WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Future State: Dark Detective #1 by Mariko Tamaki, Dan Mora, Jordie Bellaire & Aditya Bidikar, on sale now

One of the major mysteries about the Future State-era of Gotham City has been the exact fate of the Bat-Family under the Magistrate's rule. While some members of the group are still operating as heroes and others have seemingly joined with the Magistrate themselves, Bruce Wayne -- the original Batman -- is widely believed to be dead, even by his closest allies.

Future State: Dark Detective #1 reveals more about the circumstances surrounding Bruce Wayne's disappearance, along with some key details that make it a surprisingly ironic "end" for Gotham's most famous son.

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Future State Dark Detective Bruce Wayne Shot

In the Future State version of Gotham, the Magistrate and his elite strikeforce, the Peacekeepers, effectively control all of Gotham. This has been greatly helped by the apparent demise of Batman, which was followed two days later by the public announcement of Bruce Wayne's death as well. The Bat-Family is seemingly convinced of this, with many members of the group expressing nothing but grief at the memory of their fallen mentor. But Bruce Wayne is still at least somewhat active on the streets of Gotham, but keeping his appearance known from the public and even his family. The circumstances of both Bruce Wayne and Batman's "deaths" seem to be debatable within the public eye.

Despite being highly publicized by Peacekeeper-01, Batman's supposed death doesn't come with many details, leaving the press to openly ask what could have finally brought down the Dark Knight. Just as he's always presented himself as a mystery, even Batman's end has to remain a conundrum to the city of Gotham. While the Peacekeepers can be seen tracking Bruce down in flashbacks, they notably don't take credit for the kill and are instead merely investigating it, suggesting there might be someone else at play in the fall of the original Batman.

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Future State Dark Detective Bruce Wayne

Bruce Wayne suffers a similar public fate. While he was once the most famous man in Gotham, he's been largely reduced to a forgotten footnote from a bygone era in the time of Future State. As Bruce quietly sits down for a cup of coffee, he talks to a woman who says that she heard Bruce either killed himself over the loss of his money or overdosed on drugs. It seems to Gotham that just like his parents, Bruce Wayne "died" in Gotham alley, another corpse in a sea of them.

This is an especially tragic fate for Bruce Wayne to suffer, especially after all the work he did to try and make Gotham City a better place, both as Batman and Bruce Wayne. And despite all his sacrifice and work, the tools he built have been used to create the Magistrate and turn Gotham into a police state.

Only Luke Fox seems to realize just how important Bruce Wayne was to maintaining Gotham City, noting that the city has become far worse since his disappearance. Even that comes with a twinge of irony, as his late nights have led his mother to accuse him of turning into another Bruce Wayne -- and warning him how bad that would be. While Bruce lives on as the Dark Detective, there's a question of whether or not he even wants to confirm his survival to his friends, his family, and his city -- hinting that he may be alright passing from this world on his own terms.

Given his defiant but desperate tone while avoiding Magistrate forces, perhaps Bruce doesn't believe he's coming back from his mission to bring down the Magistrate. If so, it makes more sense to do so as a shadow in the night of Gotham instead of as the defeated Bruce Wayne. Still, this is a quiet and tragic apparent end to the legacy of the Wayne Family and a final inglorious chapter in Batman's secret life.

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