The universe of Batman is full of memorable characters. Especially his villains are popular among many comic and superhero fans. This is also due to exciting and tragic backstories. In a new universe, one Batman villain is hit particularly hard.
Which villain is it? Mr. Freeze is one of the most tragic villains from the Batman universe because in most universes he just wants to save his wife Nora. He put her in cryo-sleep to have more time to research her illness, but his funding was cut off.
An accident occurred and he transformed into a cold form and tries to acquire means through crime to research the illness. He often clashes with Batman as a result.
In the new Absolute Universe by DC, significant changes are made to well-known characters, including Mr. Freeze, who has become a nightmarish creature.
An absurd Mr. Freeze
version exists in Batman and Robin:
A reinterpretation of the Batman universe
What is the Absolute Universe? In this new universe, DC tells alternative stories of popular heroes. Among them are Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman. The Absolute version of Batman is no longer a rich boy, but a simple worker. After his father’s death, he dedicated himself to fighting crime. More brutal and rudimentary than the classic Bruce Wayne.
What is the deal with Absolute Mr. Freeze? Not only the heroes are new variants of their origin stories, but the villains are also newly interpreted. In Absolute Batman No. 7, we see the new Mr. Freeze for the first time.
After a major fight with Black Mask, he tries to conduct investigations. To do this, he needs a false identity. Therefore, he meets with his old friend Matches. But when they meet, Matches dies from a mysterious disease. Bruce suspects right away that it’s a bioweapon.
To avenge the death, he disguises himself as the engineer Mr. Pennyworth and infiltrates the company V-Core, which is involved in cryo-research in Gotham. There he meets the employee Victor Fries Jr.
Mr. Freeze as a terrible monster
Who is Victor Fries Jr.? Bruce learns from him that his parents are frozen in a vegetative state, but technically still alive. Victor Fries Jr. tells him that his parents were cryo-researchers who wanted to help terminally ill people by freezing them and researching their diseases. They were obsessed with everything hidden behind the ice.
The only one who has been cured and revived so far was Victor Jr. himself. As a child, he had an incurable disease. His parents froze him to eventually heal him. But it turned him into something terrible.
Why did everything get worse? The ice in which he was frozen contained an ancient bacterium that not only attacked his psyche, but he gained the ability to transform into a hideous monster that looks like a giant ice zombie. He says about the ice:
Victor Fries Jr. about his time in the ice (via YouTube)
I felt everything, every moment, and the pain… My God. Ice crunches and twists… The ice is no mercy. It is rage. It is the reckoning
How can I read the Absolute Universe? As a Kindle version, you can already buy the English variants of Absolute Batman up to No. 8. The comic Absolute Batman Volume 1 will be released on August 5, 2025. Unfortunately, this is only the English version. There is currently no date for a German version. Until then, you might have to settle for one of the films: All 13 Batman films ranked – Which is the best?
