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If you’re looking for a holistic theory of how new Batman comic writer Matt Fraction is approaching the character and the assignment, you need to look beyond comics — and get ready to appreciate the fact that Batman contains multitudes of interpretations and media alike.

“There were, once upon a time, three Batman movies in two calendar years,” Fraction explained during his Batfraction panel at Rose City Comic Con 2025. “One was Batman v Superman, and then there was Justice League, which are like the biggest, most apocalyptic, grim, 'it's black on black on black and gray and grrrrrrr.' And right in the middle was The LEGO Batman Movie. All of which are perfectly valid expressions of Batman! That they could coexist in that moment without [people saying] ‘There's confusion in the marketplace! People don't know if he's a Lego or an angry man!' It's all Batman, right? He can be all of these things.”

For those wondering: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was released March 25, 2016, The LEGO Batman Movie was released on February 10, 2017, and Justice League was released November 17, 2017. Yes, that means the three movies actually came out within 18 months of each other, which feels even more impressive and somewhat unbelievable. 

Fraction continued, pivoting from movies to television: “This is why the Batman animated series is the best iteration I like to use as a goal. It’s awesome, because it’s nothing like Batman, except all of it is like Batman. It’s never looked like that before, it’s never moved like that before. It's all different, but it's all the same, and somehow, because it's all different, it's even more the same. And because it's so similar, you can make it so different and that's what the freedom is. That's the job: ‘How do I reinvent this in a new and exciting way?’”

Batman #1 is available now, for people looking to find out how he makes a start.

He is vengeance, he is the night, he is... one of Popverse's favorite subjects. Learn how to do a Dark Knight movie marathon right with our Batman movie guide, and for the true World's Greatest Detectives out there, dive deep into the heart of Gotham City by getting to know Batman with Popverse. Here are some of our latest Batman stories:

• Batman and his prank war side from Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen days will pop out some in Matt Fraction and Jorge Jiménez's upcoming DC relaunch
• How The Wire, prank wars, and superhero-forward comics inspired DC's upcoming Batman relaunch according to writer Matt Fraction
• DC's Batman teams up with Inception storyboard artist Gabriel Hardman for R-rated "open class warfare" story pitting the Dark Knight vs. Green Arrow and the Question