Favorite Interpretation of the Wayne Murders

[BatmAngelus]

Out of the movies, the version in B89 is still the most haunting to me with Batman Forever's as a close second.

However, if I were to go with my favorite version of the story behind the murders, I would have to go with Paul Dini's Chill of the Night from the Brave and the Bold, which itself is an adaptation of the Joe Chill and Lew Moxon storylines.

Here's a few reasons behind this being my preferred take on both the murder and the solution to who killed the Waynes:

- I never liked the idea of Bruce feeling responsible for his parents getting killed, whether it's gifting the pearl necklace to Martha (Jeph Loeb's Haunted Knight), insisting on going to the movies that night (the Batman Forever deleted subplot), wanting to leave the theater early (Batman Begins), etc. There's a previous Brave and the Bold episode where Bruce throws a tantrum about a toy and the Waynes try to cheer him up by taking him to the movies. (This version seems to be slightly retconned in Chill of the Night).

To me, this adds an extra Spider-Man type element of "It's all my fault that they died."  I accept that he'd have some survivor's guilt and a feeling of helplessness that he wasn't able to do anything to stop it, but that's different.

I don't think Bruce should be motivated by guilt or feel responsible for causing his parents' deaths. He's more motivated by a sense of revenge on criminals and a desire to prevent what happened to him from happening to everyone else.

- I don't think the specifics of the movie that the Waynes saw is that relevant. Mark of Zorro is accepted now but it seems a little on the nose considering what Bruce will become. Which is why I can't fault Burton and Nolan for doing something different. Still, I appreciate it whenever it can be used in adaptations.

I think it's more important that Bruce and the Waynes should be happy together before the murder occurs. This is a loving, happy period that's cruelly interrupted.

- I also favor the interpretation that the Wayne's killer was never caught by the police. While it's the murder that drove Bruce to want to fight criminals, it's the injustice that he got away with it that motivates him to go into action and make the vow.

- As for catching the killer, a lot of fans seem to forget that for a majority of comic book history, Bruce tracks down the killer when he's Batman and that it turned out to be a hit from Lew Moxon. There's a lot about this that makes sense to me.

First off, it's established that the Waynes are pretty famous in Gotham society. It seems random and unlikely that some mugger off the street wouldn't recognize them. And if he did recognize them, would he really have the guts to go up and threaten someone so powerful? Criminals may be desperate, but they'd go for the easy prey. A normal criminal would be more likely to target someone alone.

Second, Thomas Wayne basically gets assassinated because he stuck up for his ideals and fought against Lew Moxon. Now many fans prefer that this was a random mugging and that the crime represents all crime in Batman's eyes. But to me, the Lew Moxon story only enhances this world needs Batman. Because even when ordinary citizens try to stand up to crime and corruption, they get shot down. This necessitates that a man in costume should exist to fight those battles and make ordinary people feel safe (as well as safe to stand up for themselves, like his father did).

Third, having the Wayne murders be a hit explains why Bruce was left alive. There's no reason why the mugger couldn't have just shot Bruce too. Here, Moxon essentially needed the kid alive in order to give the police the impression that it was a mugging that turned into murder. Killing all three of the Wayne members would've felt more suspicious.

Fourth, I find it unlikely that Bruce would've put in zero effort into investigating who killed his parents. He's the World's Greatest Detective and this is the biggest personal unsolved murder. While the original Joe Chill story had Batman run into Chill through happenstance, Batman here is deliberately investigating and seeking Chill out.

Lastly, the drama of Batman confronting his parents' killer is just too good to pass up and feels like a major step in his development. Does he break his rule and kill this man? What does he do with him? And once he gains closure in bringing justice to Chill, does he stop being Batman or does he keep going?
I think this story is a major development in Batman's growth and you skip all that if you say that Bruce never found him or figured out who it was.

[The Joker]

Thanks for the link, BatmAngelus!

As far as comic book versions, by far Batman #47 from 1948.

Live Action? Gotta go with Batman 1989. Whatever might be one's opinion on Jack/Joker being the murderer of the Wayne's, I have to say that I really love and appreciate the way Burton filmed the moments leading up to the death of the Wayne's. The slowed down pace. The atmospheric music. The sounds of their steps. Shots of Thomas Wayne playfully taking some popcorn from Bruce's popcorn bag. His mother affectionally nudging at his cheek. All of this gives the impression that the Wayne's were a loving and decent family, with young Bruce leading a very loved, and nurtured life. About as 'rockwellian' as it can get. Then, there is that feeling of dread for the viewer as we see that they are being followed, and soonafter their shadows looming largely over them which comes across as an incredible use of german expressionism.

Very interested in how it's handled in Batman v Superman, but yeah, Burton's version is going to be a tough one to beat.

[The Dark Knight]

Very good points up there, BatmAngelus.

B89 has my favourite Wayne murder sequence as well. It's dream like in its, er, execution, and is actually quite confronting. Napier is a strong looking guy. He stands bolt upright, points the gun with authority and is in complete control, save for his demented smile.

Having the murder being a deliberate hit makes it more effective, in my mind. It's personal and not a mistake. You could possibly forgive a mistake, even if it had long lasting, heartbreaking consequences. Well known people like John Lennon are simply not shot by mistake. They're killed precisely because of who they are. Which is sad and messed up, but that's just how it is.

[BatmAngelus]

Thanks, TDK, and that's another good point.

I think the killer of the Waynes should be young Bruce's boogeyman. The image of ultimate evil. Someone who represents what he's fighting against and makes him clench his fists when he even thinks about him.

I loved that Napier's face in B89 and in the flashback in BF is originally hidden in the shadows when he fires the weapon to give off this boogeyman effect.

Almost poetically, Bruce will later use those shadows himself against criminals when he dons the cape and cowl.

This is why I love seeing Batman himself confront the killer and get to turn the tables in Chill of the Night and B89.

Because this time, the scared, traumatized child is the boogeyman. This time, it's the killer's turn to be afraid.

In Batman Begins, Joe Chill is completely different from how I described. He comes across as nervous and desperate in all of his scenes. He targets Thomas and Martha with the intent to rob them, not kill them. When he pulls the trigger, it seems like he was more motivated out of fear- first, the fear of what Thomas will do to him when he steps forward and then the fear of getting found out when Martha screams. You can even sense his fear when he runs off so he won't get caught. Later, of course, he is easily caught by the police on the night of. Years later, he expresses regret about his actions as well as more fear when he thinks Bruce will say something to him in court.

While it makes the character more human and it's certainly a valid, unconventional take, I vastly prefer the hitman take on Chill from the comics.

After all, a desperate man who made a mistake isn't nearly as evil as a man who makes a living out of taking people's lives, who deliberately murders a father and mother in front of their son.

I want to talk a bit about Gotham's version 'cause I was only thinking about the movies.

I didn't overly like the Gotham one. It wasn't terrible but it seemed pointless; if he was going to kill them no matter what, why rob them and THEN shoot them?

This is my guess, but I believe they're going with the idea from the comics that it was an assassination meant to look like a mugging and that Bruce was left alive to report that the gunman was a mugger, rather than an assassin. We'll have to see, though.

I'd probably rank the Gotham version above Nolan's but below Burton and Schumacher's. The three things I appreciate about it are:
1) I believe it's the first version to actually use blood. It enhances the brutality and the trauma of it. I have a feeling Snyder might add it too for his version.
2) The killer's identity is masked. This is unconventional but also kinda plays into why I liked Napier's face being initially in the shadows in B89 and BF, since it makes the killer seems scarier and Batman himself will use that method against criminals when he grows up.
3) Bruce's scream is another addition. Personally, I liked it.

[The Laughing Fish]

- I don't think the specifics of the movie that the Waynes saw is that relevant. Mark of Zorro is accepted now but it seems a little on the nose considering what Bruce will become. Which is why I can't fault Burton and Nolan for doing something different. Still, I appreciate it whenever it can be used in adaptations.

I think heard that neither director could've referenced The Mark of Zorro even if they wanted to, because WB didn't have the rights till now. But that can't really be true because the film is mentioned dozens of times in the comics.

Since we've mentioned the comics, so far I prefer the Detective Comics #475 - There's No Hope in Crime Alley. The backstory was retconned to fit Dr. Leslie Thompkins into Batman's backstory.

We see a flashback of seven year old Bruce witnessing the tragedy unfolding from a first-person perspective, as he and his parents walk back home from the theater. Bruce made the his parents sit through the movie twice, but they enjoyed making their son happy and didn't mind at all. The moment is suddenly shattered when a mugger attempts to rob them, and he panics when Thomas tries to fight back, and violently shoots him and Martha dead. Bruce stares at his dead and bloodied mother before crying out at the gunman and attempts to punch him with his small fists. The panicking gunman freaks out despite having a gun aimed at Bruce's face, and he knocks him out with the bottom of his pistol instead before escaping. I say this moment fuels Bruce's hatred for criminals and sees them as cowards, and the Wayne deaths signaled the end of the prosperous Park Row street  and began its transformation into the notorious and dangerous Crime Alley...where Leslie Thompkins still resides to take care of the community, and where Batman brings an injured Robin to her care.

In Batman Begins, Joe Chill is completely different from how I described. He comes across as nervous and desperate in all of his scenes. He targets Thomas and Martha with the intent to rob them, not kill them. When he pulls the trigger, it seems like he was more motivated out of fear- first, the fear of what Thomas will do to him when he steps forward and then the fear of getting found out when Martha screams. You can even sense his fear when he runs off so he won't get caught. Later, of course, he is easily caught by the police on the night of. Years later, he expresses regret about his actions as well as more fear when he thinks Bruce will say something to him in court.

If I'm not mistaken, the League of Shadows tried to destroy Gotham City economically, which caused a desperate Joe Chill to mug people in the first place. In addition to training Bruce, this makes Ra's al Ghul playing a role in Bruce becoming Batman. This is the second time that one of Batman's arch nemeses played a part in his destiny to become who he is, the first being Joker back in 1989 of course.

[BatmAngelus]

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley is probably one of my favorite O'Neil stories.

It seems that in the adaptations these days, Gordon has replaced Leslie as the one who comforted Bruce on the night of the murder. While I probably would've made the same choice for Batman Begins (unless I had plans to incorporate Leslie later in the movie), I think Gotham should've had Leslie be the one to find Bruce in the alley and used that to introduce Gordon and Leslie in the pilot. At least then, Leslie would've fulfilled her role from the comics and not just end up as Gordon's doctor girlfriend.

[The Laughing Fish]

It seems that in the adaptations these days, Gordon has replaced Leslie as the one who comforted Bruce on the night of the murder.

It didn't happen in the Burton film, but Sam Hamm's first draft back in 1986 had Jim Gordon comforting young Bruce at the crime scene. Who knows, it might be possible that writers used this idea to incorporate in their own stories.

[BatmAngelus]

Yep and even earlier than that, Steve Englehart wrote a treatment in 1986 for the film in which Gordon was said to be a friend of the Waynes and comforts Bruce at the funeral, letting him know that they're still looking for the killer. I believe this is the earliest instance of Bruce knowing Gordon around the time of his parents' murder.

For the hell of it, I did a breakdown of all the different interpretations of the murder as well as how Bruce discovered who was behind it.

1939: The Original: The very first version in Detective Comics #33 is bare bones. The Wayne family encounters a mugger, who demands Martha Wayne's necklace. Thomas resists and both of Bruce's parents are shot in front of Bruce, who is spared. Since the killer is never caught, Bruce makes a vow to avenge his family by fighting crime.

Adam West actually read the dialogue from this version in the PBS Superheroes documentary:

1948: The Killer was Joe Chill: In Batman #47, this gets expanded on further. Thomas Wayne is shot, but in this account, Martha Wayne has a heart attack and dies. The mugger is a man named Joe Chill, who Batman and Robin later encounter through coincidence years later.

Batman confronts him and reveals his true identity as Bruce Wayne in order for Chill to realize that he created Batman. Chill foolishly confesses this to his cohorts and the criminals turn on him and killed him.

This was later adapted in the Brave and the Bold episode Chill of the Night, with the Rogues Gallery replacing the common criminals who attack Chill and adding Kevin Conroy as the Phantom Stranger and Mark Hamill as the Spectre to push Batman towards either justice or vengeance:

1956: Chill as Lew Moxon's Hitman: In Detective Comics #235, Chill, now named Joey Chill, is still the shooter, but this time, Chill is murdered by the mob before Batman could get to him, retconning Batman #47.

Batman later finds out that Chill was actually working on the orders of mob boss Lew Moxon, who wanted revenge on Thomas Wayne for testifying against him after recruiting him from a costume party to operate on his wound. Young Bruce was left alive in order to testify that this was a random mugging and not a hit on the family.

In the story, Bruce's costume gets destroyed in a fight with Moxon's men, so he dresses up in his father's bat costume from the party to visit Moxon, who believes that the ghost of Thomas Wayne has come to haunt him. He flees and runs straight into traffic, getting killed.

1976: Crime Alley and Leslie Thompkins: Dennis O'Neil reveals that the setting of the Wayne murder was a street called Park Row, later renamed Crime Alley.

It's this version that implies that the murder occurred in a dark alley. Previous versions, however, did not specify this and had it happen in the middle of the street.

This version also says that Dr. Leslie Thompkins was the first person to find Bruce Wayne after his parents were killed and comforted him during his grieving period.

1982: Chill as The Joker's Hitman: Tom Mankiewicz writes a version of the Batman origin for his script The Batman. Here, the Waynes are leaving the movie theater from watching The Nun's Story in 1960. Joe Chill still carries out the hit, but this time, it's under the orders of the Joker, which is the first time in development that Joker's involved with the murder.

The Joker promptly kills Chill to tie up loose ends and later on, the script reveals that Joker himself was arranging the hit  for Rupert Thorne, Thomas Wayne's opponent in the race to be Mayor.

1984: Chill Dies from Seeing Batman: In Mankiewicz's next draft, the murder plays out the same but the Joker does not kill Chill. Instead, years later, a rookie Batman tracks down an older Chill on his first night out and confronts him, revealing his identity. Chill, realizing who's under the mask and frightened at the sight of Bruce coming back for revenge, dies of a heart attack instead.

1985: Young Joker Kills The Waynes...from an Ice Cream Truck: Tim Burton writes a treatment with Julie Hickson in which the Waynes are walking back from a costume party, where Thomas is dressed as a bat, Martha is dressed as a fairy, and Bruce is dressed as a harlequin.

An ice cream truck drives by and a young Joker (already with green hair, pale skin, and red lips) opens fire on the couple and drives off, still playing music from the truck. This is perhaps the least known and most surreal take on the murder.
http://www.batman-online.com/features/2010/7/25/analysis-of-the-1985-burton-hickson-treatment#sthash.m6hXzinK.dpbs

1986: The Waynes Die After Watching Zorro: Frank Miller releases The Dark Knight Returns which, I believe, is the first time that reveals that the Waynes went to see Tyrone Power's The Mark of Zorro (1940).

This is also notable for its imagery in the breaking of the pearl necklace, to expand on the mugger's request for Martha Wayne's necklace in the original 1933 story.

1987: Batman Uses Joe Chill's Gun: Mike Barr writes Batman: Year Two. In this origin, Joe Chill left his gun behind after he killed the Waynes. Young Bruce found it and kept it in the Manor until years later, he began using it in his war against the Reaper.

Ironically, in present day, Batman is forced to team up with hitman Joe Chill and eventually confronts Chill about the murder, putting a gun to his head. The Reaper, however, beats Batman to the kill by shooting Chill to death instead.

1989: Jack Napier Kills The Waynes: In the final film, Tim Burton has Jack Napier and another mugger (debated as either Bob the goon or, according to Michael Uslan, Joe Chill) stalk the Waynes after they walk out of the movie theater.

The other mugger grabs for Martha's pearls but Napier shoots both Waynes. He then steps out of the shadows and asks Bruce "Have you ever danced with the devil by the pale moonlight?" before taking off. Napier, years later, becomes the Joker.

The setting of the crime is not on Park Row nor Crime Alley (nor any kind of alley), but instead is in the middle of an abandoned street like in the 1939 version. This is identified as Pearl and Phillips by Vicki Vale earlier int he film.

The film also implies, though does not specify, that the movie that the Waynes saw was Footlight Frenzy, in having  a poster for the film outside of the theater.

1990-1991: Jack Napier Was a Hitman: Sam Hamm writes a script for "Batman 2," which covers that the Waynes were part of the Five Families of Gotham (and Penguin sends a homicidal Catwoman to eliminate each of the members of the Five Families).

Each family had a raven statue and when all five statues were brought together, it would reveal the location of the treasure that their ancestors stole. When Thomas Wayne refused to take part in trying to find the treasure after realizing it was part of a crime, the other four families then hired Jack Napier to kill Thomas and Martha Wayne.

1994: Joe Chill Retconned: In one of comics' biggest changes, the Zero Hour arc reveals that the Waynes' killer was never identified and all previous Joe Chill stories were retconned.

Until this point, the Joe Chill story has been canon for 46 years.

1995: Bruce's Guilt: In a deleted subplot from Batman Forever, Bruce feels responsible for his parents' death because he insisted on seeing Zorro that night. He later discovers, however, that it was his parents' choice to go and Bruce only insisted on the choice of movie. He believes this absolves him of the guilt, but he decides to continue as Batman anyway.

If included in the final cut, this would have caused a debatable continuity issue since B89 implied that the Waynes saw Footlight Frenzy while BF would outright say that it was a Zorro film. The Wayne murders were also reshot, with the addition of Martha Wayne carrying roses before she died.

1998: Selina Witnesses the Murder: In 1998, a Batman musical is announced from composer Jim Steinman, to be directed by Tim Burton.

In this version, Jack Napier/Joker is still the killer of the Waynes, but Selina is actually a witness to the crime and this influences her to grow up to become Catwoman.

Steinman himself had this idea:

"... Selena Kyle, aka Catwoman secretly, was a WITNESS to the murder of Bruce Wayne's parents. A street urchin who happened to see it all, hidden away. The brutal murders haunt both Bruce and Selena. But both respond totally different to their traumatic bruising. Bruce learns to vow REVENGE and becomes the avenging knight, BATMAN. But Selena is mostly mentally scarred by realizing how easily things that are precious can be taken from you. (Mrs. Wayne's pearl necklace is ripped from her throat.) So Selena grows up, CRAVING precious jewels, & obsessed with HOLDING ONTO THEM! (She never wears them outside, shes a plain mousy woman, but she hoards them in chests.) Only when she transforms into CATWOMAN are her love of danger & lust for precious jewels & "crime" what dominates her. Its the secret total possession of them that drives her, not the public display.

So both "witnesses" to the crime of the Wayne's horrific murder by Joker has mutated two little "observers": Bruce became Batman, Selena became CATWOMAN. Two little "lost" children have mutated thru their own complex reactions to a numbing loss, and in fact fall in love, with a dark, somewhat "kinky" S&M like undertow. This is new to the Batman world.

http://mljs.evilnickname.org/jimsteinman/musicals/batmandemos.html

2001: Lew Moxon Reimagined: Lew Moxon gets brought back into continuity. This time, he is the father of Bruce's childhood friend, Mallory. The backstory is still intact, with changes. I'll let Wiki summarize it:

Batman discovers that Thomas, Martha and (a very young) Bruce Wayne had attended a costume party (to which Dr. Wayne wore a Zorro costume) which was also attended by Moxon. At the party, Angelo Berretti, an 'employee' of Moxon's, told Dr. Wayne that a man's life was in danger. Dr. Wayne made Berretti promise his safe return before departing. Dr. Wayne was informed that Moxon's nephew required a bullet to be removed from his shoulder (following a failed armed robbery). Dr. Wayne performed the operation. Dr. Wayne refused to take any money, and started a fight with Moxon. Following this, Moxon had ordered the murder of Thomas Wayne. However, this was not carried out because of Berretti's promise.

Years later, Batman questions Angelo Berretti as to whether Moxon had been involved in the killing of the Waynes (which occurred a few months after the costume party). According to Berretti, Moxon was not involved. After Batman accepts Berretti's word and departs, Berretti holds his hand to his face and utters an ambiguous "Oh, thank God". Moxon's involvement in the killing of the Wayne is, therefore, left to the readers imagination.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lew_Moxon

2003: Metallo as the Killer?: Batman finds evidence that links the Wayne murders to criminal John Corben, aka the Superman villain Metallo. This turned out to be faked by Lex Luthor.

2004: DCAU Batman Meets Chill...Without Realizing It: Ty Templeton wrote a version of the Joe Chill story for the DCAU called "Fear Itself." I'll let Wiki summarize it:

Chill is shown to have spent his whole life as a career criminal since the night he murdered Bruce's parents. The story begins with Chill being released from prison after finishing a sentence for an unrelated crime, and it is apparent that he has been living in fear since that fateful night. Chill is convinced that Bruce Wayne, now one of the most powerful men on the planet, is biding his time to exact revenge. Chill's paranoia is so severe that he begins to see Bruce's face everywhere around him, even on other people. His paranoia goes into overdrive when he discovers that the retired detective who originally worked on the Wayne case has finally discovered evidence to reveal his guilt. Chill tracks the retired detective to his apartment and attempts to kill him, but Batman intervenes, unaware of who Chill is. In a brief scuffle Chill manages to unmask Batman, revealing the visage of Bruce Wayne. Terrified, Chill falls off a balcony, and Batman jumps after him in an attempt to save his life. Batman nearly catches Chill, who pushes him away and falls to his death. Batman is left at the end of the story wondering who the mysterious man was and why he would rather die than accept his help.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Chill

2005: The Opera and Joe Chill Got Caught: Batman Begins is released and creates, arguably, more changes to the murder than any other adaptation.

Here, the Waynes actually attend the opera to see Mefistophele. Because the costumes remind Bruce of the bats that frightened him in the cave, Bruce asks Thomas if they can leave early. Thomas agrees and they walk out through the side exit, which is probably the most organic explanation as to how the Waynes arrived in the alley.

Here, a nervous Joe Chill robs and kills Thomas and Martha Wayne. Young Bruce is comforted by a young Officer Gordon before he's informed by Loeb that the GCPD actually caught Chill.

This is the first time in Batman history that the Waynes' killer was caught on the actual night of the murder.

Years later, Chill attempts to get early parole by testifying against Carmine Falcone and Bruce arrives with a gun to try to kill Chill. Like in Year Two, he's beaten to the kill by another assailant- Falcone's assassin.

2006: Chill Gets Caught in the Comics Next: Infinite Crisis follow suit with Batman Begins and features a newspaper headline that says Chill was caught the same night of the murder, retconning Zero Hour's "forever unknown killer" after only 12 years of continuity.

2008: Batman has Chill Commit Suicide: Grant Morrison updates Batman #47 and Batman Year Two in a flashback/hallucination sequence.

In this version, Batman, dressed in his 1939 costume, continually haunts Chill over a long period of time. Chill admits, in this version, that the reason he left young Bruce alive is because he reminded him of his late son and he couldn't pull the trigger. One night, Batman confronts Chill for the last time. Morrison merges the Batman #47 murder with the popular canon by saying that Martha Wayne could have survived her gun shot wound, but her weak heart led her to bleed to death.

Batman, like in Year Two, has the gun that Chill used and gives it to Chill, who figures out that Bruce is Batman and realizes that the rest of Gotham's underworld will destroy him if they find out that he created the Dark Knight. He takes the gun that Batman gave him and commits suicide with it off-panel.

2012: Did The Penguin Hire the Hit?: In Batman Earth One, Geoff Johns added another twist to the origin. Like the Mankiewicz script, he had Thomas Wayne run for Mayor around the time of his death. And like Batman Begins, Bruce had the family leave early from the theater.

In this version, a random electrical outage prevents the movie from being shown. Young Bruce rushes out the back exit so he can get to another theater to see the movie. There, he runs into a random man in a hoodie, who tells him to watch where he's going. Bruce tells him that he's the son of the richest people in Gotham. The man in the hoodie stops and identifies him as Bruce Wayne. He then grabs Bruce, taking him hostage as Thomas and Martha come out of the theater. The man then demands their wallet, jewelry, and Martha's pearl necklace before killing them both and taking off.

Years later, Bruce suspects that it was Thomas's rival for the Mayor's seat, Oswald Cobblepot, who ordered the hit. At the end, though, Cobblepot reveals that he wanted to kill the Waynes and had corrupt cop Jacob Weaver cut the power in the theater, but since Bruce had his parents leave from a different exit, Cobblepot's men couldn't get to them and the real killer beat them to the punch.

2012: Or Was It Just a Mugging?: In the same year as Earth One, Gregg Hurwitz came up with a different interpretation in The Dark Knight #0 that combined Batman #47 with Batman Begins.

Like the film, a young pre-Batman Bruce knows that Chill killed his parents and seeks to confront him with a gun. Unlike the film, though, Bruce is able to actually confront him and interrogate him on who sent him to carry out the hit. To his surprise, Chill tells him that it was random and he didn't even know who the Waynes were until the next morning. Bruce can't believe that it wasn't some kind of conspiracy. He's tempted to pull the trigger, but decides that that's not what his father would have wanted. He leaves and decides to undergo training to become a vigilante.

2014: The Masked Killer: In the show Gotham, the Waynes walk down an alley only to get robbed and killed, as usual. This time, however, the mugger's face is hidden and one can only see his eyes when he shoots Bruce's parents. Also, like the Batman musical, Selina Kyle is a witness to the murder.

In this version, Gordon and Harvey Bullock attempt to investigate the murder and Gordon meets Bruce and comforts him in the alley, promising him that he'll find the killer.

Their first suspect is Mario Pepper, father of the future Poison Ivy, Ivy Pepper. Bullock shoots and kills Mario to save Gordon, but Gordon finds out that Mario was set up by Carmine Falcone to give off the impression to the city that the police was able to do their jobs. Falcone confesses to Gordon that organized crime can't exist without law and order, otherwise, there'll be chaos. Gordon tells Bruce the truth about Mario Pepper and promises to keep investigating. Later in the season, a young Selina Kyle, attempting to avoid going back to juvie, tells Gordon that she knows the face of the killer, but later on, admits to Bruce Wayne that she lied in order to avoid jail.

Much like the Bruce Wayne pilot, Bruce later on suspects that the executives at his father's company were behind his death and becomes rivals with an executive there (Sid Bunderslaw here, following in the footsteps of McCanlies's Charles Palantine and Nolan's Bill Earle).

In the second season, the villain Theo Galavan claims that he knows the identity of the Waynes' killer and offers to give the information to Bruce in exchange for control over his company. Bruce refuses and Theo destroys the evidence before Bruce can get to it.

Turning the tables, however, Bruce works with Selina in getting a group of thugs to fake-kidnap him and Theo's niece, Silver St. Cloud. They pretend to torture Bruce in the other room and make Silver confess that the name of the killer was "M. Malone." When Bruce reveals that it was all a trick, Silver claims that she made the name up, but both Bruce and Selina are skeptical.

The show continues in its second season, where the showrunner has teased the idea that Bruce will eventually get to meet his parents' killer.

2016: To Be Determined In the trailers for BvS, it looks like we will see yet another adaptation of the Wayne murders. What liberties will Snyder take?

From the looks of the trailer, it looks very Dark Knight Returns influenced, with Bruce wearing more casual clothes and Thomas Wayne having a mustache.

[johnnygobbs]

Wow BatmAngelus.  Are you an official Batman historian? 

[BatmAngelus]

Silver Nemesis hasn't been seen here for years, so I'm taking over

I missed one and I can't add it to the previous post 'cause it reached the character limit so here it is:
1999: Was The Wayne Board Behind It? Tim McCanlies writes a pilot about an 18 year old Bruce Wayne. In this version, the Waynes did see the Mark of Zorro before hand and, like in Batman Forever, Bruce feels guilty over his insistence about seeing the film that night and believes that he himself was responsible for their deaths.

Through the story, Bruce finds himself in a rivalry with WayneCorp executive Charles Palantine. Alfred believes Palantine is trying to kill Bruce before his 18th birthday so that he can have the company to himself. Alfred also brings up his suspicions that WayneCorp was behind his parents' death too.
http://leethomson.myzen.co.uk/Pilot_Hell/Bruce_Wayne_1x01_-_Pilot.pdf