Writer/artist Sean Murphy's Batman: White Knight universe has just begun its third limited series installment, Batman: Beyond the White Knight.
Though fans will have to wait till April 26 to read Beyond the White Knight #2, Murphy has taken to his personal Instagram account to share a shocking spoiler for the end of the issue - one that bizarrely plays into the original White Knight theme of switching the roles of Batman and the Joker in Gotham City.
"Massive" spoilers ahead for Batman: Beyond the White Knight #2
Well, we'll let Murphy have the honors...
That's right, according to Harley Quinn, Bruce Wayne is her "husband" - indicating that Harley moved on from the Joker to his rival, Batman.
The why's and how's of this surprise have yet to be revealed, but the limited series' background could offer some clues. Here's where things are at as of Batman: Beyond the White Knight #1.
A decade after Bruce Wayne was imprisoned for the apparent murder of his rival vigilante Azrael (whose death was actually faked) in the previous limited series Batman: Curse of the White Knight, the Gotham Terrorist Oppression Unit (GTO) has effectively eliminated crime in Gotham, thanks in part to their partnership with billionaire villain Derek Powers, who has taken control of Wayne Enterprises - and with it, Batman's tech.
To stop Powers and his ally, young thief Terry McGinnis who has taken up a hi-tech version of the Bat-suit, Bruce Wayne decides to break out of Stonegate Prison, where he's being held for Azrael's murder. Bruce manages to escape, but upon his exit from the prison, he finds someone particularly unexpected waiting for him: Jack Napier, AKA the former Joker, whose appearance is a bit confusing as he was previously killed in the White Knight-verse by none other than Harley Quinn in Curse of the White Knight.
Murphy's Instagram post is the first confirmation of a relationship between Batman and Harley in the White Knight continuity, though there's been a will-they/won't-they situation going on since the events of Curse of the White Knight. For example, as Bruce was carted away by the GTO at the end of the story, it was Harley that gave him the saddest goodbye, drawing a heart on the window of the squad car that took him away.
But what does their married status mean for both the characters now? How will it affect Harley's children Bryce and Jackie, whose father was (gulp!) the Joker? And speaking of the newly-returned Clown Prince of Crime, what will he do once he learns about it?
We'll have to wait to learn more in Batman: Beyond the White Knight #2, which is written and drawn by Sean Murphy, colored by Dave Stewart, and lettered by AndWorld Design. But in the meantime, here's a lettered four-page preview from April 26's Batman: Beyond the White Knight #2.
Batman: Beyond the White Knight is just one of the many new Batman comics DC has planned for release in 2022.
