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The Man Who Killed Batman is the fifty-first episode of Batman: The Animated Series. It first aired on February 1, 1993. It was written by Paul Dini and directed by Bruce Timm.
Plot
As it pours on Gotham City, a man hurriedly runs to Rupert Thorne's office. He gets inside and introduces himself, but Thorne already knows who he is — Sidney, The Man Who Killed Batman. Sidney, however, doesn't appreciate his newfound fame, as now everyone wants to kill or fight him. So Sidney tells his story...
Sidney is an insignificant, meek man who wants to move up in the underworld, and agrees to go on a drug run as a lookout. However, he does not do this for evil, but to make himself much more worthy on the Earth. The other mobsters, however, see Sidney as bait for Batman if he attempts to stop the run. Unfortunately, Batman does show up, and Sidney apparently fights him, while actually the "fight" is nothing but a simple tussle exaggerated by the shadows of the warehouse they were fighting in, unbeknownst to the other gangsters. Suddenly, Sidney falls off the roof, and Batman grabs onto his hands. Sidney attempts to climb to the building, and as Sidney gets onto the building, Batman falls on top of a gas tank. As it seems impossible to survive such an explosion, the gangsters assume that Sidney has done the impossible: He has killed the Batman.
The rest of the underworld hold a celebration for Batman's death and toast Sidney, but a tough fighter challenges Sidney, leading to a huge barroom fight. The group of criminals end up in prison as Renee Montoya and a surprisingly-saddened Harvey Bullock receive the news that Batman has been killed. Luckily for Sidney, however, a woman claiming to be his lawyer announces his bail, and the two leave. Once in the car, the lawyer reveals herself to be Harley Quinn, which means that the Joker wants to see Sidney.
At the theater, the Clown Prince of Crime is delighted to meet Sidney, and wants to test whether or not the Batman is "really" dead. He and Harley stage a jewelry heist, and wait for the Batman. Surprisingly, the Batman doesn't show up, and the Joker sadly comments, "Without Batman, crime has no punchline." They leave without any jewels and the Joker decides to hold a funeral. The funeral is held in the chemical plant where the Joker had his first encounter with Batman and "became the happy soul I am today." The coffin holds Batman's cape and cowl, to which the Joker attaches a "kick me" sign. As the Joker delivers a eulogy describing the death of his dream to kill Batman, wishing his jokes could have outsmarted his cold, equanimous logic (Harley cries through the entire speech), he denounces Sidney for killing Batman at all.
When he is done, his henchmen place Sidney in the coffin, and the coffin is put in an acid tank while Harley plays Amazing Grace on a kazoo. The Joker sheds a tear, but then immediately cheers up. Just as the acid seeps in, Sidney is apparently saved by getting sucked into a drainpipe. Winding up on the bank of the Gotham River, he runs over to Thorne's house and tells his story.
Back in the present, Sidney requests a way of getting out of town to avoid the Joker and other hoods. Thorne, however, doesn't believe his story, and thinks he's trying to get in on his drug operation. As Thorne points a gun at Sidney, Batman suddenly arrives, completely unharmed, and knocks Thorne unconscious. Batman explains that he faked his death and laid low for a while, following Sidney to see who was behind the drug ring. Sidney realizes that Batman saved him from the acid, and attempts to walk out. Batman then stops him, explaining that he was still in the drug run, but explains that for a few months in prison, a man like Sidney would garner high respect.
As Sidney is led to prison, the prisoners cheer him on for almost killing Batman, setting Thorne up and fooling the Joker. Sidney basks in his newfound status: "A big shot at last!"
Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Kevin Conroy | Batman |
| Robert Costanzo | Detective Bullock |
| Matt Frewer | Sidney |
| Mark Hamill | The Joker |
| Maurice LaMarche | Murphy |
| Ingrid Oliu | Renee Montoya |
| Robert Picardo | Eddie |
| Arleen Sorkin | Harley Quinn |
| John Vernon | Rupert Thorne |
Production notes
- The plot for this episode is loosely based upon a story from Detective Comics #524: "Deathgrip" by Gerry Conway and Don Newton. In the original story, Sid the Squid apparently kills Batman, but this is revealed to be only a delusion that the character is suffering as a result of his conflict with Batman.
- Bruce Timm stated that the idea for the episode came when he and Dini debated on what it would be like if Batman was not present for the majority of the episode. Indeed, it is one of the most-acclaimed episodes of the series.
- Paul Dini was actually worried that people would think Harley playing Amazing Grace on a kazoo as the coffin containing Sidney is lowered into waste was sacrilegious, but nothing came out of it. Apparently, Arleen Sorkin did the entire song in one take as many staff members were laughing as she did it.
- In an interview, Dini stated that it was fortunate that Sorkin was able to complete the song in one take, as immediately after that, she and the remainder of the voice cast also broke into uncontrollable laughter, and "we'd have never gotten a second take of it."
- Sidney's nickname, "Sid the Squid", was apparently popular with the writers at Warner Bros. Animation at the time, as it was also used for one of the enemies of Animaniacs character Slappy Squirrel. It also appeared in the previous episode "Robin's Reckoning" as a past alias of Tony Zucco.
- This is the first time that Harley's real full name, Harleen Quinzel, is mentioned.
See also
References
External links
- Batman: The Animated Series at IMDb
- The New Batman Adventures at IMDb
- The New Batman/Superman Adventures at IMDb
- Batman: The Animated Series/The New Batman Adventures at The World's Finest
- Batman: The Animated Series & The New Batman Adventures at Legions Of Gotham
- The Animated Batman
- Batman: The Animated Series Official Website
- The New Batman Adventures Official Website
- The New Batman Superman Adventures Official Website
- Batman: The Animated Series at TV.com
- Batman: Gotham Knights at TV.com
- Batman Animated at BYTB: Batman Yesterday, Today and Beyond