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The Man Who Killed Batman

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"The Man Who Killed Batman"

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 house. He gets inside and introduces himself — but Thorne already knows who he is — Sidney, The Man Who Killed Batman. Sidney, however, doesn't appreciate the fame of being the Man Who Killed Batman because everyone wants to kill or fight him. So Sidney tells his story...

Sidney was an average, two-bit crook who wanted to move up in the underworld, and agreed to go on a drug run as a lookout. The other mobsters, however, see Sidney as bait for the Batman if he attempts to stop the run. Unfortunately, the Batman does show up, and Sidney apparently fights the Batman, 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. But Sidney attempts to climb to the building, and as Sidney gets onto the building, Batman falls on top of a gas tank. The ensuing explosion is impossible to survive, and Sidney, emerging with the cape and cowl, has done the impossible: He has killed the Batman.

In jubilation, the rest of the underworld hold a celebration for his death and toast Sidney (at last a success), but a tough fighter challenges Sidney, leading to a huge barroom fight. The group of criminals end up in prison as Renee Montoya and Harvey Bullock receive the news that Batman has been killed. Luckily for Sidney, however, a blonde woman claiming to be his lawyer (who looks familiar to Bullock) 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 Joker is delighted to meet him, and wants to test whether or not the Batman is "really" dead. The Joker and Harley stage a museum robbery, 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 Joker decides to hold a funeral. The funeral is held in the chemical plant where the Joker was first created, with only six attending members. The coffin holds Batman's cape and cowl, to which Joker attaches "Kick me". As Joker delivers a eulogy describing the death of the Joker's 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, however, the two hoods place Sidney in the coffin, and the coffin is put in an acid bank while Harley plays Amazing Grace on a kazoo. The Joker sheds a tear, but then immediately cheers up with a happy, "Well, that was fun, who's in for Chinese?" 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.

At Thorne's house, 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 to Sidney that he faked his death and laid low for a while, observing what happened. 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 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 and fooling the Joker, and a pleased Sidney says, "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

Trivia

This article contains a list of miscellaneous information. Please relocate any relevant information into other sections or articles. (May 2007)
  • The fight exaggerated by the shadows is perhaps a parody of the darkly lit fights of the show.
  • The Joker makes a pun on the Latin term "corpus delicti" using the words "batus delecti" while wondering whether or not Batman is actually dead.
  • The Ace Chemical Plant, where Joker holds Batman's funeral, is the original place in the comics where the Joker fell into a vat of toxic waste during a fight with The Batman and became who he is today. It was the scene of their first meeting in Batman: The Killing Joke and 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.
  • Harley uses her real name when posing as a lawyer, despite having been arrested already (and thus having the police department know her real name and identity). This hole was possibly made due to her real name, Harleen Quinzel, not being confirmed yet (or perhaps that Harley Quinn was meant to be her real name), thus, the writers used a name that sounded like her alias, which would eventually become her real identity.
  • 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, Harley's actress 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."

See also

External links

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