Get ready for a new villain to invade the streets of Gotham City. As reported by Newsarama, writer James Tynion IV is set to introduce a villain named The Designer in Batman #90. Tynion is taking over for Tom King, who concluded his epic 85 issue run on the series recently, opting to move on to a new Batman/Catwoman title instead, paving the way for some fresh eyes to be brought to the title for the first time in a long time. And, based on what we’re seeing here, it’s going to be anything but business as usual. 

DC Comics recently revealed its November solicitations, which includes a description for Batman #90. In said description, it’s revealed that this mysterious new villain will be making his/her debut. For the time, little is known about the character. Only that they are a “master criminal” with deep connections to many of Gotham’s most infamous criminals. 

Here’s the synopsis for Batman #90 

“The mysterious master criminal known only as the Designer once brought together Gotham City’s greatest criminals to plot the perfect crime, and now his plan has been unleashed upon the city in all its might. Batman will go to any length to uncover the grand design, but Catwoman is the one who holds the greatest secret. If Batman wins against the Designer, he will lose everything.” 

Given that Batman has one of the most extensive rogues galleries in all of comics, it’s not all that often a new villain is brought into the fold. Between The Joker, Riddler, Two-Face, Hush, Red Hood, Solomon Grundy, Bane and countless others, there’s rarely a need to. So the fact that we’re getting a new villain entering the DC Comics fold next year is significant. It will be interesting to see if this is a one-off, or of The Designer will factor in more heavily with Tynion’s upcoming run on the book. 

“I’ve never really told a Bruce Wayne Batman story with him up front and center,” Tynion said in a previous interview about his upcoming Batman run. “And honestly, the sporting cast I’m most interested in playing with in the story are his classic villains. I can’t really reveal much about it right now, but in the same way that in my Detective run, my favorite moments were seeing a Bat family characters with combinations that you really don’t see that often. I love doing that with the villains too, and I’ve always loved doing that, and now that I get the main book, I’m very excited to tell a story where the villains are going to be up front and center in a big way. But also, it’s all an incredibly emotional story with Bruce Wayne at the center.

Batman #90 arrives on shelves March 4, 2020. 

So what do you think? Are you excited to find out more about The Designer? Do you think the villain will have a more significant role in Batman’s life in the future? Join in on the conversation over on Facebook or Twitter!