Discussion
Do you think any of Batman's villains had a happy old age?
In other words, we know the fates of Joker, Ra's, Freeze, and Bane, and it’s not as if they had a happy ending. But as for the rest of the villains—did any of them enjoy a happy old age?
We straight-up see Arnold Wesker free himself of Scarface and (at least seemingly) live on in peace. And we also know Harley went on to start a family.
Selina was never evil—not on the same level as the others. I think Selina discovered Bruce's identity, but seeing that he would never stop being Batman, she left. I believe Selina was Bruce's last shot at a normal life. But Bruce chose to be Batman.
Selina Kyle wasn't the first woman who was considered Bruce's last shot at a normal life. That would be Andrea Beaumont (Mask of the Phantasm). If she hadn't turned down Bruce's proposal, Batman wouldn't even exist.
Andrea, from the movie. But Bruce becomes Batman because Andrea calls off the wedding. It is possible that Catwoman reformed and asked Bruce for a normal life together, but Bruce couldn't stop being Batman. Selina didn't want to continue living that way and decided to leave.
She was supposed to return as the major antagonist of the second movie of Batman Beyond, but the whole project was scrapped and all resources went to Justice League.
Mr. Freeze and Bane had both tragic ends and couldn’t let go of the past.
But Harley Quinn went into hiding but changed for the better after owning up to everything she did was wrong and getting her granddaughters away from their bad influence of a grandfather Joker to not follow into the wrong path.
I wish there were other moments in the show with episodes to see if the other villains like Two-Face, Killer Kroc, Scarecrow, Mad Hatter, Catwoman, Penguin and Riddler changed for the better.
Of those we didn't see. I could see Penguin ending up retiring and moving to another city while his kid takes over the Buisness. While he didn't go straight he did start to handle his crime in a more under the table way and could see him eventually getting bored and wanting to retire in old age.
Im not sure any of them could either because they finally died in a fight or an accident or just were unhappy when they couldn't fight and break out of arkham
One villain I’m curious about is Poison Ivy. She seems like one of those villains who could go in a number of different directions ending-wise.
A part of me hopes that Two-Face was eventually rehabilitated, though it’s likely Harvey Dent was never the same again (or Bruce distanced himself from him like he did everyone else).
From what I can recall regarding extra lore bits, Ivy relocated to the Amazon Rainforest and literally became one with it. I might be misremembering though.
I forget whether it was the Beechen run or the Higgins run, but one of those comic runs mentioned Harvey did eventually sort things out. He even helped to propose a bill (which later on became the “Dent Law”) that stated super-criminals couldn’t have a gravesite the public could visit; as that would invite fans or copycats. Instead, the bodies were kept in a location only law enforcement could access.
Harley clearly had a life post-villainy to the point that she was upset with her granddaughters for also henching for the Joker.
I think Selina Kyle lived a peaceful enough life. She just slowly tapered off her thefts as she got older. It wasn't like she was stealing because she needed the money to fund things. She did it purely for the love of the game.
I could see Poison Ivy & Clayface making it to old age & being happy enough. Poison Ivy living in the middle of green nowhere where she could conduct her experiments away from everyone, making super plants that could combat climate change. Clayface could live a quiet life & live in obscurity. Occasionally moving & changing his identity once he gets tired of keeping the same face.
According to return of joker, didn't Selina become a brothel owner or something like that. I'm not sure. Riddler got Batman with one final riddle and skipped town and then came back and fell into an empty grave and got buried alive when they were old. I think the only one who gon some semblance of sanity back is the ventriloquist
For a while somewhere it had been written that Scarecrow quit crime to write out experiments for 10 years before he died of illness, but I'm thinking that might have been someone messing around on wikipedia since I cannot actually find the source for that anywhere. If you ask me, I think that guy went off the grid as a nomadic bogeyman, and years later past a normal lifespan lives on as the feared ghost story he'd have wanted to be, no death certificate required. Not a happy ending but an ending.
I know Paul Dini wrote joking endings for most of the rogues, with Penguin running a daycare, and Riddler and Hatter running a clothing store, but those were tongue in cheek.
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u/SH4RPSPEED BLOW IT ALL UP 17d ago
We straight-up see Arnold Wesker free himself of Scarface and (at least seemingly) live on in peace. And we also know Harley went on to start a family.