Martha Wayne

Fictional character, mother of Bruce Wayne (Batman)

Martha Wayne ( Kane) 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. As a key figure in the origin of Batman, Martha Wayne has appeared in multiple forms of media. Notable portrayals of the character in live action include Sara Stewart in Batman Begins, Lauren Cohan in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Carrie Louise Putrello in Joker, and Stella Stocker in The Batman. Emma Paetz also portrays her in the television series Pennyworth in a main role.

Martha Wayne first appeared in Detective Comics #33 (November 1939) in a story by Bob Kane and Bill Finger which detailed the origin of Batman. Initially little more than a cipher whose death inspired her heroic son, later comics would expand upon her history. Born Martha Kane (a maiden name given in homage to co creator Bob Kane), Martha was the heir to the Kane Chemical fortune and a member of one of Gotham City's wealthiest families. It has been revealed she is related to both Jacob Kane, his daughter Kate Kane (Batwoman) in Detective Comics #934, and Bette Kane (Flamebird) in Batwoman #25. Martha had a reputation as a notorious party girl, socialite, and debutante, frequenting all the most prestigious country clubs, night clubs, and soirees. She also had a developed social conscience and often used her family's wealth and status to champion causes and charities. She is canonically Jewish, though she is not portrayed as practicing any religion. Batman writer Tom King has referred to Martha’s heritage multiple times during his run of Batman/Catwoman and other Batman comics. As revealed in the miniseries Batman: Family by John Francis Moore, Martha's closest friend in those days was the woman Celia Kazantkakis. Both were renowned for their beauty, which caught the attention of a gangster named Denholm. Martha dated Denholm for a time prior to meeting Thomas Wayne, though she was unaware of his true nature at the time. Celia, who had had previous dealings with Denholm, became very protective of her friend and conspired to get this thug out of her life. In the process it came to light just why Celia was familiar with him. Celia, it turned out, was a criminal herself and had been embezzling money from an orphanage that was one of Martha's charities. She attempted to hide the evidence of this by setting fire to the building but Martha discovered her duplicity. Before Celia departed for her family's home in Greece, Martha threatened to expose her should she ever return to Gotham. Celia would return to Gotham many years later as "Athena", the leader of a criminal cartel. In this guise, she attempted to stage a coup of Wayne Enterprises, about their son's death. As Batman has recently met Barry Allen, Martha learns that there is a way to rewrite history where Bruce will live although they will die. Realizing that her son will be Batman in that timeline, Martha flees in horror, falling to her death in the caverns below Wayne Manor. When the Flashpoint reality was restarted during the "Flashpoint Beyond" storyline, Joker was revealed to have survived the fall and started targeting anyone who had anything to do with time travel. She was revealed to have allied with Gilda Dent when she was incarcerated at Arkham Asylum. Batman figured out that Martha was still alive when he was told by Oswald Cobblepot that Dexter Dent went to go see Martha in prison. Batman finds that Joker had enlisted scientists to build a Time Sphere and gutted them once they have served their purpose. Joker tries to use the Time Sphere only for it to explode. The Flashpoint timeline stabilizes when both Batman and Joker come to terms that their reality would be better without Bruce. Joker was last seen in a special cell in the Batcave as Batman and Dexter as Robin head out to fight the Kryptonian invaders. She does offer to hook them up with a contact if they are in need of Kryptonite. In the pages of "The New Golden Age", Martha was seen with Batman and Dexter at the time when Per Degaton was imprisoned in the Flashpoint reality.

In an alternate universe ruled by the tyrannical 'Planetary' organization, Martha and her husband were part of a makeshift 'League of Justice', an underground cell trying to revolt. They were murdered by Elijah Snow.

In the graphic novel Batman: Earth One, Martha's maiden name was Arkham instead of Kane in this alternate continuity. Martha's father was murdered by her mother when she was twelve, leaving her family with a series of scandals, including a rumor that the Arkham bloodline is peremptorily insane. Martha was a campaign manager of her husband's mayoral campaign against Oswald Cobblepot. Cobblepot had planned to have a corrupt cop, Jacob Weaver, murder Thomas, but a mugger got to her family first and killed both her and her husband, leaving Bruce orphaned.

In the Elseworlds novel Batman: Holy Terror Martha works with Thomas and other medical professionals in an underground clinic treating victims of the religious theocracy that rules most of the planet. In one example she makes note of a man that had been tortured to try to change his homosexuality.

Martha Wayne's Earth 3 counterpart is featured in Forever Evil. In the revised Earth 3 alternate universe of "The New 52", all characters from the mainstream universe have corresponding counterparts albeit these counterparts are either a darker or outright evil version of the character. Martha is the abusive and sadistic mother of Owlman, in contrast to Batman's mother being a kind woman who fought against child abuse and corruption. Martha blames her husband's surgical fetish for the family's huge expenses, despite the fact that she herself frequently indulges in the family fortune. Owlman orchestrates his parents' murder with the Alfred of Earth 3. Owlman later wonders why Batman would dedicate his life to avenging his parents' deaths. When Earth 3 was rebooted during the "Infinite Frontier" storyline, Martha Wayne and Thomas Wayne Sr. 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.

In the opening of the first issue of the comic DC Comics Bombshells, set in an alternate history 1940, Martha and Thomas Wayne's lives are saved by an already existing Batwoman.

Martha Wayne appears in the FOX television series Gotham, portrayed by Brette Taylor. Her and Thomas Wayne's murder is the main focus of the show's first season. Their murder was first seen in the pilot episode where they are gunned down by a masked man in shiny shoes. This murder was witnessed by Selina Kyle. The episode "Ace Chemicals", revealed that Jeremiah Valeska had abducted a husband and wife who had the same bone structure and build as Thomas and Martha Wayne where he had Mad Hatter hypnotize them and a doctor that works for him do plastic surgery on them. This is part of Jeremiah's plot to re enact the night when Thomas and Martha Wayne were murdered. When it came to the murder in the alley, Jeremiah had already killed the doubles after they served their purpose and replaced them with a brainwashed James Gordon and Leslie Thompkins with the hypnosis ending when the pearls hit the ground upon their death. This murder attempt was thwarted by Selina Kyle. A younger version of Martha Wayne appears in the prequel series Pennyworth, portrayed by Emma Paetz. This series serves as an origin story and explores Martha's past as an agent of the No Name League, who hires a young Alfred Pennyworth to assist her on dangerous missions, while developing a friendship with CIA agent Thomas Wayne. In the end of the second season, Martha and Thomas get married and have a daughter, Samantha (Bruce's future long lost older sister). In the third season, set five years later, after hiring Alfred's mother Mary to serve as Samantha's nanny, Martha is impersonated by Virginia Devereaux. Sometime later, while attending Alfred's wedding to Sandra Onslow in the Highlands, Martha, Thomas, and Samantha bear witness as London is nuked. A photo of Martha appears in Wayne Manor in Titans.

Martha Wayne appears in The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians episode "The Fear", voiced by Lucy Lee. She is depicted in a flashback sequence which was the first depiction of Batman's origin outside of the comics. Martha Wayne appears in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, voiced by Pat Musick in "Dawn of the Deadman!" and by Julie Newmar in "Chill of the Night!". In her most notable appearance in "Chill of the Night! ", the Phantom Stranger takes Batman back in time to a costume party Martha and Thomas Wayne attended, where he meets his parents and learns new information about their murder. Martha Wayne appears in Beware the Batman. In the episode "Monsters", Martha appears in a flashback sequence where she and her husband are shot and killed in front of Bruce Wayne. Martha Wayne appears in the Batman Black and White motion comics, voiced by Janyse Jaud.

Stella Stocker plays the character in the live action film The Batman. Similarly to her portrayal in Batman: Earth One her maiden name is Arkham instead of Kane. This version came from a wealthy family with a history of mental illness, and as a child witnessed her parents die in a murder suicide, spending years in and out of psychiatric hospitals as a result of the trauma. When Thomas announced his run for mayor of Gotham City, reporter Edward Elliot threatened to expose Martha's troubled history to the public. Desperate to spare his wife public humiliation, Thomas called upon his associate Carmine Falcone to scare Elliot into silence; instead, Falcone killed Elliot. Years later, following his failed attempt to kill Bruce Wayne, The Riddler exposes this information to the media.

Martha Wayne appears in a portrait shown several times in Batman: Mask of the Phantasm with her husband Thomas Wayne. In the film's backstory, a young Bruce Wayne briefly considers giving up his mission to become a crimefighter after falling in love with Andrea Beaumont, but is torn between his newfound happiness and the vow he made to his parents to avenge their deaths. When Andrea breaks off their relationship and leaves Gotham, a heartbroken Bruce looks at the portrait before donning Batman's cape and cowl for the first time. Martha Wayne appears on the direct to DVD animated anthology film Batman: Gotham Knight, voiced by Andrea Romano. Martha Wayne appears briefly in a flashback in Justice League Dark: Apokolips War.

Martha Wayne appears in Batman: Dark Tomorrow, voiced by Erin Quinn Purcell. Martha Wayne appears in flashbacks in Batman: The Telltale Series, voiced by Lorri Holt. In the game's continuity, her husband Thomas Wayne had criminal ties to Carmine Falcone and Hamilton Hill, acting as a launderer for the groups money. They seized most of their power in Gotham by committing those who stand in their way to Arkham Asylum, injecting them with a psychosis inducing chemical to render them insane. Martha's level of involvement with Thomas' criminal activities is unclear. Once she discovered the full extent of his crimes, she became disgusted and resolved to gather enough evidence to get Thomas put in prison. Mayor Hill discovered her plan and sent Joe Chill to kill her and Thomas.

Martha Wayne is featured in the Batman Arkham series where she is voiced by Tasia Valenza and Andrea Deck. In Batman: Arkham Asylum, under the Scarecrow's fear toxin influence, Batman experiences flashbacks of his parents' murder. A bench in Arkham Asylum dedicated to Martha (and Thomas Wayne) is the answer to one of the Riddler's riddles which leads to Thomas and Martha's unlockable bio. In Batman: Arkham City, the Monarch Theatre (the site of the murders) is featured in Arkham City. Behind the building is the chalk outline of Thomas Wayne's and Martha's bodies with a bouquet of flowers and Hugo Strange's tape with a taunting message lying by the outlines. The player has the option of paying his respects by having Batman kneeling by the outlines of both. The chalk outlines lasted for so many years, although it is implied by the message that Strange was the one who staged the scenario to torment Batman. Later while succumbing to the Joker's poison, Batman has a hallucination outside the League of Assassins' temple in which his parents appeared standing inside a tunnel to come into the light with them. She is alluded to in Batman: Arkham Origins. Following the Joker's capture at the Royal Hotel, Batman has a vision of Crime Alley which actually shows Thomas Wayne and then Martha being gunned down by a mugger. The site of the Wayne murders can be found in Park Row's Crime Alley behind the Monarch Theatre. Martha's and Thomas's pair chalk outlines are present along with a single rose. During one of Batman's detective missions, the Dark Knight has to investigate the murders of two acquaintances at Crime Alley, only a few feet from his parents' chalk outline. While reconstructing the crime with Detective Vision, if the player watches the Waynes' chalk outlines, their corpses will appear for a brief moment. She is alluded to once again in Batman: Arkham Knight. First as a hallucination from the Scarecrow's fear toxin and also since "Martha" is Batman's password to activate the "Knightfall Protocol" which caused Wayne Manor to self destruct. Martha also appears in Batman: Arkham VR.

In Andrew Vachss' novel Batman: The Ultimate Evil, Batman discovers that, prior to her death, Martha fought against sex trafficking and child sexual abuse, heading a covert detection agency with help from Commissioner Gordon and the family butler Alfred Pennyworth. Batman also discovers that his parents' murder was not a random mugging, but was in fact orchestrated by a pedophile ring that Martha was investigating.