"Let's Cure Gotham": Batman's Terrifying New Weapon Will Finally 'Save Gotham' in the Darkest Way Possible

Summary The dark Zur-En-Arrh version of Batman seemingly plans to edit the personalities of Gotham's citizens on a mass scale, a plot that could solve crime in Gotham overnight, but at a significant moral cost.

Batman's dangerous personality-altering machine could turn heroes into mindless puppets under Zur's control, and harm the average people of Gotham, rather than just rewriting the criminal population's minds.

The line between hero and villain continues to blur as Zur's nefarious plan threatens to strip away free will in Gotham City, proving that this is never a sound strategy for battling crime.

Warning! Contains Spoilers For Batman #148!

For decades, Batman has been struggling to get Gotham City under control – but his crusade against crime has always had its limits. The criminal element has always been something Batman has just barely been able to hold back, but now, the Zur-En-Arrh variant of Batman seems to have a plan that will change the criminals of Gotham City forever.

Previews for Batman #148 – by Chip Zdarsky and Jorge Jimenez – make it clear that as Zur continues to cement his control over Gotham City, the only thing left is to make sure the criminals currently locked up don't simply break out and continue causing destruction. It seems that Zur and Capito have come up with a solution.

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Dr. Capito enters the room and let Zur know that, ominously, "the machine is ready." It's unclear exactly what this machine is, but there are a few educated guesses that can be made by astute readers.

Batman has invented some pretty absurd things in his long comic book history, but the most dangerous device he has ever is a machine that allows him to edit an individual's personality.

Related I Can't Believe How Terrifying Batman's Dark Counterpart Looks in This MAJOR Confrontation Zur-En-Arrh has truly taken over the body of Failsafe, transforming him into a truly terrifying version of Batman who towers over criminals.

DC Reveals Zur-En-Arrh Plan To Fix Crime In Gotham Forever

Batman #138 by Chip Zdarsky, Jorge Jimenez, Tomeu Morey, and Clayton Cowles

According to the most likely theory about the "machine," it may very well turn out to be that this device the same one that Batman used to rewire Red Hood's brain. If Zur and Capito use this on Batman's criminals, crime in Gotham City would be solved overnight. As Zur says, "lets cure Gotham." Batman has invented some pretty absurd things in his long comic book history, but the most dangerous device he has ever is a machine that allows him to edit an individual's personality.

The machine constituted a nefarious step over the line for Bruce Wayne, and was part of his trek down the path that led to Zur-En-Arrh. He tried to use this to force Jason to give up being a vigilante in Batman #138. The machine hasn't made an appearance since, but considering Zur was the one who influenced Batman to build it, there's no reason to assume that Zur isn't either currently in possession of it, or simply recreated a new one. Zur will likely use this machine to remove criminals' ability to commit crimes.

Zur-En-Arrh Batman Has Gotham At His Mercy, Heroes & Villains Alike

His "Cure" Could Kill The City

It's unlikely that Zur would stop at just Gotham's villains. After all, the first victim of this machine was Jason Todd.

While this would certainly fix crime in Gotham City, it'd also be a gross overstep on Zur's part. Removing ones free will is never an acceptable way to deal with villains; the Justice League even went through a similar crisis during the events of Identity Crisis. In that story, Dr. Light proved to be too dangerous a to lock up, so the League agreed to wipe his memory and edit his personality. This very nearly led to the death of the Justice League; the parallel to Batman's current story suggests just how far Zur may be willing to go for control.

It's unlikely that Zur would stop at just Gotham's villains. After all, the first victim of this machine was Jason Todd. Regardless of how Batman feels about Jason and his methods, there's no denying that he is firmly a hero. If Zur was willing to strip away Jason's identity, there's no reason to assume he wouldn't be willing to do the same to Nightwing, or any other member of the Bat-Family who gets in his way. As scary as it might seem, it appears that Zur finally has a way to solve Gotham's crime problem, at a price Batman would never pay.

Batman #138 is on sale from June 4, 2024 from DC Comics.

Batman #148 (2024) Writer: Chip Zdarsky

Artist: Jorge Jimenez

Colorist: Tomeu Morey

Letterer: Clayton Cowles

Cover Artist: Jorge Jimenez and Tomeu Morey