Dead in Gotham is the first episode of Dead in Gotham.
Synopsis[]
Thomas and Martha Wayne are hounded by Red Hood Gangs, Courts of Owls, and Angry gang bosses. Will they survive, or will they be Dead in Gotham?
Cast (by Appearance)[]
- Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach
- Benedict Cumberbatch as Bruce Wayne
- Alan Tudyk as Timothy Maret
- Sean Connery as Jarvis Pennyworth
- Young Bruce Wayne
- Millie Bobbie Brown as Young Talia Al Ghul
- Michael Keaton as Thomas Wayne
- Hugh Jackman as Ra's Al Ghul
- Hayley Atwell as Martha Wayne
- Ayelet Zurer as Melisande
- Brendan Gleeson as Vincent Falcone
- Young Carmine Falcone
- Matthew William Goode as Ozymandias
- Chris Pine as Frank Beehive
- Mark Hamill as Joe Chill
Plot[]
Rorschach[]
The screen is black. Edgy music starts to play as the logos Leostales, Valeyard6282, DC Comics, and Warner Brothers role by. It then shows the Batman logo as the Batman theme by Danny Elfman starts to play. We see the letters Dead in Gotham appear, and the music switches to the track Tonight the Comedian Died (from Watchmen.)
It is raining. We see a man on top of a building. He is wearing a trench coat over a suit, a fedora, and a white mask with black symbols that keep shifting in symmetrical patterns. His name is Rorschach. We hear a voiceover say the following:
"The gods are afraid of me...They have seen my true face. Olympus is an extended gutter and the gutter is full of blood and when the blood finally pools up, all the gods will drown. The accumulated fear of all their sacrifices and power will foam up about their waists and the wealthy and the politicians will look down and whisper "Save us."... and I'll look up and shout "No!" Lightning strikes and we see his mask patterns form a skull. He then drops down from the roof.
The Party[]
He then meets a man named Timothy Maret. Maret says he is on his way to a costume party. Rorschach says he is going to the party, too. They walk there together. They arrive at a large mansion called Wayne Manor.
Rorschach and Maret come in to the party. We see two kids playing together; their names are Bruce and Talia. Maret seems to look at both of them sternly as if he is wondering something about them. Rorschach asks what he is doing and Maret says "I just like kids." Meanwhile we see two people arguing. They are both doctors. One is named Ra's al Ghul (dressed in a big green cape) and the other is named Thomas Wayne (dressed as a big bat). They are arguing violently about morals. We see their wives Melisande and Martha. "I hope they can get over this disagreement," says Melisande. "Yes," says Martha, "it's such a shame." They look at Talia and Bruce. "The children really seem to love spending time with each other," says Melisande. Rorschach then approaches them. Melisande then asks, "Rorschach, what the hell are you doing here?" "Protecting them," he says pointing at both Waynes. "Do you know each other?" asks Martha. "We both work for F.L.A.M.E." says Rorschach. "Or we both USED to!" he says glaring at Melisande.
Meanwhile, Thomas and Maret are still arguing, which escalates to Al Ghul attacking Wayne with his fists. Suddenly, Maret walks up. His costume is a gold mask and brown robe. "Hello, Rasal Ghoul right," he says. "I haven't seen you in a while. I remember when your great-grandfather was just a baby, anyway how are the wife and kids? They're still alive, right? I heard about your first wife, and man that is such hard luck. I wonder if you ever got the guy responsible for that. And, you..." he says looking at Wayne, "Your new, aren't you? Love the costume, it would look great on your kid. Maybe you should leave it in the will..." Suddenly, Ra's cuts him off, "Get out of here before I kill you." He says angrily, "And leave Melisande and Talia alone! And you...," he says to Wayne. "Watch your neck." "Is that a threat?" says Thomas. "No, its common sense," says Ra's as he turns to Melisande. "Were leaving," he says. "Oh," says Melisande. "See you next time," she says to Martha. "No!" says Ra's. "We're not coming back." As the al Ghuls leave, Bruce runs to Talia and hugs her, saying he'll miss her.
A Small Favor[]
Suddenly, a guest dressed in a gangster costume appears. He points a "fake" machine gun at Wayne and says, "You will leave with us." Rorschach almost intervenes, but chooses not to. He instead just watches as Wayne is lead away to the gangster's hideout. Wayne is brought to a small room. Inside is a gangster named Vincent Falcone. His son Carmine was injured during a gang battle and he needs Wayne to heal him. Wayne does, due to his hippocratic oath, and is taken back to the manor. Vincent warns him, "Don't get no funny ideas, we know where you live."
Back at the manor, all the guests have left. Detectives are in the hall and Rorschach is still there. "Thomas!" screams Martha as she runs up to him and hugs him. "What happened?" she asks. Thomas explains what happened and a detective says, "Wayne, we need a statement." Wayne then tells them the name of the gangsters and their hideout. Martha is still hysterical after this, but the detective says, "Don't worry, we should have these guys put away, you have nothing to fear." Thomas and Martha then go to bed.
Threats[]
We see the gangster hideout. Vincent is playing cards with some of his men. Suddenly, a tear gas bomb crashes through the window. "Its a raid!" shouts Vincent. A swat team knocks down the door, Vincent tries to kill them but is shot in the chest. Carmine shouts, "We surrender!"
It is the next day and Martha Wayne is complaining to her butler Jarvis about how corrupt the city is. Suddenly, the phone rings and it's for her. A man’s voice says that she and her husband should leave the city and top interfering. Startled, she calls Thomas to tell him about the threat. The scene shifts as we see Thomas sitting on a courthouse bench. Carmine comes out of a door next to him and says that the d.a. won't prosecute and that Wayne should die for causing his father's death. As Carmine leaves, Thomas receives Martha's call. He tells Martha of his threat and says that she should meet him at the police station. We see Rorschach in civvies. He looks at Thomas as he leaves. It switches back to the manor, as Martha is getting in her car,. As she opens her car door, it blows up. Big Letters show up over the wreckage saying 5 months later.
Warning[]
It switches to a hospital room. In the room is Martha who survived the explosion and is just getting out of the hospital. Rorschach is there in civvies and is guarding her. Martha asks why, to which Rorschach responds “You are good person. You die things get worse, job gets harder. Don’t like that, don’t like that at all”. Thomas arrives, Rorschach then offers to guard the Waynes. Thomas refuses, since he hates masked vigilantes. Rorschach leaves and says, “You will be sorry, I’ve seen the final threat. I realize men don’t kill, it's him only him.”
We then see a room. Inside it is a man wearing a purple tunic with gold chestplate and headband. His name is Adrian Veidt. There is also a man who looks like a human beehive. His name is Frank Beehive. There is a big symbol of a burning head in the background, it is the F.L.A.M.E. symbol. Rorschach enters and says, “I warned him,” to Adrian. "I see," says Adrian. "I guess we can't do anything for them." Rorschach then says, "Will watch anyway." Beehive then says, "Rorschach, don't get too personally involved in this case. I know you want a successor, but for god's sake, stay out." Rorschach then looks at him, calls him a nasty name, and leaves.
Jarvis's Death[]
We see Jarvis dusting the furniture, a man wearing clothes that look like an owl comes in, he then shoots Jarvis and leaves a note that says, "The Court of Owls will come from you. You had your chance." He then grabs the body and leaves.
Thomas is standing over Jarvis's body and is looking at the note, his face pale. He then leaves the room and says to Martha, "Jarvis resigned." "What really happened?" she asks. "He's dead, but the body isn't here," responds Thomas. "Oh Thomas, what does this mean?" "It means," says Thomas. "That we are leaving Gotham tomorrow. Don't tell Bruce why though, we'll still go to the movie and tell we'll be going on vacation tomorrow. "Ok, says Martha."
Dead in Gotham[]
Thomas, Martha, and Bruce are shown entering the theater, Thomas sees Rorschach (still in civvies) standing on a crate with a picket saying “The End Was Nigh.” Thomas approaches him and says that he has changed his mind and asks him for his help, Rorschach looks down and whispers, “No” to Thomas, who then says, “Have it your way then.” As Thomas leaves, Rorschach then says to himself, “No, yours”
We see a shot of the outside of the theater, it then transists into nighttime, we see the Waynes exiting. Bruce is talking to his parents about the movie. They go down a street called Park Row to go home. Suddenly, a thug appears, he points a gun at them and says, "the money please." Thomas lashes out at the man, but is shot. Martha screams, and is also shot. The thug points the gun at Bruce, but is stabbed by Rorschach who jumps out in costume. As the thug then runs away, Rorschach picks up the gun used to kill the Wayne’s, spins the cylinder, and points it at Bruce. As he pulls the trigger it clicks. He then takes off his “face”(the mask) and hands it to Bruce and says in a perfectly normal voice (not his creepy one) that he doesn’t need it anymore.
The screen zooms out as it shows Bruce kneeling at his parents bodies. We then see Bruce crying in front of two graves, a British gentleman (Alfred) has his hand on the boy’s shoulder. Bruce then says angrily to Alfred, “who was that man?” Alfred says that he was just some mugger, Bruce then says, “No, the other one. The one who wore this mask” we then hear the watchmen theme as the screen zooms out and the episode ends.
Production Crew[]
- Leostales-writer, director
- Valeyard6282-feedback and suggestions
- Danny Elfman and Tyler Bates-music
- my Mom-punctuation and grammar assistance
- Batman created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger
Notes[]
- Michael Keaton played Batman in the 1989 film, now he is playing Batman's dad.
- Chronologically, Rorschach should be dead yet he appears anyway.
- Rorschach's opening line is based off of his opening line in Watchmen.
- The idea of having Bruce and Talia as childhood friends was derived from the miniseries Batman '66 Meets Wonder Woman 77'
- In the comics, Thomas Wayne dressed as a bat and was kidnapped by gangsters to heal their boss Lew Moxon who later orchestrated their murder. This was retconned out of continuity.
- A similar occurence in the comics (after the retconning of the previous storyline) was that Thomas Wayne healed Carmine Falcone (under no heavy duress) this is an amalgamation of the two.
- Thomas's Batman costume is a reference to the storyline Flashpoint.
- Martha is injured in a car accident in the storyline the Court of Owls.
- Jarvis is also killed in that storyline.