Wayne Manor Estate | |
---|---|
Batman location | |
First appearance | Detective Comics #28 June 1939 |
Created by | Bob Kane Bill Finger |
Genre | Superhero comics |
In-universe information | |
Type | Mansion |
Locations | Gotham City |
Characters | Bruce Wayne Thomas Wayne Martha Wayne Alfred Pennyworth Dick Grayson Lance Bruner Barbara Gordon Jason Todd Tim Drake Stephanie Brown Damian Wayne Duke Thomas Cassandra Cain Claire Clover Julia Pennyworth |
Publisher | DC Comics |
Wayne Manor is a fictional mansion appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. It is the home of Bruce Wayne, owner of Wayne Enterprises, who is also the superhero Batman.
The house is depicted as a large mansion on the outskirts of Gotham City and is maintained by the Wayne family's butler, Alfred Pennyworth. While the earliest stories showed Bruce Wayne buying the house himself, by the 1950s at the latest, retroactive continuity established that the manor had belonged to the Wayne family for several generations. Along with serving as a personal residence, the mansion sits above the Batcave, which Batman uses as his secret headquarters. The vast majority of DC Comics references place Wayne Manor just outside of Gotham City in the state of New Jersey. [1] [2] [3] [4]
The manor, indicative of Wayne's ancestral wealth, is designed in a Gothic Revival architectural style, matching the Gothic architecture present in Gotham. For live-action films, English country house locations in Nottinghamshire, Hertfordshire, and Buckinghamshire, as well as Stevenson Taylor Hall in New York, have been used to depict Wayne Manor.
Wayne Manor appears in the 1960s Batman television series and in films Batman (1989), Batman Returns (1992), Batman Forever (1995), Batman & Robin (1997), in The Dark Knight Trilogy (2005–2012), in the DC Extended Universe (2016–2023) and The Batman (2022).
Wayne Manor is depicted in earlier comics as being on the outskirts of Gotham City in the state of New Jersey. [1] [2] [3] [4] Comic book portrayals place the mansion within driving distance of Gotham City, close enough that the Bat-Signal can be seen from Wayne Manor alerting Batman of distress in the city.
Wayne Manor's grounds include a surrounding gate around the perimeter with a larger front gate at the main entrance. Batman's subterranean headquarters, the Batcave, is located beneath the mansion. [5]
The grounds also includes a large hill that was partially hollowed out for Batman's aerial vehicles, with the most prominent being the batcave, and there is also an underground river system that is large enough to accommodate docking space for the Batboat and has a large opening for said vehicle.
In Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne it is revealed that Wayne Manor was designed by Nathan Van Derm for Darius Wayne, forming a stylized "W", although the additional gardens that existed at the time the manor was built add on to this symbol to create the image of a bat.
During the events of Batman: Cataclysm a massive earthquake struck Gotham City, the epicenter of which was less than a mile from Wayne Manor. The mansion was seriously damaged, as was the cave network beneath. The ground beneath the mansion shifted significantly, and actually revealed the Batcave below, although the Bat-family were able to relocate all of Batman's equipment before official rescue came to the manor so that nobody would learn Bruce Wayne's secrets. The original Manor was damaged beyond repair, forcing Bruce Wayne to redesign the Manor along with the Batcave. The new Manor is a veritable fortress, a pastiche of Gothic architecture combined with features of castellated architecture. Solar panels are installed in the new Manor, providing sustainable and environmentally-friendly electricity generation for the complex. [6] It also includes a heliport for commercial helicopters. [7]
During Batman Eternal , Hush's machinations result in Wayne Enterprises being ruined and Bruce Wayne essentially bankrupt after the villain detonates various weapons caches Batman had concealed around Gotham. [8] As part of this bankruptcy, Wayne Manor is repossessed by the city and turned into the new Arkham Asylum following the destruction of the original, [9] but Bruce decides to accept this new status quo, reasoning that he can at least make sure that his enemies remain contained in the new manor given his intimate knowledge of its entrances and exits. [10]
The manor is eventually reclaimed by Bruce's lawyers, but it is temporarily left empty due to Bruce's death and amnesic resurrection as Alfred wanted to give Bruce a chance to have a life without Batman. However, Bruce returns to the manor when he realizes who he used to be.
The manor grounds include an extensive cave system that Bruce Wayne discovered as a boy and later used as his base of operations, the Batcave. The method used to access it from inside the mansion has varied across the different storylines in the comics, movies, and shows. In the comic books, it is typically accessible from a hidden door in Wayne Manor's study behind a non-functioning grandfather clock, which opens to a descending staircase when the hands on said clock are turned to 10:47, the time Thomas and Martha Wayne were killed.
The Batcave is accessible from outside the mansion through a hidden entrance on the estate's grounds. This entrance leads directly to the Batcave and has been depicted in different forms, including a waterfall, pond, hologram, and camouflaged door.
While these grounds are the regular home of Bruce Wayne, he temporarily vacated it in the stories from the late 1960s to the early 1980s, preferring to live in a penthouse apartment on top of the Wayne Foundation building in the city, which also included a secret sub-basement acting as a Batcave.
Wayne came to this decision when Dick Grayson went off to college, which led him to decide that the mansion was now impractical with only one resident and one servant. Furthermore, Wayne decided he wanted to be closer to his main field of operations in Gotham City than a home situated outside the main urban area would allow. However, by the early 1980s, Wayne came to reconsider that purpose and decided that being less accessible to the public was more advantageous for his Batman activities and returned to Wayne Manor.
In Batman & Dracula: Red Rain , Wayne Manor is destroyed as part of a plan to destroy Dracula's vampire family, bombs exposing the interior of the Batcave to sunlight after Batman lured the vampires into the cave following a chase through Gotham's sewers that ended in the Batcave just as the sun rose. Although the manor collapses into the cavern system after a second series of bombs are set off, thus concealing Bruce Wayne's secret, Batman and Alfred relocate to a brownstone in the center of town, Batman residing in a mausoleum in the basement while Alfred prepares his equipment in the main house. Although Alfred and Gordon stake Batman at the conclusion of Batman: Bloodstorm after he succumbs to his vampire instincts and drinks the Joker's blood, he is restored to life after Alfred removes the stake in Crimson Mist, subsequently relocating to the catacombs underneath the remains of Wayne Manor. The manor's remains are finally destroyed for good when Gordon, Alfred, Two-Face, Killer Croc, and Two-Face's gang plant bombs on the cave roof, exposing the interior to sunlight and ending Batman's reign of terror once and for all.
In Kingdom Come , the Manor was mostly destroyed by Two-Face and Bane after Batman's true identity was exposed; the Batcave, however, remained relatively untouched. By the end of the graphic novel, the Manor has been rebuilt as a hospital/hospice for Gulag battle victims.
Outside of the bustling metropolis of New York City, and on the outskirts of the sleepy town of Brewster, NY, boasts an active ‘Wayne Manor’ on a private residence. Known for elaborately themed parties and functions, W.M. northeast includes custom stonework, multiple fireplaces, a standing tiki bar and the occasional overhead fireworks display. While private, all guests are welcome.
The 1943 Batman serial originated the use of a grandfather clock as a door to the bat cave (or "bats’ cave" as it was called in the serial), a device which was then adopted by the comics. The austere bat cave featured only an ornate desk, on the wall behind which was projected the shape of a bat.
1949's Batman and Robin serial showed little more of Wayne Manor than its predecessor did. It continued the use of the grandfather clock as a secret door to the bat cave, which boasted more accoutrements than in the 1943 serial, including a holding cell.
In 1989's Batman , Knebworth House, a Gothic Tudor mansion 28 miles (45 km) north of London was used for the exterior. The interior, however, is Hatfield House, Hertfordshire. The gaming room from the movie used the long gallery, and the marble hall was used for Wayne's "arsenal" with the two-way mirror. In Batman Returns (1992), an original scale model was used for the exteriors of Wayne Manor. In the sequel, the passageway to the Batcave is uncovered by turning on the lights of an ornament in a nearby aquarium and dropping through a false floor in an iron maiden, although Alfred does quip that he'll "take the stairs".
In Batman Forever (1995) and Batman & Robin (1997), Webb Institute in Glen Cove, New York, was used for the exterior shots of Wayne Manor. In Batman Forever, Dick Grayson discovers an entrance to the Batcave concealed behind a silverware storage cupboard.
In the more recent Batman Begins (2005), the former Rothschild estate, Mentmore Towers in Buckinghamshire, was used to portray Wayne Manor's exterior and interior. In Batman Begins, the main part of the mansion is destroyed by fire caused by Ra's al Ghul, although its foundations survive intact and rebuilding efforts are underway as the film ends, with Alfred suggesting to Bruce to make improvements on the mansion's southeast corner (where the Batcave is located). The secret passage is an elevator shaft originally built as part of the Underground Railroad, accessed by playing three notes on a nearby piano.
In The Dark Knight (2008), Wayne Manor is still being reconstructed and is thus never seen, though it is briefly mentioned as being near the outer city limits in a neighborhood called the Palisades. Bruce Wayne relocates to a two-story tall penthouse apartment within a hotel he purchased, and his equipment is located in a different area: a secret bunker underneath a cargo container in a construction zone owned by Wayne Enterprises. The penthouse has a secret entrance to a location within the hotel where Wayne hides his equipment as Batman that strongly implied was built by the building's original owner as a safe room. According to the viral campaign, it is 25,000 sq ft (2,300 m2), with 40 ft (12 m) ceilings, two gigantic balconies, heliport for his private helicopter, and 360 degree view of the entire city. The monthly maintenance fee is around $31,000.
The reconstructed Wayne Manor has appeared in The Dark Knight Rises (2012) which takes place eight years after the events of The Dark Knight, and Wollaton Hall (which Mentmore Towers is a near replica of) in Nottingham as Wayne Manor's exterior and interior. [15] [16] [17] The Selina Kyle drawing room scene in The Dark Knight Rises was filmed in Osterley Park House in Hounslow, England, which is in a suburb of London. In the movie, the mastermind criminal Bane destroys a secret underground facility, an event that leads to the discovery of The Batcave. The film's drawing room is the real life mansion's entrance hall. The interior was designed by famed Neoclassical architect Robert Adam. At the end of the movie, after Bruce retires his role as Batman after fulfilling his vows to turn Gotham City into a city of order, he had his associates convert the manor into an orphanage, and named it after his parents.
Wayne Manor appears in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice . It has been abandoned for some time, after a large fire destroys most of the house, with Bruce and Alfred now residing within the "Glasshouse", a small modern mansion on the shores of a lake, similar to Farnsworth House. The ruined former Manor; in actuallity, being a digital rendering of the real world, Sutton Scarsdale Hall ruins, located in Derbyshire, England. Bruce visits his family's burial vault on the grounds of the mansion and briefly visits Wayne Manor's ruins before his battle with Superman.
In Justice League and its director's cut, following the defeat of Steppenwolf and his army of Parademons with the help of Superman being revived, Bruce and Alfred re-visit the manor, accompanied by Diana, with Bruce discussing plans with them on rebuilding the Manor to serve as the new team's headquarters, and suggesting that the Manor's main hall could hold a round table of six chairs. Diana adds that the table should have room for more seats to be added in future, which Bruce agrees with. The interior of the manor was likely filmed on the Southill Estate in Bedfordshire [18] The Knebworth House was used again for the film The Flash . [19]
In the film The Flash , Burghley House in Peterborough was used as the exterior for Wayne Manor. [20] [21] [22] [23] [24]
In the 2019 film Joker , Webb Institute in Glen Cove, New York, was once again used for exterior shots of Wayne Manor, following the Joel Schumacher films and the 2014 television series Gotham.
It was revealed in The Batman that the Wayne's moved into Wayne Tower and Wayne Manor was turned into an Orphanage where The Riddler grew up. It was burned down by The Riddler over his hatred for Bruce Wayne.
Wayne Manor is seen briefly when Bruce digs up Jason's grave site which is located in the backyard.
Wayne Manor is seen in the background during Bruce's training and a visit by Lieutenant Gordon and his wife. The design is exactly the same design on the graphic novel of the same name Batman: Year One
The design for Wayne Manor is the same one used in Batman: Year One. It served as the home and seclusion for Bruce Wayne after he retires from being Batman 10 years previously due to the death of Jason Todd through unknown circumstances. It lost all power and ran on an emergency generator when Gotham, along with the rest of the United States lost power after Superman deflects a Soviet nuclear missile, which caused an EMP blast. Oliver Queen visited Bruce at the manor when planning to take down Superman. Wayne Manor was destroyed during Batman's final showdown with Superman in Gotham City after Alfred activated a self-destruct sequence. As the Manor burned to the ground Alfred looked on with sadness as he suffered a fatal stroke.
Wayne Manor is seen in the alternate timeline as the home of Thomas Wayne. However it is heavily dilapidated and all but abandoned with Thomas who has taken on the role of Batman, following the murder of his son Bruce by Joe Chill and the descent into madness and transformation into the Joker by his wife Martha. The balcony of the Manor is where Thomas and Barry Allen attempt on two occasions to restore Barry's connection to the Speed Force. The design used for the manor is the same one used for Batman: Year One and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns animated films. After Barry repairs the timeline, Wayne Manor is once again the residence of Bruce Wayne and restored to pristine condition.
Wayne Manor is featured in The Lego Batman Movie being located on an island called "Wayne Island". The entrance to the Batcave is accessed behind a fireplace. Wayne Manor and Wayne Island are controlled by a HAL 9000-like version of the Batcomputer, here called "'Puter".
In Injustice: Gods Among Us , Wayne Manor is seen in a parallel universe where Superman rules the world. Because Batman's Insurgency opposed him, Superman exposed his identity and had the manor cordoned off. Batman, accompanied by Green Arrow, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and Aquaman from another universe, infiltrate Wayne Manor to access the Batcave to retrieve a kryptonite weapon to use against Superman.
Batman: Arkham City features several challenge maps set in Wayne Manor, including its main hall and armory. The interior of Wayne Manor is featured in the Batman: Arkham Origins DLC, Cold, Cold Heart. Bruce Wayne's New Year's Eve party is crashed by Mr. Freeze and Penguin's gang, in search of Ferris Boyle. Wayne Manor is briefly featured in Batman: Arkham Knight . It is visible outside the game's bounds. After Scarecrow exposes Batman's identity to the world, a crowd of reporters gather outside the estate gates. The Dark Knight then returns to the manor to enact the Knightfall Protocol. Soon after he is greeted by Alfred and steps inside, Wayne Manor is destroyed by a series of explosions, giving the world the impression that Batman has died.
The lyrics [25] to the song "She Looks Like Fun" on the album Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino by Arctic Monkeys mention Wayne Manor.
Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in the 27th issue of the comic book Detective Comics on March 30, 1939. In the DC Universe continuity, Batman is the alias of Bruce Wayne, a wealthy American playboy, philanthropist, and industrialist who resides in Gotham City. Batman's origin story features him swearing vengeance against criminals after witnessing the murder of his parents Thomas and Martha as a child, a vendetta tempered with the ideal of justice. He trains himself physically and intellectually, crafts a bat-inspired persona, and monitors the Gotham streets at night. Kane, Finger, and other creators accompanied Batman with supporting characters, including his sidekicks Robin and Batgirl; allies Alfred Pennyworth, James Gordon, and Catwoman; and foes such as the Penguin, the Riddler, Two-Face, and his archenemy, the Joker.
The Dark Knight Returns is a 1986 four-issue comic book miniseries starring Batman, written by Frank Miller, illustrated by Miller and Klaus Janson, with color by Lynn Varley, and published by DC Comics. It tells an alternative story of Bruce Wayne, who at 55 years old returns from a decade of retirement to fight crime while facing opposition from the Gotham City police force and the United States government. The story also features the return of classic foes Two-Face and the Joker, and culminates in a confrontation with Superman, who is now a pawn of the government.
The Elizabeth Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane, commonly referred to as Arkham Asylum, is a fictional forensic psychiatric hospital appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in stories featuring the superhero Batman. It first appeared in Batman #258, written by Dennis O'Neil with art by Irv Novick. Located in Gotham City, the asylum houses patients who are criminally insane, as well as select prisoners with unusual medical requirements that are beyond a conventional prison's ability to accommodate. Its high-profile patients are often members of Batman's rogues gallery.
The Batcave is a subterranean location appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. It is the headquarters of the superhero Batman, whose secret identity is Bruce Wayne and his partners, consisting of caves beneath his personal residence, Wayne Manor.
Alfred Thaddeus Crane Pennyworth, originally Alfred Beagle and commonly known simply as Alfred, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, most commonly in association with the superhero Batman.
James W. "Jim" Gordon Sr. is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, most commonly in association with the superhero Batman. Created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane as an ally of Batman, the character debuted in the first panel of Detective Comics #27, Batman's first appearance, making him the first Batman supporting character ever to be introduced.
Bane is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Chuck Dixon and Graham Nolan, the character first appeared in Batman: Vengeance of Bane #1. He has become one of the superhero Batman's most enduring enemies belonging to the collective of adversaries that make up his rogues gallery.
Lucius Fox is a character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Bruce Wayne / Batman. He is Wayne's business manager at Wayne Enterprises who runs the business interests that supply his equipment needs as well as financing his operations, and is the father of Luke Fox / Batwing, Tiffany Fox / Batgirl, and Jace Fox / Batman.
The Bat-Signal is a distress signal device appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, as a means to summon the superhero, Batman. It is a specially modified searchlight with a stylized emblem of a bat affixed to the light, allowing it to project a large bat symbol onto cloudy night skies over Gotham City.
"Knightfall" is a 1993–1994 Batman story arc published by DC Comics. It consists of a trilogy of storylines that ran from 1993 to 1994, consisting of "Knightfall", "Knightquest", and "KnightsEnd".
Hush is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee, the character first appeared in Batman #609 in January 2003 as part of the twelve-issue storyline Batman: Hush. Hush serves as a criminal foil to the superhero Batman and belongs to the collective of adversaries that make up his rogues gallery.
Wayne Enterprises, Inc., also known as WayneCorp and Wayne Industries, is a formerly wealthy fictional company appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Batman. Wayne Enterprises is a large, growing multinational company.
Thomas Alan Wayne, M.D. is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is the father of Bruce Wayne (Batman), and husband of Martha Wayne as well as the paternal grandfather of Damian Wayne. Wayne was introduced in Detective Comics #33, the first exposition of Batman's origin story. A gifted surgeon and philanthropist to Gotham City, Wayne inherited the Wayne family fortune after Patrick Wayne. When Wayne and his wife are murdered in a street mugging, Bruce is inspired to fight crime in Gotham as the vigilante Batman.
Martha Wayne is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Batman. She is the mother of Bruce Wayne (Batman), and wife of Dr. Thomas Wayne as well as the paternal grandmother of Damian Wayne, the fifth Robin. After she and her husband are murdered in a street robbery, her son becomes inspired to fight crime as the vigilante known as Batman.
"Beware the Gray Ghost" is the eighteenth episode of Batman: The Animated Series. It was directed by series regular Boyd Kirkland and was first aired on November 4, 1992. The episode features guest star Adam West, best known for his portrayal of Batman in the 1960s Batman television series. West plays an actor known for his role as the Gray Ghost, a character that resembles Batman antecedent The Shadow.
The Batplane, Batwing, Batjet or Batgyro is the fictional aircraft for the DC Comics superhero Batman. The vehicle was introduced in "Batman Versus The Vampire, I", published in Detective Comics #31 in 1939, a story which saw Batman travel to continental Europe. In this issue it was referred to as the "Batgyro", and according to Les Daniels was "apparently inspired by Igor Sikorsky's first successful helicopter flight" of the same year. Initially based upon either an autogyro or helicopter, with a rotor, the Batgyro featured a bat motif at the front. The writers gave the Batgyro the ability to be "parked" in the air by Batman, hovering in such a way as to maintain its position and allow Batman to return.
Batman and Robin is an American comic book ongoing series, created by Grant Morrison and featuring Batman and Robin. The debut of the series followed the events of "Batman R.I.P.", Final Crisis, and "Battle for the Cowl" in which the original Batman, Bruce Wayne, apparently died at the hands of DC Comics villain Darkseid and features the winner of the "Battle for the Cowl" as the new Batman. The conclusion of Battle for the Cowl shows Dick Grayson ascending to the role of Batman, while Damian Wayne becomes the new Robin.
Batman: Earth One is a series of graphic novels written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Gary Frank. The series is a modernized re-imagining of DC Comics' long-running Batman comic book franchise as part of the company's Earth One imprint. Earth One's Batman exists alongside other revamped DC characters in Earth One titles, including Superman: Earth One and Wonder Woman: Earth One, as well as other graphic novels.
Batman is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Geoff Johns (writer) and Andy Kubert (artist), he made his first appearance in Flashpoint #1. He is a hardened murderous version of Thomas Wayne seen in the alternate timeline comic Flashpoint (2011) whose son was killed instead of Martha Wayne and himself, eventually helping Barry Allen/The Flash defeat Eobard Thawne. His character returned to the main DC Universe in DC Rebirth as a revived amalgamation of his original self that was killed by Joe Chill and the Flashpoint version of Batman that was killed in "The Button", a storyline revolving around the "Smiley-face" button from Watchmen.
Batman: Curse of the White Knight is an American comic book published by DC Comics under its Black Label imprint. The eight-issue limited series, written and illustrated by Sean Murphy, began publication on July 24, 2019 and concluded on March 25, 2020. It is the sequel to Batman: White Knight and is the second installment in the Murphyverse's White Knight series, which takes place within a self-contained alternate reality that is different from and unrelated to the main DC Universe.