Even Batman Thinks His Technology Is Unbelievable | Screen Rant
Warning! Spoilers for Generations Forged #1!
Batman is well known in DC Comics as one of the most high-tech heroes around, having created a vast array of contraptions and gadgets that blow even the most seasoned crime fighter’s mind. From his various bat-doodads to his always helpful and highly advanced Bat-Computer, Batman is one hero that takes the tech he uses very seriously.
That being said, it isn’t always the bad guys or the less experienced heroes that are surprised by what he pulls out of his jam-packed utility belt. In fact, Batman just showed he’s so good at his tech game that his own past self thinks it’s an unbelievable feat when coming across an invention of his own (eventual) design.
The issue is a bookend to the recent Generations Shattered #1, which saw heroes from across DC’s far-reaching timeline - including the original Batman from 1939, long-time Superman ally Steel, Green Lantern Sinestro, time traveler Booster Gold, Teen Titan member Starfire, Kamandi the Last Boy on Earth and the female Dr. Light - come together to defeat a foe named Dominus. Generations Forged #1, by Robert Venditti, Andy Schmidt, and Dan Jurgens (among others), picks up as said heroes are separated and thrown across time and space with very little hope of outrunning the wave of nothingness that is destroying everything around them. Miraculously finding ways back to one another after facing many trials and tribulations while separated, the team comes to the conclusion that the only way to help their predicament is to use an orbiting Brother Eye satellite, the system put in place by a future Batman to spy on out-of-line vigilantes, to send a message through space and time.
Sinestro mentions that Brother Eye is an artificial intelligence construct that can operate on its own, and Batman ’39’s brain immediately stops working as the revelation doesn’t compute with his current World War II perspective of technology. Fumbling with the words to express his utter surprise, this moment is mind-blowing on a level that the Batman of the past can’t even comprehend. Not only is Brother Eye a mind-boggling feat to this version of Batman all on its own, but due to the usual “don’t say too much about the future” time-traveling rules, Batman ’39 doesn’t even realize that it’s his own future tech that’s blowing his mind in the first place.
Although Batman '39 is able to compose himself rather quickly, the idea of how far Batman has come in his eighty-plus years of crime-fighting in terms of his technology set and overall smarts across the board would be a hard pill to swallow for any version of Batman. This Batman is so far removed from current iterations of the Dark Knight that Adam West's Shark Repellant Bat Spray would probably blow his mind too. Batman '39 only witnessed the tip of the iceberg in what his future self is capable of, and while it all might seem normal for today's Batman, the character has clearly come a long way from where he started.
So while “present-day” Batman has so many tricks up his sleeve that it all seems unbelievable to the ordinary citizen, Batman ’39’s surprise at his own future technology is something else entirely. He can't believe the technology he himself is destined to create. And if the OG Dark Knight thinks his Brother Eye tech is hard to comprehend, wait until he gets a peek at how the Batcave is shaping up these days.