 1984 version. Right from his entry into the comics, the reader is made aware of his murderous grudge against law enforcement. He kills an unfortunate cop named Pilchard, who was probably on night patrol. Later, Gordon summoned Batman and showed him the crime scene footage caught on a nearby security camera.
For a moment, it seemed that it was Batman who killed Pilchard, so it’s not difficult to assume how similar Wrath and Batman were, even appearance-wise. Batman left to meet Grayle Hudson once again, knowing that she would be aware of Wrath’s mysterious reappearance. He confronts Hudson about Wrath and asks if Wrath faked his own death, which was a thought that seemed to disturb Hudson.
Batman assumed that this new killer in town must be Wrath’s copycat. Later, Batman and Alfred brief Nightwing on their last episode with Wrath, and meanwhile, Wrath abduct Grayle Hudson. To make things worse, Gotham was hosting a national cop convention.
Well aware of the cop-killer in town, Gordon ensured high security for all attendees and gave them escorts. But one of these cops, Rodriguez, seemed to be overconfident and left for the parking without an escort, only to be shot down by Wrath. However, when Wrath came closer to check on Rodriguez, the seemingly dead cop turned out to be Batman.
As the comics proceed, we learn that the new Wrath was actually a protégé of the original Wrath, and this kid was to Wrath what Robin was to Batman, an efficient sidekick. Sometime later, Batman reached Gordon’s house to learn more about Wrath’s past and Gordon’s connection to it. However, before he could do that, the new Wrath attacked Batman. As they battled for supremacy, Nightwing went to check on Gordon, but Wrath had already planted an explosive in the house and detonated it.
The blast seemingly killed Gordon and Nightwing. However, an infuriated Batman chased Wrath away, only to be threatened by Wrath with a massive machine gun. Wrath wanted to destroy a police chopper before he slew Batman, but the caped crusader managed to avert the tragedy and escape without getting hurt. Batman then visits Gordon’s house and learns that Nightwing had saved himself and Gordon by escaping into the panic room.
Somewhere else, we see Wrath extracting Grayle Hudon from his lair and forcing her into his Wrath-mobile. But unbeknownst to Wrath, Batman had tagged him with a GPS device. Batman and his efficient sidekick follow the signal coming from the Bat-Beacon and reach Gotham Airport.
However, Wrath-mobile begins attacking the Batmobile. After a long and arduous fight sequence, they manage to save Grayle and overpower Wrath. This new Wrath was revealed to be Elliot Caldwell, another orphan whom the original Wrath had abducted to train as a sidekick. After this, Wrath was sent to prison, but he swore to return again and unleash his wrath upon the protectors of Gotham.
Interesting Origin Story of The Wrath In The Batman Animated Show
Appearing in the 10th episode of the fifth season of The Batman, Wrath made a grand mess in Gotham, and had it not been for one of his treacherous colleagues, Wrath would have destroyed Batman. The story begins with Batman and Robin trying to catch the Penguin, but the stout man was helped by Wrath and Scorn, evil counterparts of Batman and Robin. It turns out that Will and his younger brother Andrew were the children of notorious jewel thieves, who were put in jail around the time Bruce was orphaned by Joe Chill.
Yeah, well, it was a children’s show, so the producers replaced the death of Wrath’s parents with imprisonment. Over the years, the Mallorys became friends with Bruce and Dick, and would often hang out. These guys loathed Batman and the way in which he meddled with criminals. Will and Andy were of the opinion that Batman and Robin were obstacles to criminals who were simply trying to make a living, just like everyone else.
Sometime later, the criminal duo helped Joker steal a million dollars and escape. After gaining the confidence of criminals like Killer Croc, the Ventriloquist, the Penguin, and the Joker, the evil Batman doppelgangers called a meeting and offered to lead a heist that would make them richer than they could imagine.
However, Batman and Robin foiled this plan, and the criminals had to escape. Unfortunately for Batman, Wrath learned his real identity and threatened to disclose it to the world, hence putting an end to the Bat-menace once and for all. The Mallorys then attacked Wayne Manor and sought to destroy the Batcave and everything that Bruce had built. Clearly, the Mallorys had underestimated Gotham’s dark knight and were subsequently overpowered.
While in a police van, Wrath threatened to reveal Batman’s identity to the other prisoners, hence sending them all after him. Batman and Robin discussed how their time as asked superheroes had been great, but just about then, Joker revealed himself and infected Wrath and Scorn with one of his permanent laughing gas canisters. It turned out that Joker couldn’t stand anyone else taking away the pleasure of destroying Batman. He’s really setting couple goals there!
Wrath vs. Batman
So, it must be evident by now that Batman and Wrath represent the two sides of the same coin. While they both lost their parents on the same night, and a tragedy befell them, one chose to be the watchful protector of Gotham City, while the other chose to become a crime lord and destroyer of law and order. In this regard, he does resemble the Joker, who also wishes to spread anarchy and chaos throughout Gotham.
But then again, unlike Joker, Wrath tends to be more sophisticated in his demeanor, appearance, and actions. Naturally, it looks seems that Wrath’s mind was an amalgamation of the things he learned from his parents, the notion of vengeance from Batman, and the indomitable will to spread chaos and anarchy, probably adopted from Joker.
Apart from this, Wrath had worked hard as much as Batman so as to become as powerful and tech-savvy as the silent guardian. Yet, no one comes close to the world’s greatest detective, right? So, one way or another, Batman found himself dominating his evil twin from another mother.
It is surprising that despite having a cool backstory and relatability with Batman, Wrath has not appeared in many animated shows, let alone live-action. Nevertheless, we do hope that someday this guy makes an appearance in one of the DCEU movies, and thrills us with his astoundingly perfect combat skills and a mind that’s almost as sharp as Batman’s. That was all in this video, let us know what you thought about Wrath. Is he worth being a Batman villain?