Every Evil Batman Variant Explained In 18 Minutes

The Red Death was a twisted version of Batman from Earth -52, born out of Bruce Wayne's deepest fears and ultimate desperation. In his world, Bruce once fought crime alongside his loyal Robins, but as the years passed, they all fell in battle, leaving him shattered. Their deaths drove him to abandon his principles, pushing him to adopt brutal and extreme methods. When Earth -52 rocked on the edge of destruction, Bruce became desperate. He turned to his universe's Flash, begging for the Speed Force powers to save their world, but Flash refused. Fueled by grief and rage, Bruce used stolen weapons from the Rogues, knocked Flash unconscious, and chained him to the Batmobile. He drove them both into the Speed Force with the vehicle modified using the Cosmic Treadmill. The collision fused them into one being—Bruce gained Flash's speed and a dark connection to the Speed Force while Barry's consciousness was trapped within him. Not only this, Bruce even slaughtered his rogues gallery as the Red Death, ignoring Barry's pleas to stop. Yet, despite his newfound power, he failed to save his collapsing world. In his despair, he was approached by the Batman Who Laughs, who promised salvation by joining Barbatos' Dark Knights and falling the Multiverse into darkness. Desperate for a purpose, Bruce accepted, becoming the Red Death. After arriving in the central Multiverse, Red Death unleashed chaos, creating a Speed Force Storm in Central City, which aged people to death in seconds. He even targeted Barry Allen's loved ones but was stopped by the Flash. Later, during the Justice League's hunt for Nth Metal, Flash was trapped in Red Death's Batcave, a deathtrap filled with Flashmobiles and countermeasures against speedsters. Despite the odds, Barry managed to escape. Red Death's downfall came when a positive energy hit him, altering his appearance and allowing Barry Allen of Earth -52 to regain control of their shared body. Overcome with guilt for Bruce's actions, Barry joined Prime Earth's Flash to fight the Dark Knights. However, the Batman Who Laughs revealed they had anticipated Red Death's betrayal. The positive energy within him was a death sentence, causing him to explode in a brilliant flash of light, ending his torment. Well, the Red Death embodied Bruce's darkest fear: losing his family and failing to save those he loved, becoming a twisted nightmare of speed and despair.