As many times as I've seen
The Batman (it's one of my favorite movies of the decade, if not my absolute favorite movie of the decade, up there with
Top Gun: Maverick and the two
Dune movies), I couldn't have told you the historical, in-movie timeline of events leading up to the movie itself, all the various criminal elements at play, who exactly double-crossed who, etc. So, in preparation for
The Penguin, I rewatched
The Batman yet again this weekend, this time with the sole purpose of paying close attention to all of those things and the various conversations about them - the conspiratorial elements, the deals, the deaths, the backstabbing, etc. In doing so I got a bit carried away and figured I'd create a handy timeline and share it here it, so everyone can get caught up and on the same page, heading into
The Penguin. Most of the below is historical/background aspects I compiled myself, but then I also filled in certain plot gaps with help from
The Batman Wiki. Regardless, you won't find a more complete, by-date recap of the movie and the events leading up to/surrounding itâŚ
1981 - September 10- For reasons unknown, Martha Arkham's MOTHER kills Martha Arkham's FATHER, then commits suicide.
- MARTHA ARKHAM is 15 years old.
1981 - September - The extended Arkham family use their money and power to cover up the murder/suicide and have the two deaths officially deemed "accidental."
Early-to-Mid 1980s- Following the tragedy, and almost assuredly due to it, Martha spends time in and out of her family's Arkham State Hospital and Gotham Asylum for an unspecified mental illness.
Late 1980s / Early 1990s- Her mental illness presumably behind her, Martha Arkham marries billionaire philanthropist THOMAS WAYNE, uniting Gotham's two "founding families."
1991 - BRUCE WAYNE is born to Thomas and Martha Wayne.
1997- Crime lord CARMINE FALCONE (who is either married or divorced at the time, with two children of his own) knocks up mistress/44 Below waitress MARIA KYLE, who then gives birth to daughter SELINA KYLE.
Late '90s- In an unspecified, crime-related altercation, Falcone is shot in the chest. Unable to go to the hospital, Falcone shows up to Wayne Manor and asks Thomas Wayne to operate on him. It is unclear whether Thomas and Falcone had a prior relationship, but Thomas agrees to operate on Falcone nonetheless, saving his life. While lying on the dining room table as Thomas operates, Falcone sees a young Bruce watching from the stairwell.
2001- Thomas Wayne announces his candidacy for mayor of Gotham, along with the creation of the GOTHAM RENEWAL FUND, a one-billion-dollar pledge/charitable endowment from the Wayne Foundation for public works, intended to cut through red tape and bypass rigid bureaucratic oversight.
- A young/orphaned EDWARD NASHTON is in attendance at Wayne's announcement, held at the Gotham Orphanage, which Thomas vows to aid/improve via the Renewal Fund.
2002- Threatened by Thomas Wayne's mayoral prospects, mob boss SALVATORE MARONI enlists Gotham Gazette reporter EDWARD ELLIOT (who is also on Maroni's payroll) to dig up dirt on the Waynes and the Arkhams.
2002 - October- Elliot learns the "dark truth" of the Arkham family murder/suicide coverup, along with Martha's institutional past.
- Getting wind of Elliot's story, in attempt to save Martha from the resulting scandal/embarrassment, Thomas tries to sway Elliot with a hush money agreement, which Elliot refuses.
- With Falcone indebted to Thomas for saving his life, in a "moment of weakness" Thomas asks Falcone to rough up Elliot/"put the fear of God in him," in a last-ditch effort to keep the story from running.
- Seizing the opportunity to have Thomas Wayne in his pocket, Falcone kills Elliot instead.
- Horrified, Thomas tells Falcone he's going to the police/is going to confess everything.
- That night, one week before the election, Thomas and Martha Wayne are murdered by a mugger presumably hired by Falcone.
- Orphaned, 11-year-old Bruce Wayne is adopted by Wayne Family butler/bodyguard (and former British Intelligence officer) ALFRED PENNYWORTH.
2003- In the wake of Thomas Wayne's death, Falcone, Maroni, the mayor at the time, the police chief at time, etc go after the Renewal Fund "like vultures." A charitable fund with no bureaucratic oversight, they see it as perfect means to make brides, launder money, etc. Everyone gets a piece, and for a while the vultures peck from the fund in relative harmony.
2004- Falcone kills Maria Kyle, who threatened to expose him/the Renewal Fund, leaving seven-year-old Selina Kyle orphaned and ignored by Falcone.
Mid-to-late 2010s- Falcone eventually wants more of the Renewal Fund for himself, so he orchestrates a play to take Maroni down.
- With the help of MAYOR DON MITCHELL, POLICE COMMISSIONER PETE SAVAGE, and DISTRICT ATTORNEY GIL COLSON, Falcone exposes Maroni's primary drug operation - selling "drops" to the masses - resulting in the biggest sting operation/drug bust in Gotham City PD history, making the careers of everyone involved. In doing so, however, the high-powered bureaucrats become Falcone's puppets, under threat of blackmail/exposure, making Falcone the de-facto mayor of Gotham.
- A grown up/scorned Edward Nashton, in his unique position as a forensic accountant for the city, discovers/begins unraveling the Renewal/Falcone conspiracy.
2020- In an attempt to rid Gotham of its rampant crime, brought on/exasperated by Falcone's increased hold over the city, a 29-year-old Bruce Wayne begins his "Gotham Project," debuting his crime-fighter alter-ego THE BATMAN.
2021- As The Batman's reputation/effectiveness grows, Edward Nashton begins formulating a plan to use The Batman as his "muscle" to eventually expose "rat" Falcone and "bring him into the light."
2022 - October 31 (Halloween Night)- While running for reelection, Mayor Don Mitchell is murdered at his home - for Mitchell's part in the Renewal/Falcone conspiracy - by Edward Nashton, who debuts his serial killer alter-ego THE RIDDLER.
2022 - November 1- Using clues gathered from the Mitchell crime scene with the assistance of DETECTIVE JIM GORDON, The Batman confronts Falcone's right-hand man, OSWALD COBB, aka THE PENGUIN, at his club The Iceberg Lounge (which also houses 44 Below), wanting to know who the mistress Mayor Mitchell was with in photos taken outside of the club, provided to The Batman/Gordon by The Riddler.
- While confronting The Penguin, The Batman is introduced to 25-year-old Selina Kyle, aka CATWOMAN, who works as a waitress at the club. Noticing that she's wearing the same boots as the mistress in the photos, Batman follows Selina home, discovering that Selina lives with Mitchell's mistress, ANNIKA KOSOLOV (whom Selina may or may not be in a bisexual relationship with).
- While The Batman and Selina leave to retrieve Annika's passport from Mayor Mitchell's safe (kept there at Falcone's orders so she couldn't flee), Falcone & co pay a visit to Annika, murdering her because of what they learn Mitchell shared with Annika before his death - that Mitchell & co had a secret "deal" with Falcone, who is a "very important man" among Gotham's high-powered bureaucrats. Before being interrogated, however, Annika calls Selina's phone, recording the conversation to voicemail, but Selina's phone, which she left at the apartment, is confiscated by dirty cop/The Penguin underling WILLIAM KENZIE after Falcone strangles her.
- The Riddler murders his second victim, Police Commissioner Pete Savage, for Savage's part too in the Renewal/Falcone conspiracy.
2022 - November 2- In the wake of Annika's disappearance (no one else knows she's dead yet), The Batman sends Selina back to The Iceberg Lounge/44 Below to search for answers, where, through Selina, The Batman discovers that District Attorney Gil Colson is on Falcone's payroll.
- The Riddler abducts Colson outside The Iceberg Lounge and straps a time bomb to his neck (for the same reason as the other two - Colson's part in the Renewal/Falcone conspiracy).
2022 - November 3- The Riddler sends Colson to interrupt/crash Mitchell's funeral via Colson's runaway SUV. When The Batman arrives on the scene, the Riddler calls him via Colson's phone and threatens to detonate the bomb if Colson can't answer three riddles. Batman helps Colson answer the first two, but Colson refuses to answer the third - to name the "rat" who gave the GCPD information that led to the historic drug bust ending mobster Maroni's operation - so the Riddler kills Colson.
- Knocked out from the explosion, The Batman is taken into custody by GCPD, but ultimately escapes with Gordon's help.
- The Batman and Gordon then deduce that the rat/informant may be The Penguin, and track him to a drug deal, where they discover that Maroni's "drops" operation never actually ended - it was taken over by Falcone/The Penguin - and that many GCPD officers are involved. Their plan to interrogate The Penguin is interrupted when Selina arrives to steal The Penguin's drug money, inadvertently exposing The Batman and Gordon in the process. Just before The Penguin flees, Selina finds Annika's corpse in a car trunk.
- After chasing The Penguin in the Batmobile, The Batman captures him, only to discover that The Penguin is not the rat/informant.
- Armed with an additional clue via laptop communication with The Riddler, The Batman and Gordon then investigate the ruins of the old orphanage where Thomas Wayne announced his run for mayor. There, they learn that, as a child, The Riddler was a resident at the orphanage and holds a grudge against Thomas Wayne for his broken promises. And with Thomas dead, The Riddler has decided to target Bruce for "the sins of his father."
- However, Alfred is hospitalized instead, after opening the letter bomb addressed to Bruce Wayne.
2022 - November 4- Catwoman reveals to The Batman that Falcone is her father.
- The Riddler then leaks to the news evidence of what he deems a "legacy of lies and murder," alleging that Thomas Wayne hired Falcone to kill reporter Edward Elliot for threatening to reveal embarrassing details about Martha's history of mental illness, out of concern that this "dirty laundry" would destroy Thomas' mayoral run.
- A devastated Bruce, who grew up believing his father was a morally upstanding man, confronts Falcone, who confirms the story, and informs Bruce that it was likely Maroni who had Thomas killed.
2022 - November 5 (Election Day)- At the hospital, Bruce confronts Alfred, who reveals that Thomas instead asked Falcone to merely intimidate Elliot, that all Thomas really cared about was Martha's well being, not his mayoral run, and that Thomas decided to come clean/turn Falcone over to the police after learning of Elliot's murder. Alfred surmises that it was Falcone who had Thomas and Martha killed to prevent this.
- Selina then signals The Batman and Gordon and reveals to them that Falcone strangled Annika. Selina plays Annika's recorded conversation from that night, found on Selina's phone that she retrieved from corrupt cop Kenzie, whom Selina has kidnapped and is threatening to kill.
- Kenzie then reveals the entire Renewal/Falcone conspiracy, just before Selina escapes to kill Falcone.
- The Batman and Gordon arrive at The Iceberg Lounge in time to stop Selina and arrest Falcone, but The Riddler snipes/kills Falcone from his nearby apartment building.
- In a diner across the street, The Riddler allows himself to be arrested and is incarcerated in Arkham State Hospital.
- The Riddler is unmasked as forensics accountant Edward Nashton. The Batman, Gordon, and the GCPD search Nashton's apartment for evidence, where they discover Nashton had been planning for months if not years to expose Gotham's corruption.
- Nashton then asks The Batman to visit him at Arkham, where Nashton tells The Batman he was envious of the sympathy Bruce Wayne received after his parents' murder, while Nashton went ignored. Nashton also reveals that his plan to partner with The Batman and become a similar masked vigilante has come to fruition, arguing that they've been working "together" to fight Gotham's corruption all this time, which The Batman angrily rejects.
- The Batman returns to Nashton's apartment and A) ultimately discovers that Nashton cultivated an internet following that plans to assassinate mayor-elect Bella Real at her Gotham Square Garden inauguration, which is going down at that exact minute, and B) literally uncovers (via carpet tucker) Nashton's plan to flood Gotham via car bombs around the city. But The Batman is too late, as the bombs go off at that exact moment, destroying Gotham's Seawall and flooding the city.
- In the ensuing chaos, Nashton's followers attempt to kill Bella Real (managing only to shoot her in the shoulder) before The Batman takes them down, with Selina's help, and then leads Real, Mitchell's son, and others to safety, on the roof of Gotham Square Garden.
2022 - November 6- With Gotham now flooded, and the inevitable power grab to come created in the vacuum of so many high-profile deaths on both sides of the law, Selina intends to leave the city, asking The Batman to run away with her. He chooses instead to continue what he started with the "Gotham Project," having completed his arc from a symbol of fear/vengeance to a symbol of hope, now embraced by the citizens of the city he's trying to save, who need him now more than ever.
Re: The Penguin series (releasing September 19, 2024):- A week after the events of The Batman, in the wake of Falcone's death, The Penguin positions himself to seize power as Gotham's new crime lord, but not before being challenged by Falcone's publicly-known daughter, SOFIA FALCONE (in contrast to her unknown step sister, Selina Kyle).
- This, while Salvatore Maroni is still in jail, and finally set to appear in The Penguin, having of course been taken down by The Penguin's former boss/Sofia's deceased father.
Re: The Batman Part II (releasing October 2, 2026):- In the wake of the deaths of Pete Savage and Gil Colson, Gotham is in need of A) a new police commissioner (enter Jim Gordon?) and B) a new district attorney (enter Harvey Dent?).
- During the events of The Penguin, according to a recent interview with writer/director Matt Reeves, Bruce/The Batman begins following a new case/mystery, one "that is going to dig into the epic story about deeper corruption, and it goes into places that [Bruce/The Batman] couldn't even anticipate in the first one. The seeds of where this goes are all in the first movie."
- Based on this comment, speculation is running rampant that Reeves is alluding to The Court of Owls, "a criminal organization and secret society comprised of the wealthiest and most influential citizens of Gotham, having existed since the city's founding and completely unknown among its general population outside of an urban legend centered around their reputation for grisly assassinations carried out by indoctrinated agents known as Talons."
- Regardless, whatever deeper corruption The Batman begins to uncover, his story will converge with the events of The Penguin just a week (in-movie) after that series concludes, just prior to Christmas 2022 (in-movie), each setting the stage for the events of The Batman Part II.
