Batman and his team of Batwoman, Red Robin, Spoiler, Orphan and Clayface have overcome numerous challenges together, but the latest issue of Detective Comics will push them to their limits ... and it's possible not everybody will survive.
Spoilers for Detective Comics #940 below!
As detailed in an exclusive preview over on Nerdist, the issue sees Batwoman's father, Jacob Kane, ordering a drone strike on hundreds of potential members of the League of Shadows, which Kane believes have infiltrated Gotham City. Batman and his team aren't about to allow that to happen. Red Robin (aka former Robin Tim Drake) comes up with a way to prevent the strike from happening: by remotely reprogramming the army of drones to attack himself instead.
It seems like Red Robin may have bitten off more than he can chew. Kane's forces think Red Robin is insane for pulling such a stunt, and are unable to shut down the drones or reprogram them to seek out their original targets. Batman declares that Red Robin is in a "mortally dangerous fight" with the drones and even calls on his team to back up Red Robin immediately, saying, "Nobody falls today. That's an order."
The ultimate fate of the character is still a mystery. The cover certainly seems to imply that Red Robin meets his end, and DC is also stating that the issue will "change Batman's world forever — and in a way you'd never expect!"
Does that mean some other character might die instead? Will everybody survive? Is this simply all misdirection on DC's part? Hard to say for sure, though some fans believe Detective Comics writer James Tynion IV will be hesitant to kill off any characters based on a recent interview with Comicbook.com. In the interview, Tynion IV discusses what it means to him to be writing the future for Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown and Cassandra Cain. He says, "I'm the person who actually gets to tell the stories that will drive these characters into the next five, ten years and beyond. I wanted to recreate, not recreate, but create a real home for them. Detective Comics feels like the perfect home for them."
Fans will know how it all plays out soon enough, as Detective Comics #940 arrives on store shelves Sept. 14. You can check out more preview pages from the upcoming issue here.
