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Batman: Resurrection is a novel written by John Jackson Miller. It was released in 2024.

Set shortly after the events of Tim Burton’s Batman (1989), Gotham City is still healing from The Joker’s reign of terror. Hundreds of citizens were left dead or scarred from the Smylex attack and Bruce Wayne has opened a state of the art hospital wing, welcoming famed Doctor Hugo Auslander to help cure the victims.

Everything starts to unravel when stage actor Basil Karlo awakes in the Smylex Ward from a coma. He is horrified to learn that his face and skin appear to be melting. He makes a chaotic escape but returns to the scene to get answers. He becomes indebted to Dr. Auslander who manipulates Karlo into using his new abilities to morph into other people.

Batman is still cleaning up the criminal underworld where The Joker’s gang has largely become a nuisance. Going by the name The Last Laughs and lead by Joker’s former henchman Lawrence, the group is struggling to get by when they start taking on jobs for department store businessman Max Shreck.

But Gotham City is in the surprise of a lifetime when the Last Laughs dig up Jack Napier’s grave and somebody else’s body is found. And that is when the Joker reappears�

This new novel serves as a prequel to Batman Returns while also trying to answer perceived plot holes from the first movie. Was it necessary? Of course not, but it’s excellent fan service. Some of the twists are not that surprising if you are a big fan of Batman comics but it’s still fun to see some villains who have not yet made their film debuts. The book does a great job of capturing the tone of the movies. Definitely worth a read if you are a fan of Keaton’s Batman and Burton’s films.