We don't cover AMC's excellent Breaking Bad here on CBM -- for obvious reasons! -- but the show still has quite a few fans round these parts, so now that the show is nearing its final episode and Damon Lindelof has penned an article comparing Walter White to the Caped Crusader, we thought it'd make an interesting read for many of you. The former Lost writer reckons that "Heisenberg" (the criminal alias of White) was always present in the man, and that his cancer was simply the catalyst to awaken him -- just as Bruce Wayne's parent's murder unleashed the Batman.
"The conventional thinking is that Bruce Wayne became Batman on the day that his parents were murdered. This is his origin story. We all know it. We all accept it. We all love it. Because it makes sense. Your parents are gunned down in front of you, so of course you vow an unending vendetta against crime and then dress up like a winged mammal to exact it.
Except that’s not how Bruce Wayne became Batman.
Bruce Wayne was already Batman.
Because millions upon millions of people are murdered by criminals all the time — especially in comic books. But the sons and daughters of those people do not become Batman. But Bruce Wayne?
Bruce was different. There was something inside him. Lying dormant. He just needed something powerful enough to awaken it."
Lindelof continues to explain that in his estimation, Walt's cancer revelation was Heisenberg's "origin story", as it becomes the rationale for every horrible thing the character does after that. BUT, when the cancer goes away he doesn't stop, anymore than Wayne would stop being Batman if his parents miraculously reappeared.
"This is the equivalent of Bruce Wayne’s parents suddenly reappearing to him and saying, “We had to fake our deaths when you were a kid and we’ve been in witness protection all this time, and we’re so sorry, but the guy who shot us was actually an FBI agent helping us and he wasn’t even a criminal and we love you, so can we have our pearls back and NOW YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE BATMAN ANYMORE!!!”
But would Bruce stop being Batman?
No. He would not. Because he is Batman. And once the catalyst has … well, catalyzed? There is no going back."
There's much more to the article, so be sure to click the link below to check it out, and then let us know what you think in the usual place.