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What Makes Phantasm Batman's Greatest Villain
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Mar 31, 2025
Batman's Rogues Gallery has no shortage of incredible villains. From Scarecrow, Catwoman, Bane, Harley Quinn, The Joker, and several others, Batman has had his fare share of formidable foes. Though, none seem to quite live up to the impact Phantasm had on Batman. Through all of Batman's iterations, she stands above the rest.
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Who are you? What do you want
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I want you. This is Phantasm, and it's easy to mistake her as a horror villain
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The skull mask, the billowing cape, the scythe-like blade where a hand should be
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She stalks, instilling fear and a singular promise. Your angel of death awaits
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But what does that promise really mean within a canon of sociopaths, psychopaths, criminals, and mutants
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For an entire generation, Batman the animated series will always be the definitive version of the Caped Crusader
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Its Art Deco Gotham, noir costume design, and pulp storytelling still lives in our hearts today
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One key highlight of the series was its impressive rogues gallery. Iconoclasts like the Joker, Poison Ivy, Clayface, and Bane all made appearances
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Even the character of Harley Quinn, an arguably one of DC's most prolific characters, was created for the series
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Well, that's my good deed for the day. Bye! Released in December of 1993, Mask of the Phantasm worked as an origin for Bruce Wayne and Batman
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It is, at its heart, a romance. Batman the Animated Series always took inspiration from noir while also mining its tropes
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With Mask of the Phantasm, the story reveled in the genre's darkness and tragedy
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It is a story about children growing up too quickly after a sudden loss
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Part of the film's success was due to the film's titular antagonist and love interest
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the Phantasm, the vengeful wraith of Andrea Beaumont. One thing that has always made Batman interesting is how each villain shaped what we knew about the
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hero, from the Joker's codependency to Two-Face's dichotomy. But the Phantasm doesn't just put
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Batman in a new light she tells us about Bruce Wayne They had to pay What will vengeance solve If anyone knows the answer to that Bruce it you During an early flashback we see Andrea and Bruce meet at a cemetery
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Bruce stands in front of his folks' graves and reiterates the vows he made after their death
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But in the distance, we can hear an almost cordial conversation. And if Daddy gets any more protective, he's going to build a moat around my bedroom
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It's here we're introduced to Andrea Beaumont. As far as meet-cutes between future scythe-wielding maniacs and bad impersonating detectives go
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it's pretty charming. But in this small scene, we see the immediate differences between the two
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That small joyful conversation we heard was Andrea speaking to her mother
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In contrast to Bruce, it's heartwarming to see someone participate with their loss
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Bruce speaks to his folks, but he does so in a way that feels like he owes them something
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Vengeance or justice were a crime long since passed. Tell me that it's okay
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But in Andrea, there's an acceptance, a peace that we know Bruce wants
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It's an early indicator of Andrea's character. This is a person that gets what they want
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While grief and loss had been shoveled onto Bruce, forcing him to feel indebted to his parents and fight crime in general
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Andrea took her loss head on. She adapted to her loss in a way that made her life manageable
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The conversations she had with her mother genuinely made her feel better. It's evident in her smile and cadence
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She even makes a joke out of it when she tells Bruce Mother was asking
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In regards to questioning why he was always so moody. But after her father becomes entangled in cash embezzlement from a group of gangsters
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the two are forced to leave the country. The circumstances fall into place so quickly
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that all Andrea has time to do for her now fiancé Bruce
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is to leave a brief letter Ten words that change the course of Gotham forever Left with dad Too young Need time Forget about me This again is Andrea doing what she thinks is the right thing in the most efficient way possible
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It's that efficiency that tears through the criminal underworld upon her return as the phantasm
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After Andrea's father is killed by the gangsters while hiding overseas, she returns to get her revenge
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And that revenge is informed from a mindset she shared with Bruce
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you have to strike fear into your victims. For Andrea, that fear starts with her costume
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The design itself is near perfect visual shorthand. There's the terrifying silhouette complete with metal scythe
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where a hand should be and an ever-present fog. Again, this is an idea we've seen from Bruce only perfected here
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We're not one to argue against the iconic Batman outfit. However, there is something to be said about which strikes more fear
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Hmm, so we meet again. And that's exactly what Andrea as the Phantasm is
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One of the hunted gangsters questions his henchmen why the attacks are happening now
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Some misidentification has led the criminals to believe that Phantasm is Batman
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But Batman has never leaned on them like this before. He's never killed before. But Andrea killing these characters, something that Bruce has sworn he'd never do
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is not what makes Andrea Batman's greatest villain. The Phantasm is, at her core, a dangerous parable about the weight revenge can put on your soul
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Even after she accomplishes everything she wants, she still feels too broken to stay
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With her work finished in Gotham, she knows Bruce is damaged as well
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Throughout the movie, we see Andrea attack Bruce. Not Phantasm attacking Batman
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We see the fallout of a relationship as she makes personal digs at the morning millionaire
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There a line where Andrea tells Batman who she knows as Bruce that is infinitely more devastating than Bane famous back break The way I see it the only one in this room controlled by his parents is you It a devastating emotional jab that is not only hurtful but also accurate
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The Joker may guess as to Batman's motives, Dr. Freeze can appeal to Batman's empathy
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but only Andrea genuinely loves Bruce, and that love makes her so much more dangerous
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Her agenda is entirely personal and self-contained, Whereas Bruce feels the need to stop all crime, Andrea wants to right one particular crime
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one wrong committed against her and her family. But now she knows there's no going back, not after what they did to her
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She is killing the men who ruined her life for vengeance, not because it might fix her
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or put the shattered pieces of her life back together. It is simply the solution she's found to the problem in front of her
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And once she's done, she leaves Gotham forever. One way or another, it ends tonight
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Goodbye, my love. Andrea Beaumont hurt Batman in a way we haven't really seen since because she really hurt Bruce
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Wayne. She made him question the decisions he made. He starts to wonder if he's doing the right
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thing in becoming a vigilante and what is the best possible outcome of hunting these criminals
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While Batman has always taken on sidekicks and made an extended family of fellow vigilantes
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Bruce has remained alone, something he's felt since Andrea first changed his entire world
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with 10 simple words wrapped around a returned engagement ring. When Bruce learns Andrea
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is the phantasm, he's forced to reckon with the idea that they aren't as alike as he thought
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They may come from similar circumstances, two wealthy children stripped of their childhood
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but they each approach that loss differently. There is genuinely no correct way to handle loss
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but we know the answer isn't calling yourself the angel of death and murder
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That's an idea regulated to Batman's greatest villain, the phantasm
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