Warning! Spoilers for Thor Annual #1!
Marvel’s Batman, Nighthawk, has survived the reality altering events of Heroes Reborn, and now he’s taking it upon himself to do something too crazy even for Batman’s alter ego of Bruce Wayne to handle! Bringing back a world that was never meant to exist might be a tall task for any hero to handle, so it’s a good thing that Nighthawk’s enlisting Nick Fury’s help as well!
Shown as part of the serialized Infinite Destinies storyline spread across eight different Marvel annuals,Thor Annual #1’s “Infinite Fury Part V,” by Jed MacKay and Juan Ferreyra, follows Nick Fury as he tries to get to the bottom of a new mystery that’s sweeping across the Marvel Universe. Captured by an unseen, shadowy force during the previous part of this mini-story, Nick Fury is knee-deep in a hallucination of sorts as his captor monologues to him about a world that no longer exists.
Telling Fury that he’s “seen a world where America is unafraid,” the disembodied voice continues to tell Fury that, “No one remembers it going away. But I do. I want to bring it back, Fury. But better,” the shadowed figure is revealed to be none other than Heroes Reborn’s Squadron Supreme of America member, Nighthawk! Clasping hands with Fury in a way that displays a sense of camaraderie as he continues to talk, Nighthawk lays down the foundation of a mission that’s just too bonkers for Bruce Wayne to think about, let alone enact on his own.
Going on to further solidify this crazy plan of his, Nighthawk believes that, “people strong enough to master their fear” should use it as a tool to, “make real change in the world,” something that Bruce Wayne’s Batman identity can totally and entirely understand. But where things get decidedly a little more intense and borderline evil is when Nighthawk calls this process of changing things more or less by force “menticide,” or the death of the mind, something he’s conveniently and currently doing to Fury to make him see his side of things, yet is also something that he believes will allow his world to return better than before.
Now while Bruce Wayne/Batman has had some interesting ideas in the past that haven’t always gone the way he planned, Nighthawk utilizing these somewhat shady tactics to recruit Fury to his wild cause is something that speaks volumes as to what his mindset is like post-Heroes Reborn, and what he’d do to see that world restored. Telling Fury, “There’s a better world out there, Fury. I’ve seen it. I‘ve had it taken from me. And it’s just waiting for men like you and me to take it back,” Nighthawk ends this issue with the opening salvo of something he’s determined to see through, no matter the cost.
So while Bruce Wayne may not have to worry about restoring any kind of alternate reality anytime soon, the fact that Marvel’s version of Batman even had the thought to try something as nuts as this is something that might just be too crazy for anyone other than Nighthawk to handle. It remains to be seen how Nick Fury will (or won’t) help Nighthawk achieve his goals moving forward, but one thing’s for sure – it’s going to be a whole lot harder than it sounds.
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