Thomas Wayne

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 (November 1939), 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.

Wayne was revived in Geoff Johns' alternate timeline comic Flashpoint (2011), in which he plays a major role as a hardened, more violent version of Batman, whose son was killed instead of his wife and himself, leading both of them to become the altered reality's counterparts of Batman and the Joker respectively, and dies again by the end of the storyline. Dr. Wayne returned to the main DC Universe in DC Rebirth, as a revived amalgamation of his original self killed by Joe Chill and his Flashpoint Batman self killed in "The Button", teaming up with the supervillain Bane to attempt to force his son to retire as Batman.

As a key figure in the origin of Batman, Thomas Wayne has appeared in multiple forms of media. Notable portrayals of the character in live-action films include Linus Roache in Batman Begins (2005), Jeffrey Dean Morgan in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), Brett Cullen in Joker (2019), and Luke Roberts in The Batman (2022). Ben Aldridge also portrays him in the television series Pennyworth (2019).

Background
Thomas Wayne, M.D. is seldom shown outside of Bruce Wayne's and Alfred Pennyworth's memories of him, and Bruce's dreams and nightmares. He is frequently depicted as looking very much like his son, but with a mustache.

A notable occurrence in Thomas’ biography was when Bruce falls through a fissure on the Wayne property, into what would one day become the Batcave (sometimes the fissure is replaced with an abandoned well). Thomas eventually rescues his terrified son from the cave.

Dr. Wayne's role in his son's future vigilante career is expanded upon in "The First Batman", a Silver Age tale from Detective Comics #235, which reveals that Dr. Wayne attacks and defeats hoodlums while dressed like a "Bat-Man" for a masquerade ball. According to the story, Dr. Wayne's actions result in crime boss Lew Moxon being imprisoned; ten years later, Moxon orders Joe Chill to murder Dr. Wayne. Realizing Moxon ordered his parents killed, Batman confronts Moxon, now suffering from amnesia and thus has no memory of Dr. Wayne. When his costume is torn, Batman wears his father's in order to frighten Moxon. Sure enough, the costume restores Moxon's memory; the former crime boss panics, believing that Thomas’ ghost is attacking, and flees into the streets and is struck and killed by a truck. These events were retold in the 1980 miniseries The Untold Legend of the Batman. Following the Crisis on Infinite Earths, Thomas as the "First Batman" was retconned - he instead attends the masquerade ball as Zorro. This was retconned once more in the pages of Superman/Batman, where Superman, hoping to reverse some universe-altering change in the time streams, lands in a version of Gotham City in which Thomas never died, finding him giving out Halloween candy in the original Batman costume.

In many of the modern interpretations of the character, such as those by Frank Miller and Jeph Loeb, Thomas Wayne is portrayed as having been a somewhat distant, stern father, bestowing more kindness and generosity on his patients than his own son.

Dr. Wayne was once suspected to be the father of Bane. However, DNA testing proved this to be false, and Bane's real father was recently revealed to be King Snake.

In Batman: The Long Halloween, a flashback reveals that Thomas Wayne saved the life of gangster Carmine Falcone. Falcone's father Vincent Falcone came to Wayne Manor and begged Thomas to save his dying son, who had been shot by rival gangster Luigi Maroni. Thomas wanted to take the younger Falcone to the hospital, but Vincent insisted that nobody know about the shooting; the surgery was thus performed in the dining room with Alfred assisting. After saving Carmine's life, he was offered a reward or favor, but refused to accept any form of payment. Unbeknownst to Thomas, young Bruce watched this all in silence from afar. Years later, Bruce contemplates whether Gotham would have been better off had his father let Falcone die; Alfred replies that Thomas would have helped anyone in need.

In Superman/Batman #50, it is revealed that, while on a drive with a pregnant Martha Wayne, Thomas witnesses a strange object fall to Earth. As he inspects it, Thomas' consciousness is transported to Krypton, and presented in a holographic form. There, he encounters Jor-El, wishing to know what kind of a world Earth is, as it is one of many possible candidates for him to send his son Kal-El to. Thomas tells Jor-El that the people of Earth aren't perfect, but are essentially a good and kind race, who would raise the child right, convincing Jor-El to send Kal-El there. Upon returning to his body, Thomas uses the technology in the Kryptonian probe to revitalize a failing Wayne Enterprises. Years later, the alien technology would be the basis of much of Batman's crimefighting technology. Thomas recorded his encounter in a diary, which was discovered by Bruce in the present day.

Murder
When exiting a movie theater (opera in some versions), Thomas and Martha Wayne are murdered by a mugger in front of their son, Bruce Wayne. This tragedy shocks Gotham and leads to Park Row (the street where it occurred) being labeled Crime Alley. Most importantly, it serves as the motivation for Bruce to become Batman.

Alleged double life
During Batman R.I.P., it is alleged that Thomas Wayne and Martha Wayne were leading a double life, secretly partaking in criminal endeavors, drug abuse and orgies while presenting a façade of respectability to the outside world. The alleged evidence is revealed to be doctored in the aftermath of the storyline, however.

Doctor Simon Hurt, head of the Black Glove and the mastermind behind Batman R.I.P., actually claims to be Thomas Wayne to both Bruce Wayne and Alfred Pennyworth. Although both of them rebuke him without hesitation, Hurt never explicitly drops the claim.

In the ongoing follow-up series, Batman & Robin, it is suggested that some, if not all, of these allegations have begun to circulate around Gotham; Dick Grayson and Damian Wayne attend a high society function where a few party guests vaguely mention the existence of rumors surrounding the family, and Dick tries to tie Bruce's absence from the public eye with being occupied with clearing his family's reputation. Matters come to a head when Hurt returns to the city, claiming to be Thomas Wayne in order to take control of Wayne Manor and establish himself as the new Batman, but Grayson and Damian outsmart him.

It is hinted at during the course of the Batman and Robin series that Simon Hurt's actual identity is Thomas Wayne, albeit one from the 17th century who was a 'black sheep' of the Wayne family and prolongs his life through occult rituals. The Return of Bruce Wayne miniseries and its fallout Bruce Wayne: The Road Home cements Hurt's status as the elder Thomas Wayne from the Puritan Ages, driven insane by his meeting with Barbatos, the Hyper-Adapter sent through time along with Bruce Wayne to ensure the effectiveness of Darkseid's "Omega Sanction".

Batman: Castle of the Bat
In Batman: Castle of the Bat, Doctor Bruce Wayne discovers the preserved brain of his father deep below the research university where he works. He steals this and other body parts in a desperate attempt to revive his beloved father from death. This doesn't work out well due to various factors outside his control, but the part of the creature that still recognizes and loves his son does its best to help Bruce escape his enemies and expose the person responsible for the Waynes' murders; Thomas had discovered that one of his colleagues was killing people to perfect the preservation fluid used to store organs (Including Thomas's own brain, claimed by his killer after his death).

Batman: Dark Knight Dynasty
In Batman: Dark Knight Dynasty, Thomas Wayne and Martha Wayne are saved from death when Valentin Sinclair- really Vandal Savage, a man who has a long-standing interest and admiration for the Wayne family despite the fact that they often end up opposing him when they learn about his plans- scares off Joe Chill. Sinclair then becomes a partner in Wayne Enterprises, only to have the Waynes killed when they threaten to expose his plan to divert the meteor that gave him his powers back to Earth in order to study it. Their deaths come at the hands of Sinclair's fear-inducing henchman Scarecrone who causes them to remember the mugging, which drives them to flee Chill by running off their balcony. This prompts Bruce to become Batman to investigate.

Batman: Holy Terror
In Batman: Holy Terror, depicting an alternate timeline where Oliver Cromwell established a theocratic government across the globe, Thomas Wayne is the chief physician of the Privy Council, but when it is discovered that he is treating various 'enemies of the state' such as Jews or homosexuals, the Star Chamber votes by secret ballot to have him and Martha executed and make it look like a random mugging.

Batman: Earth One
In the graphic novel written by Geoff Johns and with art by Gary Frank, Batman: Earth One, Thomas Wayne was a physician who had run for mayor against Oswald Cobblepot. Cobblepot had attempted to arrange his opponent's murder during the latter's outing to a movie with his family, but a mugger got to them first and killed Thomas and his wife. It is also implied that both he and Alfred are keeping a traumatic secret from their families.

JLA: Earth 2
In JLA: Earth 2 by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely, the Thomas Wayne of the antimatter universe is the father of the supervillain Owlman. Like his original counterpart, he married Martha Kane and fathered Bruce Wayne. However, this version also had a second child named Thomas Wayne Jr. After Martha and Bruce are gunned down by a crooked police officer when Thomas Sr. refused to accompany him for questioning as Thomas Wayne had performed an "illegal medical operation," Thomas Jr. becomes Owlman to get revenge on the justice system. It is later revealed that Thomas Wayne Sr. is currently acting as commissioner of the Gotham City Police Department, seeking to bring his son to justice with the help of a cadre of idealistic officers. Owlman finds it his goal to "punish" his father for letting his mother and brother die.

Superman: Red Son
In Mark Millar's Superman: Red Son, Batman's (unnamed) parents are anti-communist protesters in the Soviet Union. They are executed in their home by NKVD Commissar Pyotr Roslov for printing and distributing anti-communist pamphlets. Their son witnesses the murders and attempts to overthrow the Communist Party of the Soviet Union when he is an adult.

Smallville
The fifth issue of the comic book continuation of the television series Smallville, written by executive story editor Bryan Q. Miller, reveals that Lionel Luthor invited Thomas to join the secret society Veritas with Virgil Swann, which Thomas declined.

Earth 2
In the revised Earth-Two alternate universe of "The New 52", Thomas Wayne is revealed to be the second version of Batman, having succeeded his son as the incumbent through use of the Miraclo pill of Hourman which enhances his strength and agility. He states that he is 65 years old. In contrast to his depiction on the Prime Earth, he and Martha Wayne are targeted for assassination due to Thomas's Mafia connections and subsequent efforts to "straighten out" when Bruce was born. Thomas hides the fact that he survived for many years in order to keep Bruce safe. Eventually, when the first version of Batman tracks Thomas down, he learns the truth and rejects Thomas's reason for being "dead" for most of Bruce's life, thus discouraging him from ever having any future relationship with his son, and by extension Bruce and Selina Kyle Wayne's family. However, he watched them from afar and tried to be as involved as he could, particularly with their daughter Helena. After Bruce's death saving Earth 2 from an Apokoliptan invasion, Thomas honors him by taking up the "mantle of the Bat" and makes use of Miraclo to help him fight crime.

After Earth-2's destruction in the war with Apokolips as seen in the Convergence storyline, Thomas Wayne is one of the few survivors transferred to Telos's world, along with Dick Grayson and other heroes. While investigating this world, Thomas travels with Dick into a variation of the pre-Flashpoint Gotham City where he has an unknown conversation with Bruce before he departs with Dick in a flying Batmobile. When they are cornered by the Club of Villains, who pursued them out of the city, Thomas sacrifices himself in a suicide bomb blast, destroying most of the Club of Villains in the process, his last words being to inform the Club of Villains that they will never hurt another Batman.

Thomas was succeeded in the Batman mantle by Dick.

Earth 3
In the revised Earth-Three alternate universe of "The New 52", Thomas Wayne Sr. is featured in Owlman's origin story. In stark contrast to Batman's father who was a highly skilled surgeon and philanthropist who had saved countless lives during his time, Earth 3's Thomas Wayne is a cowardly and sociopathic doctor who often kills his patients (Martha claims that this is due to a "surgical fetish") and spends his money on lawyers to cover up his patients' deaths as accidents. Earth 3's Alfred kills him along with Martha and Bruce Wayne as per Thomas Wayne Jr.'s orders. Owlman later states that his father was a weak man and wonders why Batman would devote his life to the memory of Thomas Wayne of Prime Earth.

When Earth 3 was rebooted during the "Infinite Frontier" storyline, Thomas Wayne Sr. and Martha Wayne were depicted as criminals. After they caused the death of Jimmy Gordon Jr., Boss Gordon sent Harvey Bullock to kill them where Bruce was also killed and Thomas Wayne Jr. was left alive. Years later, Thomas Wayne Jr. in the identity of Owlman would learn this fact when he interrogates Bullock.

DC Comics Bombshells
In the opening of the first issue of the comics DC Comics Bombshells, set in an alternate history 1940, Thomas and Martha Wayne's lives are saved by an already-existing Batwoman, implying that Bruce Wayne will never grow up to become Batman. However, in the final issue, set in 1960, the now grown up Bruce Wayne takes up training and becomes Batman, to honor the person who saved him and his parents' lives.

Live-action

 * Thomas Wayne appears on Gotham, portrayed by Grayson McCouch. His and Martha Wayne's murder is the main focus of the series as they are shot in the pilot episode by a masked man. This murder was also witnessed by Selina Kyle. In the episode "The Anvil or the Hammer", it is revealed that Thomas had known about illegal activities at Wayne Enterprises, which may have had something to do with his murder. In the episode "Wrath of the Villains: This Ball of Mud and Meanness", it is revealed that Patrick "Matches" Malone killed Thomas and Martha Wayne. In the episode "Wrath of the Villains: Pinewood", Thomas is revealed to have been a close friend of Hugo Strange who attempted to reason with him prior to his death to not oppose the group behind Wayne Enterprises. This led to Strange being given orders to orchestrate Thomas Wayne's death. In the episode "Ace Chemicals", Bruce's archnemesis Jeremiah Valeska abducts a husband and wife who had the same bone structure and build as Thomas and Martha Wayne and, with help from Jervis Tetch's mind control devices, conditioned them to believe they are the Waynes - all part of Jeremiah's plot to torment Bruce by re-enacting the night of his parents' murder. Jeremiah kills the doubles after they have served their purpose, and replaces them with a hypnotized Jim Gordon and Leslie Thompkins. Selina Kyle ultimately saves Gordon and Thompkins, and foils Jeremiah's plan.
 * A younger version of Thomas Wayne appears in the prequel series Pennyworth, portrayed by Ben Aldridge. This series serves as an origin story for the Thomas seen in Gotham during his younger days and explores his past as a CIA agent operating out of Gotham City in England to monitor the young Alfred Pennyworth. In the end of the second season, he and Martha Kane get married and have a daughter, Samantha (Bruce's future long-lost older sister). In the third season, set five years later, after retiring from the CIA to return to his original profession of being a doctor, following a "nuclear skirmish" between America and Russia, Thomas is brainwashed into shooting his father Patrick Wayne in Crime Alley. Sometime later, while attending Alfred's wedding to Sandra Onslow in the Highlands, Thomas, Martha, and Samantha bear witness as London is nuked.
 * A photo of Thomas appears in Wayne Manor in Titans.

Animation

 * Thomas Wayne appears in a flashback in The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians episode "The Fear", voiced by Paul Kirby.
 * Thomas Wayne appears in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, voiced by Corey Burton in "Invasion of the Secret Santas!" and "Dawn of the Deadman!" and by Adam West in "Chill of the Night!". In his most prominent appearance in "Chill of the Night!", the Phantom Stranger takes Batman back in time to a costume party Thomas attended, where he and his father fights a gang of robbers led by Lew Moxon and the former learns new information about Thomas's and Martha's murder.
 * Thomas Wayne appears in flashbacks in Beware the Batman, voiced by Anthony Ruivivar.

DC Animated Universe

 * Thomas Wayne has sporadic appearances in the DC Animated Universe (DCAU):
 * Thomas Wayne appears in Batman: The Animated Series, initially voiced by Richard Moll and later by Kevin Conroy. This version was friends with Matthew Thorne, with whom he attended medical school.
 * An illusionary version of Thomas Wayne appears in the Justice League Unlimited episode "For the Man Who Has Everything". Batman is briefly trapped by a hallucinogenic plant called the Black Mercy which puts him into an idealized dream world where his father fought and was on the verge of defeating Joe Chill. When Wonder Woman removes the Black Mercy, the hallucination ends, with Chill regaining the upper hand and the memory returning to original.

Batman (1989 film series)

 * Thomas Wayne appeared in Tim Burton's 1989 Batman, portrayed by David Baxt. This version was killed by a man named Jack Napier (who later became The Joker).
 * Batman Forever (1995) features a separate flashback to the murder of the Waynes, with Thomas Wayne now portrayed by Michael Scranton.

The Dark Knight Trilogy

 * Linus Roache played Thomas Wayne in Batman Begins (2005). This version was a surgeon at the Gotham City hospital, the fifth generation of the Wayne family to live in Wayne Manor, and the chairman of Wayne Enterprises. Additionally, his and Martha's death encouraged Gotham City's elite to bring it back from the brink of ruin, temporarily foiling Ra's al Ghul's (Liam Neeson) plan to destroy Gotham's economy.
 * In The Dark Knight Rises (2012), Bruce Wayne is helped by his father's memory with the strength to climb out and escape of "The Pit" prison in the Middle East that superficially resembles the well that Thomas rescued his son from as a child.

DC Extended Universe
Thomas Wayne appears in media set in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU):
 * Thomas Wayne appears in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, portrayed by Jeffrey Dean Morgan.
 * A portrait of Thomas Wayne in the likeness of Jeffrey Dean Morgan appears in Justice League.
 * A photograph of Thomas Wayne in the likeness of David Baxt (from 1989's Batman) appears in The Flash.

Joker
Brett Cullen portrays Thomas Wayne in the 2019 film Joker. This version is a businessman who is running to become Mayor of Gotham City, but he has little sympathy for the lower classes, dismissing the poor as "clowns" who have no one but themselves to blame for their misfortune. During the course of the film, Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) discovers from a letter his mother Penny (Frances Conroy) stating that he may be Wayne's son, the product of an affair with Penny while she worked for him as a maid. Arthur confronts Thomas, who denies this and informs him that Penny is not his biological mother, which Arthur later confirms by reading her file at Arkham State Hospital. At the end of the film, Thomas, Martha (Carrie Louise Putrello) and Bruce attempt to flee a riot that Arthur - now calling himself "Joker" - indirectly caused, only for one of the masked rioters to follow them and kill him and Martha in front of Bruce, starting him on the path to becoming Batman.

The Batman
Luke Roberts portrayed Thomas in the 2022 film The Batman. As in the comics, Wayne saved Carmine Falcone's (John Turturro) life. While running for mayor, he was met by a reporter who threatened to reveal his wife Martha's family history of mental illness. Desperate, Wayne turned to Falcone to have the latter intimidate the reporter, only for Falcone to kill him so he could have something on the Wayne family. Wayne, wracked with guilt, threatened to reveal everything to the police; he and his wife were murdered a week later. It is implied they may have been assassinated on the orders of either Falcone or Salvatore Maroni, but it is left ambiguous.

Animation

 * Thomas Wayne appears in Batman: Gotham Knight, voiced by Jason Marsden.
 * Thomas Wayne appears in Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, voiced by Bruce Timm.
 * The Flashpoint iteration of Batman appears in Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, voiced by Kevin McKidd. As in the original Flashpoint universe, Thomas Wayne turns into the crime-fighting vigilante Batman after his son's death, while Martha Wayne goes insane and becomes the Joker. Batman does not care about crime outside Gotham City and has his successful casinos fund his seemingly fruitless war on crime. Despite his cynical outlook, Batman reluctantly assists Barry Allen with a device to recreate the accident behind Barry's powers as the Flash. After the first attempt fails and the second attempt restores Barry's powers, Batman and Flash contact Cyborg for help in tracking down the government branch that hid the frail Kal-El. When Kal-El's freedom fails along with Flash's painful altered memories, the alternate Dark Knight tries to prevent the Flash's mental deterioration with his son's memory. As the World War between Aquaman and Wonder Woman reaches its breaking point, Cyborg's crude team heads to the final battle in Batman's plane. During the chaos, Batman and Grifter kill off Black Manta, and the alternate Dark Knight is injured by the Ocean Master. Batman then shoots the Reverse Flash in the head. Before Flash leaves to escape the alternate world, Thomas gives Flash a letter for his son.
 * Thomas Wayne briefly appears during a flashback in Son of Batman.
 * Thomas Wayne appears in Batman vs. Robin, voiced again by Kevin Conroy.
 * Thomas Wayne appears in a photograph in The Lego Batman Movie.
 * Thomas Wayne appears in DC Super Heroes vs. Eagle Talon, voiced by Frogman.
 * Thomas Wayne makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in Teen Titans Go! To the Movies.
 * The Flashpoint iteration of Batman makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay.
 * Thomas Wayne appears in Batman: Death in the Family, voiced by John DiMaggio.
 * Thomas Wayne appears in Batman: The Long Halloween, voiced by Robin Atkin Downes.
 * Thomas Wayne appears in Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham, voiced by Darin De Paul. This version, centuries prior, founded Gotham City alongside Oswald Cobblepot, Kirk Langstrom, and Oliver Queen's father Robert, utilizing dark magic from the Testament book to increase his lifespan and the town's prosperity.

Video games

 * Thomas Wayne makes a cameo in Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu.
 * Thomas Wayne appears in Batman: Dark Tomorrow, voiced by Richard Ferrone.
 * The Flashpoint Batman's outfit appears as a costume for Batman in Injustice: Gods Among Us.
 * Thomas Wayne appears in flashbacks in Batman: The Telltale Series, voiced by Troy Baker. This version is a criminal with ties to Carmine Falcone and Hamilton Hill who forcibly put people to Arkham Asylum if they were a threat to him. Once Martha discovered the full extent of Thomas' crimes, she planned to expose him, only for Hill to discover her plan and send Joe Chill to kill both. Bruce and most of Gotham remained unaware of his crimes until twenty years after his death when a group called the Children of Arkham, a group largely consisting of Thomas' victims and their loved ones, publicly release evidence of his crimes. Subsequently, Bruce (despite having no involvement in his father's crimes) becomes the target of much of the anger from both the Children of Arkham and the people of Gotham, with many of them convincing themselves that Bruce is no better than his father.

Batman Arkham
Thomas Wayne appears in the Batman Arkham series, voiced again by Kevin Conroy:


 * In Batman: Arkham Asylum, Batman, while under the influence of the Scarecrow's fear toxin, experiences flashbacks of his parents' murder, and has nightmares of his parents in body bags in the medical facility’s morgue.
 * Thomas Wayne's New 52 Earth-2 Batman costume appears as an alternate outfit in Batman: Arkham Origins.
 * The Flashpoint Batman suit and Thomas Wayne's New 52 Earth-2 Batman suit appears as a DLC costume in Batman: Arkham Knight.