Batman has one of the most iconic rogues galleries in comic history. Maybe even in the history of fiction. Where classic greats have a single memorable villain, Batman’s mythology has them in the double digits.
But we’ve heard about them already. Today we’re talking about their lairs. The dark places these villains call home, where schemes are hatched.
Somehow, we managed to narrow them down to these three most iconic villain lairs.
Joker: Amusement Mile
Pretty much anything attached to the Joker is iconic, no matter how dark or whimsical it is. His lairs are no different.
In early Joker appearances, it was the Ha-Hacienda. Much like how the MCU’s Asgard is wherever the Asgardians call home, the Ha-Hacienda was wherever Joker hatched his plots across various Batman stories.
However, his best lairs are those that lean into the Joker’s clown prince of crime aesthetic. That’s Amusement Mile. The Mile debuted in 1999’s Batman #569 but the name has been applied to earlier fairground lairs too, like in The Killing Joke (1988) and Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns (1986) run. Places in Amusement Mile are used by other villains, too. Harley Quinn, obviously, but also Bane, Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy.
Penguin: The Iceberg Lounge & Casino
Used by The Penguin, the Iceberg Lounge is special because it’s a place that could exist in the real world. Gotham City is a character in Batman stories and, when it shows its glamorous side, it’s often at the Lounge. As CBR explains, Batman uses the Lounge to source valuable information as Matches Malone.
The Lounge featured prominently in The Batman (2022) as a set piece. Solely responsible for creating the Reevesverse, the movie has a lot of fans excited for where it could go next with Pattinson’s take on vengeance himself.
We didn’t see the Casino in The Batman but that doesn’t rule it out for the future. Casinos have become more popular in movies, probably thanks to online casinos and their accessibility for modern audiences, allowing anyone in the world to take part. A single site can cover an entire continent, like NetBet covering Italy and other European regions. As audiences become more familiar with casinos and how they work, writers can and will play on them more for excitement and tension.
Catwoman: Selina Kyle’s Apartment
Sometimes a friend, sometimes a foe, Catwoman is one of Batman’s greatest anti-heroic foils. No matter her portrayal, Catwoman’s hideout usually stays consistent as an unassuming apartment.
It’s the perfect place for a petty thief navigating Gotham City’s underworld, innocuous and humble for a character that can appeal to sympathy even when up against the Bat. Her gear is protected by a cat or two, most famously Isis. You can find more about Isis and other superhero pets from AV Club.
Conclusion
Those are three very different examples, each covering a different kind of villainous element that Batman has to contend with. Amusement Mile is the chaos of an abandoned, forgotten places that Gotham has left to rot. The Lounge is alive but often with the wrong kind of people, where villains disguise crime with airs and graces. Then there’s Kyle’s Apartment, which can be a hideout to investigate or a safe haven for Bats depending on the story.
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