Just Stay at Home

The first issue of Flashpoint hits tomorrow. As is tradition, that means it's time for me to start making predictions.

The big one has to do with the Flashpoint timeline's version of Batman. I think I've figured out who he might be. Here's the thing: in the interview with Brian Azzarello he leaves us with a vital clue about Batman, Knight of Vengeance:

He's older than the Batman we know.

Here's the thing about changes in the timeline: they can't really make people older or younger. Everyone is going to be the same age, it's just going to change the way they've lived their lives. That tells me that this Batman is not Bruce Wayne.

If he's not Bruce Wayne, then who is he? Here's my guess: somehow the Reverse Flash intervenes on that fateful night in Crime Alley. As we would expect, Joe Chill shoots Martha Wayne. Who else does he shoot? Perhaps this time it is not Thomas Wayne, but rather his son Bruce.

How would that change reality as we know it? What would the loss of his wife and son do to the doctor/philanthropist? Would he turn his back on medicine and direct his energies to a war on crime?

We know that this Batman seems willing to help the Flash "fix" the timeline. Why would he willingly offer his assistance? I think it could only be the knowledge that the correct timeline means his own death... But the survival of his son.

Wouldn't that make for a hell of a story?