Batman and Catwoman’s failed wedding lives in comic book infamy, and is the definitive point in Tom King’s eighty-five issue run on Batman that turned the fans against him. The wedding between Gotham’s Caped Crusader and its most lovable cat burglar had been built up for twenty-five issues and a series of one-shots that focused on each of Batman’s sons preparing for the wedding in their own way.
King’s run promised to shake up the Batman mythos forever, and fans truly believed and anticipated this major shakeup to the status quo with many welcoming the dramatic shift in Bruce Wayne’s life. There was some rumbling online relatively early on about the wedding being an elaborate fakeout, but with how much DC promoted it and how many arcs were dedicated specifically to showing how Batman and Catwoman needed each other, nearly nobody, myself included, believed those terrible rumors. That is, no one really believed them until they were proven to be the truth.
The wedding falling through wasn’t just a low point for Batman, it was the ultimate betrayal to the fans. It legitimately felt like a punch in the gut, with months of preparation and hype thrown out the window for a plot twist that didn’t really make that much sense in the first place. And yet, despite its abysmal impact on the trust of the fanbase and the rest of its story not quite reaching the high that it had previously been building to, the failed wedding between Batman and Catwoman might just be the best thing that ever happened to the Dark Knight.
Breaking Up Batman and Catwoman Is Actually the Better Story
Let’s focus on the narrative perspective first, because I like that one a whole lot more. From a storytelling point of view, Batman setting his sights on finally settling down with Catwoman and allowing himself to be truly happy, only for that happiness to be yanked away makes for a great stage from which to study the character. As the issues following it show, this betrayal of his trust brought Batman to an emotional low that has never been seen or even really explored before. Batman is angry, depressed, and hurt in equal measures, and he doesn’t know how to process all of these intense emotions.
Batman throws himself into his work to try and avoid thinking about anything, but he only becomes less and less effective as a hero with a broken heart. Beyond that, he is forced to confront the reason why Selina left him on the altar; she says Bruce can’t be Batman and be happy. This is a line of thought that has always been a major hallmark of the idea of Batman ever since Bruce nearly quit in the DCAU movie Batman: Mask of the Phantasm. In that, Bruce was truly happy with Andrea Beaumont, and nearly gave up on his vow to become Batman until she left. Similarly, Batman has nearly retired when in a deep romantic relationship in the comics, such as when he and Silver St. Cloud were engaged.
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Bruce is forced to confront the idea that in order to help his city in the way it needs he must keep himself miserable. Batman was born from loss, so what if he could only exist while Bruce clung on to grief? Confronting this idea in such a brutal and honest way, with issue upon issue of this being repeated to Batman over and over, sets up the perfect chance for Bruce to disprove it and in doing so break a toxic pattern. One of the major themes of the run is that Bruce isn’t Batman because he is trying to please his parents, but because people need his help and Bruce is a good person who wants to help them. Batman reaffirms the reason for his vow to be hope, not pain, and makes his commitment to being Batman all the stronger.
Similarly, by tearing Batman and Catwoman apart, it made their relationship all the stronger when they eventually reunited. Although it seems like the two fight as often as they work together nowadays, their love for each other was made all the stronger by ultimately putting them in a position where they have to confront their issues and what their relationship means to all aspects of their complicated lives. It allowed Batman and Catwoman to grow closer than ever, which subsequent stories have explored.
Keeping Batman Single is Better for Comics
Beyond the positive narrative aspect of the breakup, there is also a larger, meta reason as to why the two not getting married was a good thing. Let’s be honest, comic books absolutely hate when characters are in stable relationships a clean ninety-nine percent of the time. Sure, there are people who make it work like Superman and Lois Lane, but they’re one of the most iconic couples in all of fiction and they’re a rarity. Other beloved comic couples aren’t nearly so lucky. Heck, Barry Allen and Iris West are one of DC’s oldest and most classic couples, and they’re still only engaged in the current universe. Barry isn’t even the Flash and they still won’t let him get married. And let’s not even get started on Spider-Man and Mary Jane.
With how popular Batman is, and how he has a reputation for being a loner despite having the largest extended superhero family ever, DC would have never let Batman and Catwoman stay married for long. There would have been some convoluted or contrived excuse to tear the two apart, such as when Catwoman faked her death for about three weeks at the end of the regrettable “Gotham War” storyline. Ultimately, while fans would have loved to see Batman and Catwoman tie the knot, comic books (and readers) love their status quo more. If they were always destined to be torn apart, maybe it’s for the best that they parted on their own terms, with no vitriol in their hearts and no horrible excuse to force Selina out of Bruce’s life. God forbid, they might have even killed her off to end the marriage, and that would have been actually unforgivable. By using the failed wedding, DC was able to keep Batman as he is while still advancing the character and leaving the door open for a little romance as needed as well.
The failed Catwoman and Batman wedding will forever exist as a stain in comic book history. It is a tale of betrayal both in the DC Universe and ours, and while I will never be able to forgive it, it ultimately was for the best. Instead of watching the two come to hate each other or having Catwoman overstay her welcome in a Batman comic, we got to see the two together for a brief time, then part as they were always going to have to. Besides, there are always alternative universes and other stories where we might actually get to finally see Bruce Wayne get a happily ever after while still getting to have the Batman we know and love in the main universe as well.
What do you think? Has the controversial Batman wedding fake out grown on your over time? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
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