Summary

• Catwoman: Guardian of Gotham reimagines Batman as a villain, with Catwoman taking on the role of Gotham's hero in a dark twist.
• The Elseworlds comic portrays a twisted relationship between Selina Kyle and Bruce Wayne, where Batman becomes a sinister adversary.
• While Joker's schemes are destructive, Catwoman's switch with Batman in the comic makes him a more malicious villain than the iconic Clown Prince of Crime.

Despite Joker being one of Gotham's most iconic and long-lasting villains, Catwoman swapping places with Batman released a villain infinitely worse. The Elseworlds comic, Catwoman: Guardian of Gotham, made the titular villainess the primary heroine of Gotham. Instead of Bruce Wayne losing his family and donning the cowl, she lost her family and took up her moniker to match her twisted new origin.

Catwoman: Guardian of Gotham was released in 1999. It spanned two issues and had the creative team of Doug Moench, Jim Balent, Kim Demulder, Wildstorm FX, and Rick Parker. It gave Selina Kyle Bruce Wayne's origin story, but gave DC's Dark Knight a much darker twist.

While a romance still buds between Selina Kyle and Bruce Wayne, Bruce is not wealthy and in fact, is far from the hero fans are used to seeing. Instead, he becomes one of DC's darkest villains, going farther than the Joker ever has.

Catwoman's Time as Gotham's Main Protector is Darker Than Batman's

Selina Kyle's Swap with Bruce Wayne Gives Her a Twisted Life

Selina Kyle has long been a villainous icon, shifting between a life of petty theft and being an antiheroine. On occasion, Batman's feline foe has been one of his greatest allies. In recent years she has been working to save Gotham in her own way, even garnering her own Cat Family. Yet she has been a hero for Gotham before, in Catwoman: Guardian of Gotham. She takes up the mantle following the death of her parents, with the Kyles taking the place of the Waynes. In this version of Gotham, Bruce is poor - and becomes her worst foe.

...the Clown Prince of Crime does not have a personal, fake relationship with Batman, nor does he plant a significant other into the billionaire vigilante's life.

Instead of being a hero, the Batman in this twisted universe is a villain, preying upon people. He is a murderer who ends up wooing Selina, which ultimately leads to her revealing her secret identity to him. He seemingly accepts her and the two enter into a long-term relationship, marriage, and even have a child together. This eventually makes the betrayal much worse when Catwoman finally discovers who he truly is. While she accepts the information and defeats her twisted, evil foe, she is still left to tussle with the fact that she loved a facade and is now the mother of his child.

Batman's Evil Alternate Universe Version is Far Worse Than Joker

She takes up the mantle following the death of her parents, with the Kyles taking the place of the Waynes.

As crazy and destructive as the Joker's schemes have been over his multi-decade history, the iconic villain doesn't interfere greatly with Bruce's personal life and doesn't tend to know his identity. In this way, the Clown Prince of Crime does not have a personal, fake relationship with Batman, nor does he plant a significant other into the billionaire vigilante's life. Even though Bruce Wayne's origin is still tragic, Catwoman's switch with him in Catwoman: Guardian of Gotham makes her heroic life much darker and gives Batman the role of a more sinister villain than Joker has ever been.