In this week’s episode of The Batman Universe Podcast, your hosts, Scott and BJ, walk through a history of all of the times Batman retired. Depending on what sites you read, many lists and articles include times where Batman technically… *ahem* died. We talk about a couple of those times, but in our eyes, they don’t care. Death and retirement are not the same.
Batman Retired Storylines Covered:
* The Dark Knight Returns (1986)
* You can listen to our past episode on this storyline in
Episode 259: Revisiting ‘The Dark Knight Returns’ Comic & Adaptation.
* Batman: The Cult (1988)
* Batman: Knightfall (1993)
* Batman: Prodigal (1997)
* Batman: Superheavy (2014)
* Batman ’66 Meets Wonder Woman ’77 (2016)
* Batman Annual #2 (2018)
* “Chemistry” episode of The New Adventures of Batman and Robin (1998)
* “A Better World” episode of Justice League (2003)
* Batman Beyond (1999-2001)
* The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
* Earth-2 Batman
* Batman Forever (1995)
* BJ is technically right that this one counts. Batman retires for like 30 seconds.
Please note: We do not cover Batman ’89: Echoes, as that story is not yet completed as of the time of this recording.
Other Bat-Topics
We also discuss a few other news-worthy items this episode. We cover the rumor that The Dark Knight might be returning to IMAX in May, based on theories after this
AMC Theaters link went live. We also spend some time talking about a State Farm advertisement, but it’s not any advertisement, it’s their new
Batman vs. Bateman campaign.
For our Bat-Family: Which is your favorite Bat-Retirement story?
Drop us a line at
TBU@TheBatmanUniverse.net. As always, if you like this episode, please rate, share, and subscribe on the streaming platform of your preference. It’s a great way to show your support, and it’s quick and easy! Thank you, loyal Bat-fans!
Find past episodes of The Batman Universe Podcast
right here. For more from your hosts, you can find Scott on Bluesky (
@writerscott.bsky.social) or at
ScottWaldynWrites.com and BJ on Twitter (
@BJShea33).
