Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Religious Music & Entertainment
Almost Lovecraftian in the DCU

Almost Lovecraftian in the DCU

Last updated on: March 22, 2024 at 8:00 am by Coyle Neal

0 Comments

Almost Lovecraftian in the DCU 2024-03-10T14:43:43-06:00 Coyle Neal

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Image: Wikipedia

Given what the DC world has done with Batman and the Joker’s relationship (reason and order vs the impulse to chaos), it makes sense that someone would attempt a crossover with the Lovecraft mythos. And in fact that has been done with The Doom that Came to Gotham, directed by Sam Liu (there’s also a graphic novel by Mike Mignola that I’ve not read–though I’ll be rectifying that in the new future).

And for what it’s worth, this is a pretty solid adaptation of both Lovecraft and Batman. It stumbles a bit at the end, but overall both sets of source material are faithfully respected and we’re presented a fairly decent narrative.

The plot is fairly simple (for a Batman/Lovecraft crossover, anyway). In the wake of his parents’ murder, Bruce Wayne travels the world with Alfred and three assistants, learning martial arts and various techniques of investigation and crime fighting. We gradually learn some of the backstory as the narrative progresses, specifically that young Bruce Wayne was confronted by bats, who warned him of a coming destruction. (I know, I know, but that’s the world the authors have to work with.) In his search for a way to prevent it, he follows Professor Cobblepot to Antarctica, where he finds a deserted camp and only a raving madman and Cobblepot’s journals left behind, both warning of said coming doom.

On his return to Gotham, Bruce takes up the mantle of the bat and launches his investigation, certain that there is a logical explanation behind it all. He is immediately approached by Etrigan the (rhyming and/or friendly) demon, who also warns him of a coming doom and blows his logical worldview to smithereens.

The rest of the movie is Batman trying to get a step ahead of those working to bring about said doom by opening a portal for the arrival of the Great Old Ones. [mild spoilers from here on out] As had been made clear by Etrigan, the only way to stop this is for Bruce Wayne to die and to become his true self, which is apparently a hybrid “Bat-man”, which can take on the hybrid human/elder creature trying to open the portal.

And if all that sounds weird, it’s a Lovecraft/Batman crossover. Of course it’s weird. Again, this is a solid effort overall. The interesting attempts to blend Lovecraft and Batman’s world together are clever and well done, and will be of interest to anyone who is a fan of both worlds. The end is really where they drop the ball, and largely for the same reasons other handlers of Lovecraft do as well. (Derleth being the main example here, who insisted on Christianizing Lovecraft’s world). We want 1) the good guys to win; 2) there to be some reason for it all; and 3) some kind of satisfaction at the end of the day. Lovecraft generally doesn’t give us those things, while Batman does. And in this case, Batman wins–again, largely drawing on mildly Christian themes. Bruce Wayne gives up his life to save the world, and does so by taking something of the monstrous on himself.

It would be interesting to see an expanded version of this narrative–where does Superman fit in? He’s another alien, after all–could he just punch Cthulhu in the face and save the world that way? What about the Green Lantern Corps, what might they have to say about the disorder introduced by the Elder gods? What about Wonder Woman and the Greek pantheon? Again, lots of opportunities to geek out here, and they did a good enough job with this movie that I’d love to see if there are ways this story line could be expanded.

Dr. Coyle Neal is co-host of the City of Man Podcast an Amazon Associate (which is linked in this blog), and an Associate Professor of Political Science at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, MO

Previous Post

March 15, 2024

Finally, a good Dune adaptation!

Next Post

March 29, 2024 Who ya gonna call?

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"No disagreement with any of that--though I've not heard "Moments" and will have to look ..."

cneal

Top of the Country: Amen

"The song is quite bouncy, even upbeat, considering the subject matter. (His "pills" ran out ..."

TheOldMaid

Top of the Country: Amen

"One noteworthy series in this area is valuable lessons in law. This series helps young ..."

Thomas White

The Law

"The longevity of Parker's lectures and teachings after his death is no more surprising than ..."

reggiebannister

Proclaiming Christ Still

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Action AFI Top 100 Animation Best Picture Winner BFI Top 250 Biography Biopic Books Childrens Christian Classics Classics Comedy Crime Documentary Drama Editor's Choice Family Fantasy Fantasy Films Foreign Historical Historical Fiction History Horror Horror IMDB Top 250 Indie Memoir Modern Novel Musical Mystery Non-Fiction Oscars Philosophy Poetry Popular Literature Reading and Writing Reality Romance Science Fiction Science Fiction Silent Sports Thriller TV Show Uncategorized Western Westerns Young Adult

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 June 2017 January 2017 December 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

In Isaiah 40, what voice cries out to prepare the way for the Lord?

Select your answer to see how you score.

A lion roaring A voice in the wilderness A child singing A trumpet blasting