The following contains spoilers for Batman: Unburied, Episode 1-4, available to stream on Spotify.
In every Batman story, Bruce Wayne lost both his parents at a young age. This tragic turn in his life was the center of Batman. However, what would Bruce Wayne be if his parents were alive? Batman: Unburied gives listeners an idea through a deep dive into Wayne's troubled mind, though sadly, the answer was again intertwined with his tragic backstory.
In the first two episodes of Batman: Unburied, "Kind of a Night Person" and "Such Wonderful Secrets," Doctor Bruce Wayne (voiced by Winston Duke) was a forensic pathologist who worked in the morgue of his father Thomas Wayne's (voiced by Lance Reddick) hospital. Compared to Thomas Wayne, who was the head of the hospital and an influential public figure, Bruce was in the dark. Besides his assistant Kell, who got to see the brilliant analytical side of Bruce, no one knew that about him, not even his father.
In Batman: Unburied, Thomas Wayne was a strict, detached and concerned father who cared about Bruce in his own way. Despite hospital policy (no one could stop him since he had the highest authority), he operated on Bruce after The Harvester severely injured him. Thomas also forced Bruce to go through psychological evaluation just because he said so.
On the other hand, Thomas didn't understand Bruce's choice to be a forensic pathologist who lived in the dark and dealt with criminals. He tried to stop Bruce from getting involved with "detective work." It also seemed that he'd be more proud of Bruce if his son followed in his footsteps to become a surgeon and an authority figure, but this was only the surface of their sophisticated relationship.
Listeners would later find out that the now-adult Bruce created this version of Thomas Wayne. The reality of losing both parents at a young age stayed the same. Even in Bruce's imagination, his relationship with his father was uneasy. His memory of Thomas Wayne, the authoritarian father figure, became intertwined with his guilt and disapproval for not being the man his father would have wanted. Neither films nor comics hardly paid attention to this aspect.
Interestingly, in reality, The Harvester targeted his ex-girlfriend/journalist Vicki Vale through mail to approach Bruce Wayne. However, in his imagination, his mother was the one in danger. There were also occasions when films and comics touched on Batman's unresolved mother issue. Batman v Superman's Martha moment had Superman's adopted mother sharing the same first name as Batman's mother, which caused confusion between the two, but it didn't give much for fans to go on. Batman: Unburied, on the other hand, seems to provide more insight into Batman's sophisticated, unresolved guilt and love for his mother.
Bruce's relationship with his mother, Martha Wayne (voiced by Toks Olagundoye), was even more complex. Judging by Martha's involvement in match-making and staying at his bedside for an extensive time, they had a close relationship. In reality, the little boy Bruce couldn't protect his mother from the mugger, and in his imagination, The Harvester again put his mother's safety in danger, and he would do anything to protect her from harm.
Batman: Unburied offers a refreshing take on Bruce Wayne. With exciting twists and an unconventional storyline, the audio adaptation sheds light on the part of the Batman universe that lacks representation. Interestingly, Bruce Wayne is reportedly dead at the end of Episode 2, and this time it's up to detective Barbara Gordon to find him.
Batman: Unburied is exclusive on Spotify.