WARNING: The following contains spoilers for The Next Batman: Second Son #1, from John Ridley, Mark Morales, Tony Akins, Ryan Benjamin, Deron Bennett and Rex Lokus, on sale now.
One of the biggest mysteries surrounding Tim Fox has been his background and what inspired him to become the new Dark Knight. In Future State, he's embraced his new identity as Jace, but it's still vague as to what has driven him from his military days to wearing Batman's cape and cowl. And in Future State's future, his brother Luke, the former Batwing, absolutely hates Tim, almost as much as he hates vigilantes.
While there are still a lot of questions about Tim Fox to be answered, The Next Batman: Second Son #1 starts offering a bit more insight into Tim's past and how it ties into Grifter's most important mission yet.
In this origin flashback, Tim's in Vietnam, hunting down a philanthropist by the name of Tyler Arkadine. He raids his compound to grab secure data off the computer, but it's a trap. This leads to mercenaries coming after him as Tyler spotted the hack by Tim's covert team. Sadly, Tim's on his own in the jungle as he gets cornered. Luckily, he uses his combat skills to knock his opponents out, fleeing on an ATV before getting to his lair where he meets Grifter, the former WildC.A.T.S. agent.
Grifter orders Tim to come home per his dad's orders. This ties into the end of "Joker War" where Lucius hired Grifter to protect his family. It seems this was part of the job, but bringing Tim home won't be easy as Tyler admitted he's into something worse than trafficking, which means Tim has to take the operation down. However, Grifter is the perfect partner for this kind of mission.
In Future State, Luke bought into the anti-mask philosophy his parents start pushing, so it'll be great to hear Tim's insight into vigilantes as he works with Grifter knowing that the Foxes are just a few steps away from becoming full villains. Grifter may even help inspire Tim to operate as an extra-legal vigilante, too. That could explain why Tim decided to become the new Batman when he gets home and this partnership might even inspire Grifter to keep helping out, evident as he sacrificed himself to get Huntress to the Resistance later on in Future State.
While Grifter and Tim Fox both have roles in Gotham's dystopian future, there's a long way to go between the present DC Universe and that possible future, and these two Gotham heroes are just getting going on their journey.