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The idea Superman couldn’t detect the change in his biology given he could tell Terry was Bruce’s biological son just by looking at him is insane

a nihilistic character freaking out when they die because turns out they realize they actually do care about their lives is great and all, very poignant, but holy shit owlman going "it doesnt matter." and even smirking a bit as he died??? another level. in it to the end, that bitch. because it doesnt just fit with his character, it proves that throughout it all he 100% believed nothing actually mattered. true nihilism. amazing.

"We need to make a Batman and Joker fusion" Virgins: The Batman Who Laughs Chads: The Green Goblin

Batman: "I didn't call you all together to hel-" Jason: "Heard enough." *Fucking shoots him*

One of my favorite small parts of owlman's death scene is that Batman intentionally left the abort button open, and gave owlman a dimensional transporter. If he wanted, owlman could've turned off the bomb and went back home alive, bc batman even values owlman's life. But owlman's own nihilism leads to his death. That's the perfect ending for their fight. This is why batman is one of the best heroes. Not bc he "solo the whole verse with prep time no diff"

The Batman who Laughs could be a really compelling body horror story about fighting against a self that is transforming into your greatest ideological enemy. But instead it was just the line "and then batman goes insane and kills everyone" over and over in visual form.

the fact that jason was present and still didn't pick up on bruce's shenanigans is proof of extreme plot armor brainrot

Redhood wears a ballistic mask just to get shot in the head through it

I love how OwlMan simply says “It doesn’t matter.” with a smile on his face while he dies. He truly and fully believed in his nihilistic principles till the end

Batman who laughs is the ultimate example of the people who think batman can solo the universe. Owlman is a batman who lost his care for the world around him

Fun fact: the Batman who laughs is named after an old black and white movie called ‘the man who laughs’ which was one of the main inspirations for the ORIGINAL joker way back when

I love the look of the animated Owlman, he is so expresionless, it totally sells the idea that he doesn't care about anything

The best thing about Owlman is he was true to himself at the very end.

From what I have seen, the Batman who laughs is essentially the definition of a character who literally never loses and becomes a literal god like being just because.

Honestly, the fact Superman didn't make an immediate connection between the already-Jokerized children and Batman's EXTREMELY suspicious cackle is simply another case of an iconoclastic writer with Batman on the brain having it in for Superman.

The batman who laughs was created after he got pallet stunned one-too-many times.

The final scene about Owlman realizing he's bulletproof in a Meta sense is actually glorious, and him telling the Bay Baby he's not going to come back because he's a dumb idea is such a metal line.

Batman who laughs is a power fantasy fanfix by a batman fan. Owlman is a batman who looked into the abyss, and blinked.

His final words "it doesn't matter" are brilliant character writing. When he sees the yes and no buttons, he gives up. As far as he's concerned, if he presses the yes button, he creates a new world where he pressed no, and vice versa. To him, if he takes action then one Owlman lives and another dies. Under that logic, there's no point in pressing either button, and that's the definition of not mattering

The Batman who laughs is the very definition of plot armor, not just him, his entire evil Batman and robin army, he is literally the Goku vs argument.

My biggest issue with the Batman Who Laughs is they never made him a Jokerized Batman, they just made him evil. They kept focusing on the whole fact "he's Batman so he's always one step ahead" but never played into his sheer insanity. Plus he just showed up in everything for no reason

I never realized how this story ignores how Batman had a plan in case he ever went crazy, that being THE ENTIRE JUSTICE LEAGUE.

(For reference, 6:54 is what I'm talking about here, for anyone that needs to hop right to that section) The whole "Batman wins with prep time" is something I always thought people talked about when referring to these heroes, like... _individually_ . Like, if he was alone in a room with Flash and had his contingency ready, then he could possibly incapacitate him. One after the other? It'd probably start going downhill after a bit unless he picked his targets wisely, but I think it's somewhat reasonable for him to be able to take out at least _some_ of the Justice League like that. All at once, though? Definitely not. Batman's biggest thing, shown masterfully in the Arkham games, is his ability to pick off targets one by one, instill fear into their companions, and fighting dirty from the shadows. He hides, he waits, and then he strikes. If he tried to brazenly take on the _entire Justice League on his own_ , he'd absolutely get stomped.

One thing I love is that Batman’s origin has a bat lifting him up and bringing a peaceful message to comfort him while he was grieving meanwhile Owlman’s sign was violent when the owl slashed his face with its talon and left a scar on his face that would always remind him of what he lost that night and how the same people he lost were just as bad if not worse than the one who took them from him. The signs that inspired their hero alter egos ultimately resemble how they deal with crime where Batman tries to lift people up and comfort them and give them the help they so desperately need meanwhile Owlman only brings violence and death because he believes that every man is unredeemable and therefore even though he doesn’t even know you, he hates you and will slash at you without hesitation.

My brain is so rotted because i started laughing when owl man said "man".

Batman viewing all human life as sacred is so much better of a justification for his no kill policy than the sociopathic "once you pop, you can't stop" excuse.

Batman just popping all his kids is especially stupid because even if they can't see it coming for some reason, or Batman doesn't give an evil speech and just goes for the kill, we know Nightwing dodges bullets like Neo and Red Hood has a tank's worth of body armor on him at all times.

I like to think that if there is a Batman Who Laughs universe, there is an opposite Joker Who Bats universe, that is essentially an inversion of a Marvel Ruins setting, where everyone makes the most wholesome choices and there aren't any villains, just more heroes, and they all only have to focus on preventing people from going down dark paths in the first place. Jolly philanthropist Bruce Wayne is the benefactor of a Sesame Street type program for Gotham and the Joker Who Bats is a regular guest who tells jokes while teaching the importance of sportsmanship, physical health, and not letting one bad day bring you down. Dr. Crane teaches kids that their worries are like crows, they can be a problem in a big swarm, but if you chase them away one by one, they're no match. Occasionally Constable Castle comes by as "The Preventer" to give PSAs about public safety topics.

I really like your summary. Batman realized that even the mugger who killed his family and he hated so much was still human. Owlman realized that even his family who he loved so much was still human. The same conclusion, and yet radically opposite ones.

One of my favorite lines from Owlman actually comes from the Heavy Metal event. He's working with all the evil Batman, but then suddenly betrays them. And the reason for this is: if all of them die, even if he dies, or the whole multiverse dies, he will still come back. Because he's a good idea, and the other evil Batmen aren't.

19:31 about that, in the movie i believe Owl man states his costume contains an "exosuit" sort of construction that he designed to grant him enhanced strength so he could then fight heavy hitters specifically the man used it to parry wonder woman's attacks if memory serves me right, so i'd say it it works quite well, meaning yeah, he might just have carried that bomb to the platform.

“We cut to nightwing, batgirl, Red Robin, and red hood.” Dang it, now I’m hungry.

I remember them announcing a Harley Quinn who Laughs, and I rolled my eyes. What’s next? The Joker who Laughs Harder?

I feel like something people forget about Joker's whole "One Bad Day" thing is that he is lying. He outright doesn't know his own backstory. And The Killing Joke shows that Joker is doing all he can to prove the One Bad Day idea by trying to break Jim Gordon, but it doesn't work

The novelty of The Batman Who Laughs was that it was basically kinda picking up on the idea from Arkham Knight, with a Batman with Joker's personality and madness. The idea on paper is pretty damn neat of course, it's a Batman with Joker levels of crazy. The main concern people had back when he was introduced was that he was gonna be milked like hell. And that is EXACTLY what happened. He was a main player in Dark Knights Metal, and instead of just capping it off there they decided to continuously make him the center of attention for a long time. Main antagonist in a Batman run, main antagonist in World's Finest, had his own solo series, and was the main villain in a Justice League arc AND the main villain of yet another DC reset. And in every single of these stories post Dark Knights Metal he always managed to have the absolute biggest plot armor imaginable. He always had a plan for a plan for a plan for a plan, each more outlandish than the last. It stopped being cool and went into lame territory, he just didn't feel like a believable threat at that point because of how ridiculous he was getting. By the time Death Metal rolled around a lot of people were just tired of him hogging the spotlight on every major title and event. This was his main issue, he was miked too hard. He's a cool idea, but in moderation.

jester, the earth three version of joker from the crisis on two earths movie. is so excellent, he doesnt feel like a random hero in joker makeup, he feels like a very similar character with the same essense of chaos and whatnot, but fundumentally different as well he only gets about a minute of screentime, and yet he is so memorable and does so much to make you curious about the history of earth right off the bat (haha) and start imagining all the types of stories you could tell in that world

I feel like Owlman’s death in the movie was a nod at the fact that not only are his convictions stronger than his own sense of self preservation, but him realizing that as long as Batman “Prime” exists, he will too.

15:35 That's actually such a sick way of explaining Batman's remark to Owlman in the animated movie: "We both looked into the abyss, but when it looked back at us, you blinked." Owlman had the opportunity to choose to be better when facing down the revelation that his family was actually corrupt, but he blinked. And that revelation promptly consumed him.

This last comic panel about Owlman explaining how he will live on, but all the "evil batman" in this comic won't, because they were dumb, hollow ideas... It hit hard, because it is true.

It isn't that he took on the Justice League. I mean, we know, he has contingencies for all of them. It's the fact that he took them all on at the same time when he even states that Batman's contingency is the Justice League.

I’ve always said this about the Batman who laughs origin, Jason Todd would ALWAYS have his safety off in the bat cave around Bruce, even in a perfect world. Let alone a Bruce who just KILLED THE JOKER, Jason would not be caught lacking like that.

Let's be real, if Bruce ever tried to actually kill the Bat Family, Jason would be the first one to spot it and put a stop to it. Because he's dealt with Joker the most other than Bruce and he also works with guns and can probably spot someone reaching for one just a little bit quicker than Barbara, Dick, or Tim could.

The way the "Batman Who Laughs" steals Dr. Manhattan's powers makes no sense. You can't ambush Dr. Manhattan in the instant between him rematerializing and him getting his powers. Doctor Manhattan didn't get into an accident, rematerialize, and then get his god power. He got into an accident, was dematerialized, and then rematerialized himself with his powers. It's why Ozymandis's plan to take him out fails in the original Watchmen. What Veidt didn't realize, what Dr. Manhattan explains to him in the finale, is that the very act of putting himself back together from scattered molecules was a conscious act. It was the very first thing he learned how to do (and, hey, it explains why skeletons and nervous systems randomly appeared in the lab before he finally came back - he was working his way up to the whole thing). You can't "sneak up" on that, not even before we get into the whole shtick where he sees the sum total of his existence at the same time (since that IS something a "super smart" character can get around as Veidt had). You can't take that out by cutting a bit out of its brain. He doesn't need an intact body to still be Doctor Manhattan, so why in the world would he care that some bits of his brain meat got disturbed? And even if you somehow could, why would putting your brain into his body give you his powers? Are god-powers over molecules stored in the spleen? Is Manhattan overpowered? You're gosh darn right it is. This isn't a character who was ever meant to be fought. The tension isn't coming from that part of the story. Manhattan, unlike Superman, was never, ever going to take part in any "How will Doctor Manhattan beat the new VILLAIN!?" storylines. The Watchmen universe is never going to be menaced by some alien power that just needs to be defeated, but might be too strong for the world's heroes. Watchmen is coming at it from the other direction. Manhattan is the one and only god in an all too fragile and mortal world. But bad things still happen and Manhattan doesn't stop all of them, maybe because he CAN'T stop things that he knows will happen because they are happening to him in the future (Doctor Manhattan's view of time is a very meta sort of thing in the original Watchmen comic, because he essentially sees the world LIKE a comic book, able to flip ahead or back at any time, but with only a single linear story), or maybe because he doesn't care anymore. But he IS overpowered, and that's exactly why an alternate version of him got dragged into this mess. The writer wanted a super duper mega powerful superhero that "the batman who laughs" could rob to become EVEN MORE POWERFUL. And it picked Manhattan likely for no other reason than how he often ended up on "strongest superhero ever!" lists. The writer clearly didn't understand or care much about the character, or the storyline he came from, or even his real power set.

Batman who laughs: just a loser joker variant Owlman: a demonstration of apathy and it's connections of evil.

Finally, someone who realizes that the batman who laughs is just the batman who lacks meaning or value beyond murder porn.

The reason I consider this Owlman to be the antithesis of Batman is because Owlman does not have an indominable willpower. Owlman doesn't have strong emotions tying him to his intent. In the end he simply shrugs and reminds himself "It doesn't matter" where as Batman is incapable of wavering in his conviction. The opposite of such a strong ideology like Batman has isn't going to be something like the strong ideology of cringe the batman who laughs has, its going to be an absolute lack of emotional attachment to meaning. He feels nothing whereas Batman feels too much. Genuinely incompatible existences.

11:27 That entire psychotic break scene came out of left field, but the punchline with the OP reference what just :chefs_kiss:

Owlman is exactly the kind of vigilante a billionaire would become.

What's neat about Owlman's death in Crisis on two Earths is that he was given choice, and as such there *will* be another Owlman who decided to live. Which is why he says "it doesn't matter" it literally didn't, there *had* to be a version of him who decides to die there going off of the rules he stated earlier.

Batman who laughs: Somehow kills gods by being just that silly Owlman: "whelp i lose. GGs"

I have watched the Batman vs Owlman fight (the physical and the philosophical) scene so many times. There's just something so COMPELLING about Owlman. Phenomenally written, and brilliantly performed by his voice actor.

Red hood would absolutely start shooting as soon as he saw any guns near bruce

The Batman Who Laughed *did* work, at first. The guy was legitimately popular and solidly intimidating. Then DC began shoehorning him into fucking everything and refusing to let him lose Ever *and then somehow it only got worse*

The fact that Batman didn't kill him, but instead gave him a choice, and Owlman's ultimately choosing not to change, to the point where his own death, the failure of his "glorious" purpose to eliminate all humanity, "doesn't really matter", it's so good, so well written, it makes the character matter, even if he himself believes nothing does.

The Batman Who Laughs is the kind of character that some edgy DeviantArt user would put in a fanfiction from 2006. Owlman is like a character someone could put in a superhero deconstruction, and he would fit in perfectly.

Another thing that doesnt make sense about the Batman who laughs, is that he really shouldnt have been created through chemicals. Batman famously has resisted and created antidotes to Joker toxins

Something I love about Owlman is how he is a mirror to Batman in *philosophy*. It's written clearly by someone who deeply understands Batman, and rewrote what would happen if Batman became a nihilist instead of what is basically a structuralist. Owlman works he becomes a critique of philosophy, and functions as a rejection of what some people believe to be Batman's philosophy. The Joker sort of works because he's the fundamental opposite of Batman. He doesn't have the same philosophical base for his beliefs, because he barely has any real beliefs. This makes him a useful villain, but hardly a great character. He's a VERY good writing tool, a personification of chaos and death, almost a force of nature. A great thing for the very human Batman, who values life and justice above all else, to struggle against. But if you try to mix the two concepts, turn the Batman into the Joker, that's always going to be a very hard sell, because fundamentally a Batman and Joker story are written like a Man v Nature story. It's like trying to combine the characters of "Jeff the Random Guy" and "Hurricane Katrina". Like, I'm sure a VERY VERY good writer could make it work but it would not be easy and is ultimately a bad idea.

“The Batman who laughs is just the Sonic.exe of the Batman mythos.” Is the best way to describe this character I’ve ever seen.

The entire point of Batman’s prep time is that he has planned for all of those outcomes in 100 different ways. It doesn’t matter if flash overwhelms him, he already planned for that.

"joker juice" sounds like a euphamism for bong water

What makes Owlman great and what makes BMWHL terrible is that Owlman explores the alternate paths that Bruce could've taken and explores individual circumstances in his life that could've explored different paths. Owlman dating Super Woman is if Batman dated Diana but their relationship was as healthy as diving headfirst into a pool of acid. BMWHL is just "Evil Batman" That's it.

The thing about "The Batman who Laughs" is that it is like DC looked at one the most fascinating aspect of the Arkham Knight games' storyline and said to themselves "Let's do that, but execute it much, much worse."

I do love the idea that the ONE time Jason trusts Bruce, he gets shot through the chin.

You know you're in a bad spot as an evil batman when the Warhammer 40k Batman-expy that was made to be *specifically outlandish and absurd* genuinely has a more coherent and compelling story to his actions.

I’m glad someone else is giving Batman who laughs the hate he deserves

That final scene with Owlman really doubles down on his views. When given the option to Abort he looks for a moment before smiling a bit. With the "It doesn't matter." as he explodes is just cool-

i love the way you're playing the killer in the DBD footage, feels like im watching a horror movie from the monsters perspective. just how the game was meant to be!

Batman saying,”I believe in the absolute sacredness of human life, it may be my only belief” is so powerful, I’m glad I know his true reason for no killing

Owlman taunting the Dark Knights about how they’re all bad ideas is definitely my favorite comic moment I’ve never actually read.

So to sum up your intro, you love yourself but also hate yourself. Preach.

24:36 I NEED to know where these panels came from,they are beautifuly drawn

I feel like a realistic scenario of Bruce actually killing an enemy would be him breaking down and being so disappointed in himself that he wouldn't ever be Batman again or anything like that. if human life is so sacred to him and he ends up taking one, I think it would just break him, not "satisfy" him and make him want more

The concept of the Batman who laughs is practically everything that's wrong with modern iterations of Batman. Batman is no longer a strategist who always tries to find the good in people, he's just some edge lord LARPER that wins because the narrative said so.

I like the conclusion about why Batman doesn’t kill. I've heard repeatedly that it's because he doesn't trust himself to keep it together when he does, to the point that I assume it's fact. This is the first time that I've heard someone say that it's because he values humanity and life to such a degree that he refuses to end anyone's life. It's kinda like a reverse of what Owlman said "there's probably a version of me that's nice and pleasant, but there are versions of you that are horrible, so who cares". Batman seems to think "there's probably a version of you that could've been good, so I'm saving you so that you still have a chance to become that version even when you don't think so yourself that it's possible". And it also seems similar to Joker's "one bad day"-philosophy, but in the sense that every person is "one extended hand" away from redemption.

I will say that Battle Against a True Hero works PERFECTLY for this video. It isn’t about Batman, it’s about Owlman. And that’s exactly what Owlman lives for. The battle against a true hero. A battle of ideals.

Thinking about it, the Joker presumably didn’t leave the venom in his body as a trap for Batman. It was intended to get whoever killed him, and Batman's distinguishing characteristic is that he refuses to kill. Presumably Joker just wanted to ensure that he'd have a successor to cause problems for Batman.

Batman is also the example of how a simple man can reject the evils of the world. He has everything a corrupted man could use. He's rich. He holds emense sway and power in the city and yet he values the people. He uses his money as a true tool for a better Gotham. He's an example that cancer can be contained. Where owlman he wanted to fight it but ultimately succumbed to those cancers

13:55 is absolute gold 😂 I wholeheartedly agree with you. I have always liked Owlman and thought that BWL was overrated and overused. You were able to put it better than I ever have.

I agree that talking about both on the same video was the better idea, because it really puts into perspective the massive rift in quality between these two... by the way, I'm very glad that you talked more about the better character.

I personally like how the Crisis on Two Earth’s film doesn’t delve into Owlman’s backstory. We know who Owlman is at that moment and that’s all we need to know. They reflect on each other’s past in a similar way and only give an impression. They don’t talk about events, but more about the emotions they both faced and how they dealt with them. They both looked into the abyss and know what that’s like but like Batman said, “you blinked.” I freaking love their interaction in that scene.

That little speech that Owlman gave about the Dark Multiverse being dumb ideas, which is why they're gonna die for good, while he'll come back eventualy hit so hard because he's telling them that they're going to die the only way a fictionnal character can be truly killed, by being forgotten. That's one of the most devastating use of the 4th wall I've ever seen.

I was about to search this up after watching a video and then it randomly came up in my reccomendations lol

I guess this means I have to give up on my "Batman Who Laughs" Voice Acting careerr

I don't like how he immediately just drops without looking up or checking any sense of evidence before going mad.

i really appreciate how owlman doesn't start kicking and screaming when he loses, he never averts from his view of existence and just goes along, saying "it doesn't matter". there is so much context beneath that one line and it hits all the right notes.

What i love about owlman is that he is not the drawn out stereotypical robot/ai that thinks man is a cancer for pragmatic reasons. He's still a man and recognizes that, he kind of hates himself for being apart of the cancer. It's self hatred. Nihilism in a character always a product of self hatred, apathy or indifference and this makes his motivation so much better than when a AI does it

Listening to you go through a chaotic breakdown because of how much you hate the batman who laughs was hilarious(I agree with your opinion)

When I finish watching Crisis on Two Earths and think about Owlman: "I want to know more about this character." When my friend finishes summarising the plot of The Batman Who Laughs: "I don't need to know more about this character."

I feel like some writers often forget about Batman, is that he is a man of pure moral code. Batman isn't cool because he can solo the Justice League. Hes cool because no matter how hard his conviction is tested, he will ultimately do the right thing. In a city where billionares and CEOs flaunt their wealth without the care for the people, Bruce uses his money to try to make Gotham a better place. Whether that means putting money on infrastructure like building an orphanage for orphans, to fighting criminals as Batman. Its just insulting that some writers make Batman turn him evil so easily. Theres no way Batman would not do something about his declining mental health, without leaving some failsafe to protect those close to him.

6:15 The worst part is not even the fact that they didnt noticed but the fact that REDHOOD of all people wasnt wearing a bulletproof vest, like, redhood from all people is the one that get in gunfights the most and are you telling me that him from all people does not wear any protection?

One line: We both stared into the abyss. And when it looked back, you blinked.

the real anti-batman is Elmo

I am truly desperate for a joke character named "Joker Who Bats." I don't know what he would be like, but I would love him.

As Red from OSP once said, can you picture the Batman you’re writing comforting a scared child? If yes, congratulations, that’s a good Batman. If not, you’re not writing Batman, you’re writing The Punisher in a funny hat.

Million views that's great man keep the good work 👍 great video

Honestly, i see way batman can take the entire justice league. But to be honest, it's more how long he can hide the murders, how many allies/hazard he can use, technologies (like robot or biochemicals) etc... It's more than just prep time

“Everybody in the Dark Multiverse are glorified creepypasta characters.” That had me cry laughing 😂😂😂

I find it quite ironic how Owlman, who despises human existence and wishes to exterminate it, is a perpetual constant. In a sense he realizes he won't get the nothing he so desperately craves as long as there is existance. Because if Batman prime exists, so too will Owlman.

26:09 Damn, Battle Against a True Hero really hitting hard