In Avengers: Age of Ultron, a defeated Tony Stark enables a simple curse phrase slide along with his interconnected teammate Captain America instantly reminds him to watch his language. It would seem that the joke has found a second life in DC Comics where the ever-vigilant Batman can’t resist telling one of his foes to watch their potty mouth.
In the Age of Ultron, although the Avengers raid Baron Von Strucker’s Hydra base, Tony can’t allow Cap’s” Language!” Slip, since he is the type of person Steve Rogers knows wouldn’t let something that old fashioned and idiotic move. At the Avengers celebration at Stark Tower, it is shown that not only is the team conscious but they aren’t gon t allow his moment is forgotten by Steve either. Close to the end of the movie when reinforcements arrive to help the exhausted Avengers from Ultron’s forces, Cap can not help but curse (out of respect) to that Nick Fury calls out him, showing that Fury is in on the joke. This type of boomerang humor, jokes that are referenced early and then again later in the film or later films, is prevalent in a wonderful majority of those MCU.
In Batman #92 Written by James Tynion IV and illustrated by Guillem March, Batman’s current battle with Deathstroke is disrupted by the Riddler’s latest entrance. Ever the one, Nygma broadcasts his face over Gotham’s screens where he challenges Batman into his regular gauntlet of riddles or else he will detonate. As Batman is not in the mood for Riddler’s tomfoolery and using a handcuffed Deathstroke at his side, he blows through the riddles of Nygma with all the villains. He loses his curses and cools while hammering things ahead of his Gotham audience that is life. He doesn’t have a hefty FCC fine but Batman can’t help playfully remind Eddie to see his language if there are children.
Writer James Tynion certainly has been enjoying his run on Batman and that enthusiasm shows in his ability to balance just two overlapping plots while also finding time to get little character moments or lines which would make anybody suddenly laugh while studying. Tynion can’t help but show a sense of humor underneath all that focus and dark demeanor Though Batman was having a rough time throughout a year already. To add to the moment, you have his captive Deathstroke who is along for the ride adding to the hilarity of this moment by suggesting these hijinks would result in an excellent television series. These tongue in cheek minutes add a grim circumstance and humor that is necessary and they do not feel about personality.
In the long run, if anyone could be policing poor language, it would not be any surprise that Batman would get an opinion about it, even if interpretations of the Dark Knight have had different opinions regarding its usage. Although his colleague out of Smallville seems like a more likely candidate to apply those good ole’ fashioned values, other shows have shown that Captain America and Batman have more in common than even their creators could have imagined. Although it’s only one moment in packed issue, it’s hard now not to imagine some other iteration of Batman telling members of Justice League or the Bat-Family to watch their language in that Batman tone.
Since the Batman series borders are closer to the coming Joker War, one can expect Riddler will think twice about letting any curse words slide later on. C’mon Eddie, you kiss your mother with that mouth?