Reboots are an inescapable part of comic books. After all, long-running series often get bogged down with years’ worth of in-depth lore that can get in the way of new readers looking for an easy entry point into the story. That’s why it makes sense for publishers to push the reset button every now and then in order to keep things accessible for a larger audience.

However, some reboots do more than merely repackage the same familiar ideas for a new era, and Scott Snyder’s record-breaking Absolute Batman is a rare example of a comic book series that completely reinvents its source material while still remaining true to the character’s emotional core.

Taking place in an alternate universe where Bruce Wayne is a working stiff who fights crime in a darker rendition of Gotham through a combination of sheer grit and ingenuity, Absolute Batman also features horror-inspired reimaginings of some of our favorite comic-book villains. In honor of terrifying figures like the new demonic Joker and the Akira-inspired Bane, here’s a list highlighting six other Batman villains that would benefit from an Absolute body horror makeover!

Naturally, Batman has one of the largest and most iconic Rogues’ Gallery in all of comics, so don’t forget to comment below with your own villainous favorites if you think there’s a character with plenty of horrific potential.

With that out of the way, onto the list.

6. Great White Shark

A brutal crime-boss who believed that feigning insanity would get him out of prison, Warren White ended up getting sent to Arkham Asylum – also known as hell on earth. While imprisoned, Warren was driven insane by his fellow inmates and wound up suffering from a severe case of frostbite after a meeting with Mr. Freeze, with these events transforming him into the pale supervillain with razor-sharp teeth (which he filed down himself) known as Great White Shark.

This origin story is already edgy enough, but the Absolute comics have already established a number of tragic tales about normal people getting in over their heads and being transformed into terrifying animal-human hybrids by Ark-M and its sister locations. Warren could be reimagined as yet another one of these victims, with literal Great White Shark DNA being used to turn him into a monstrous rival for Killer Croc – a character that we now know as one of Absolute Batman’s closest allies.

5. Firefly

A while back, I saw a Reddit post where a fan commented that the Absolute version of Firefly would look like the demonic Balrog from The Lord of the Rings, and while this was obviously intended as a joke, I don’t think Firefly needs to be depicted as a giant fire demon in order to be scary.

After all, the character is already a flying pyromaniac, so I think it might be more fun to depict him as a Freddy Krueger-like victim of a tragic arson who now wants revenge on the city that allowed him to suffer. For some added body horror, Snyder could also depict him as suffering from severe radiation burns – an idea that could also allow this human firefly to actually glow in the dark.

4. Dr. Death

Batman’s first traditional supervillain and one of the comic-book industry’s first popular mad scientists, Dr. Death has been around for a really long time. That’s why we’ve already seen multiple incarnations of the character, with depictions ranging from a chemical-based extortionist to a deranged scientist with mutated bones.

This broad range of backstories and abilities would give Snyder plenty of room to reinvent the Golden Age icon into something more befitting the writer’s darker vision of Gotham. Perhaps the Doctor could become something akin to a living corpse in a lab coat due to his constant experimentation with chemical weapons, or maybe he could suffer from periodic transformations into a more horrific version of his mutated self.

It would also make sense for his deadly research to be funded by one of Joker’s many investment companies.

3. Killer Moth

Killer Moth may have been relegated to joke character status over the years, with his repeated failures and dorky costume getting in the way of the villain’s attempts at becoming Batman’s arch-nemesis, but I’d argue that this Golden Age villain is ripe for a comeback if presented in the right manner.

After all, the idea of an Anti-Batman who wants to protect Gotham’s criminal underworld is interesting enough, but combine that with the character’s psychopathic demeanor and the Absolute Universe’s tendency to give terrible people unfair advantages, and you’ve got a winning combination for a terrifying antagonist. Not only that, but the villain is also rumored to be an inspiration for Point Pleasant’s Mothman, and I’d love to see my favorite cryptid incorporated into official Batman mythology (especially if they redesign Killer Moth’s outfit to resemble the legendary creature).

2. Professor Pyg

One of legendary comic-book writer Grant Morrison’s darkest creations, Professor Pyg and his grisly Dollotrons already feel like they could seamlessly show up in the Absolute Universe without anyone batting an eye. However, Scott Snyder’s reboot is known for its gruesome surprises, so why not have a little fun with a character that’s already established as a horror-adjacent psycho?

While it could be entertaining to see Lazlo Valentin re-imagined as a literal good doctor, maybe Snyder could push Pyg further into horror territory by exaggerating his interests in body modification and making him one of Joker’s chief surgeons on particularly gnarly projects.

1. The Ventriloquist and Scarface

Likely the most popular character (or is it characters?) on this list, Arnold Wesker is creepy enough during his regular DC appearances, but the over-the-top nature of the Absolute series opens up plenty of gruesome opportunities to make The Ventriloquist and Scarface stand out amongst Gotham’s criminal underworld.

I mean, if Mr. Freeze is allowed to be a Wendigo and Poison Ivy can be reimagined as an eldritch horror, why can’t the Scarface puppet be made out of a rotting human corpse like that memorable reveal at the end of James Wan’s Dead Silence? Hell, Snyder could give The Ventriloquist a whole collection of human dummies – each with their own distinct gimmicks and personalities.

If that doesn’t sound like a perfect addition to the insanity of the Absolute Universe, I don’t know what does!