- "Don't call us a gang. Don't call us criminals. We are the law. We are the future. Gotham City belongs to the Mutants. Soon the world will be ours."
- ―Mutant Leader[src]
The Mutant Leader is a ravenous, violence obsessed gang-leader from the continuity of Earth-31. He was responsible for manipulating the youths of Gotham into bringing Gotham's violent-crime to an all time high before he was brought down by an elderly Batman who had only recently come out of retirement.
History[]
The Dark Knight Returns[]
The Mutant Leader was the boss of the vicious mutant gang in Gotham City, operating out of the Gotham City dump. He became popular amongst the impressionable youths of Gotham, whom he encouraged them commit acts of violence and chaos. Calling themselves the Mutant Gang, his followers brought Gotham's crime to a historic all-time high. In fact, they were called the worst criminals to have plagued Gotham City since the Joker himself. He ultimately was partially responsible for Batman coming out of retirement due to his role in causing the huge crime wave, in particular an incident where the mutants proceeded to brutally slaughter an eight-year-old boy they had abducted despite getting the ransom money.
After Batman attacked the Mutants at the landfill, he called Batman a coward for using rubber bullets to mow down his followers rather than killing them and hiding in the Riot Tank Batmobile. The Mutant Leader challenged Batman to a one-on-one fight, where he nearly killed the Dark Knight. As he was about to impale Batman with a crowbar when Carrie Kelly (in her Robin costume) distracted him long enough for Batman to subdue him.
The Dark Knight Triumphant[]
The Mutant Leader was arrested and brought to prison, but when the mayor tried to negotiate with him, the Leader murdered him without second thought by ripping his vocal cords out with his teeth (with Commissioner Gordon being disturbed enough by the results that he vowed to take what he witnessed to the grave). Following a plan with Batman, Commissioner Gordon deliberately released him in a manner that resembled an escape attempt, and he found the entire Mutant Gang assembled near a sewer outlet. Batman then ambushed him, leading to a bloody rematch. Despite his physical superiority, the Mutant Leader was no match for Batman's strategic mind; he chose the mudhole to slow the leader's movements, and he then inflicted several major wounds (such as "the right kind of cut above the eyes -- the type that bleeds" and doing a precise blow to a nerve bundle on his right deltoid, ensuring temporary paralysis of one of his arms.). When the mutant leader arrogantly declared his superiority, Batman proceeded to finish him off with breaking his arm and his leg, also bluntly making it clear that the mudhole was comparable to an operating table with Batman himself being the surgeon. Eventually, Batman overpowered the Mutant Leader, and the Mutants disbanded into smaller gangs, such as the Sons of Batman and Bruno's gang.
Abilities[]
The Mutant Leader seems to be in peak physical condition, as he manhandles an older version of Batman in their first fight. He is bigger than Batman, very savage, and incredibly strong and fast. Additionally, he has long, razor sharp nails and teeth, and his skin appears a greyish hue. He also has red eyes, of which their effect is amplified with his visor.
It remains unclear as to whether or not he possesses any true mutations or merely embraced extreme body modifications.
Although he possessed enough tactical knowledge to be able to lead the mutants, he nevertheless had no capacity to fight on a more strategic level beyond brute force, which ultimately led to his ultimate defeat in his rematch with Batman.
Appearances in Other Media[]
The New Batman Adventures[]
The Mutant Leader appeared in an episode of The New Batman Adventures, titled: Legends of the Dark Knight. He was voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson. Here he appears in an imaginary sequence made up by Carrie Kelley, a teen in Gotham who is picturing being Batman's Robin.
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Part 1[]
The Mutant Leader appeared in the first part of the two films based on Dark Knight. He was voiced by Gary Anthony Williams.
The LEGO Batman Movie[]
A LEGO version of The Mutant Leader appears in The Lego Batman Movie alongside other Batman villains working for the Joker.
Gotham[]
The Mutant Leader makes his live action debut in the fifth season of Gotham where is is portrayed by Sid O'Connell. He is the leader of the Mutant Gang during No Man's Land when Gotham is hit by a cataclysmic earthquake.
Trivia[]
- Although the Mutant Leader does not make an appearance in the Nolanverse films, elements of his characterization were incorporated to some extent with that of Bane, the main antagonist of The Dark Knight Rises, as he leads a huge group of people to invade and declare war on Gotham for his own agenda and also initially beats Batman effortlessly regarding raw strength, only to falter in a rematch due to more calculated tactics by Batman. The only difference in confrontations between the two is that Bane soundly defeated Batman in the first confrontation while Catwoman could only watch in horror, while the Mutant Leader ultimately was narrowly defeated by Batman due to Carrie Kelley distracting him long enough for Batman to recover and subdue him with a glue bomb.