BATMAN: Beneath Gotham

My DC Universe

Gotham has lived under Batman’s shadow for years. Bruce Wayne is already an experienced vigilante, working with Alfred while keeping his identity hidden from Commissioner Gordon. When a prominent Gotham figure is murdered, a mysterious voice fills the building’s speakers with a riddle. The killer is Edward Nashton, the Riddler, who begins a series of elaborate crimes designed to challenge Batman. Each clue leads Bruce deeper into a mystery that seems unrelated to the city’s growing criminal activity. Meanwhile, Penguin uses Gotham’s underground tunnels to transport drugs. During one operation, his men are slaughtered by a creature hiding in the darkness. Oswald escapes, leaving his men behind. Batman investigates and encounters Killer Croc, barely surviving their first brutal confrontation. Wounded, Bruce refuses Alfred’s suggestion to call Grayson for help. Instead, he turns to Lucius Fox and interrogates Penguin, discovering years of disappearances connected to the creature. The Riddler’s clues eventually lead Batman to an abandoned laboratory, where he discovers that Waylon Jones was genetically modified. Hidden evidence points toward a horrifying name from Batman’s past: the Joker, a man Bruce believed had been dead for years. Batman learns that Penguin’s drug operation disturbed Croc after years of hiding, and that Oswald was secretly working for someone far more powerful. Batman confronts Croc again and defeats him, but the creature disappears into the darkness. Penguin is gone. Back at the laboratory, Bruce discovers a hidden recording revealing the truth: the Joker created Killer Croc through genetic experimentation. The recording ends with one chilling message — Croc was only the beginning. In the final scene, Nightwing — Dick Grayson — is revealed in another city, where he escapes the Joker’s men after investigating their network. He contacts Bruce with a warning: “Joker is alive.” BATMAN WILL RETURN.

Story added by cosmintodiresei on September 21, 2026