Carmine Falcone

*"Jesus. Look at you, man. What do... what do you think this is? Think you're gonna scare me with that mask and that cape? I'm gonna start crying and all of a sudden some big secrets come out? Let me tell you something... whatever I know, whatever I've done, it's all going with me, to my grave."*
―Carmine Falcone to Batman[src]
**Carmine Falcone** was an infamous crime lord in Gotham City, and the father of Alberto Falcone, Sofia Falcone and Selina Kyle. In order to gain more power, Falcone arranged the arrest of his rival, Salvatore Maroni, while blackmailing high level politicians and buisnessmen across Gotham. Eventually, Falcone's crimes made him an enemy of Batman and Catwoman, who managed to expose his corruption, as well as his involvement in the murder of Annika Kosolov. However, before Falcone could be arrested by Jim Gordon, he was shot by Riddler, resulting in Falcone dying in the streets, and leaving a power struggle to be fought for Gotham's underworld.

## Biography

### Early Life

#### Saved by Thomas Wayne

*"I got shot in the chest... I couldn't go to the hospital so we showed up on his doorstep, operated right on the dining room table, kid here saw the whole thing up on the stairs looking down."*
―Carmine Falcone to Penguin.[src]
At some point, Carmine Falcone became a criminal and then a crime lord after his rival, Salvatore Maroni, got arrested during a sting operation orchestrated by him and Don Mitchell Jr. Afterwards, Falcone started his own crime family and appointed a small-time criminal named Oz Cobblepot as his lieutenant.

One night, Carmine Falcone got shot in the chest and couldn't go to the hospital, so he showed up at the Wayne Manor doorstep and asked Thomas Wayne to save his life. Thomas decided to operate on Falcone on his dining room table and he saved his life. Unknowing to Thomas, his son Bruce watched the whole thing from his stairwell, but Falcone noticed him.

#### Assisting An Ally

Thomas Wayne came back to him when Edward Elliot had dug up terrible things about Martha Wayne's family. Thomas asked Falcone to put "the fear of god" into the reporter, and Falcone agreed to do so. When Falcone tried to use intimidation to stop the reporter from publishing the story, the reporter refused, and Falcone ended up killing him.

#### New Empire

After the death of Thomas Wayne, the Gotham Renewal Corporation was left to the city for carrying out the Wayne's legacy of rebuilding the city and helping those in need. However, the criminal underworld of Gotham saw the program to be the perfect opportunity to exploit the unlimited money with no oversight by the governmental body. Everyone wanted the renewal program for themselves to fund their illegal activities where everyone would get some of the money, but Carmine wanted more than just the money; he wanted everything, so he orchestrated the arrest of his business rival, Salvatore Maroni, and instilling a new mayor: Don Mitchell, Jr. and several other corrupt politicians and police officers as his puppets, taking control of the Renewal and using it to turn Gotham into his own personal empire for twenty years, this resulted in Crime rates and drugs rising.

### Riddler Investigation

#### Murder of Annika Kosolov

After Annika Kosolov was told that Falcone was the rat who the elite protect from the Salvatore Maroni case. He assigned William Kenzie to kidnap her, and interrogated her to see what Mitchell told her, afterwards she was brutally strangled by him.

#### Mayor Mitchell's Funeral

Falcone attended the late mayor Don Mitchell Jr.'s funeral along with Carla Diaz and Oswald Cobblepot. Outside Gotham City Hall, Falcone bumped into Bruce Wayne and was surprised he was out in the public and went on to tell him the story of how his father saved his life.

#### Questioned by Bruce Wayne

After Riddler exposed the dark secrets about the Wayne Family, and how Thomas Wayne asked Falcone to threaten a reporter who was digging up dirt about his wife whom was ultimately killed. Bruce Wayne, learning the new revelation reached the Iceberg Lounge to question Falcone. He revealed to the young, disturbed man that his father told him to instill fear into the reporter, but when fear did not work, he killed him instead. He also told Bruce that it may have been Salvatore Maroni who had his father killed, since he had a grudge against the relationship Falcone had with Thomas.

#### Attacked by Selina Kyle

Selina Kyle infiltrated the Iceberg Lounge to talk to Falcone, and when she arrived, attempted to kill him. Falcone was able to run away in time, but Selina gave chase, while Falcone told Selina not to do it.

Eventually, Falcone was able to get Selina down, and tried to strangle her with a pool cue the same way he killed Annika Kosolov, but was stopped by Batman, and arrested.

#### Capture and Assassination

*"You with Zorro over here? Don't you know, you boys in blue work for me?"
"I guess we don't all work for you."*
―Carmine Falcone and Jim Gordon[src]
Falcone was then taken away by Batman, who handed him over to Jim Gordon, with Falcone chuckling at the idea of Gordon and Batman working together. When Falcone noted that the Gotham City Police Department actually worked for him, Gordon opened the doors and revealed the rest of the GCPD, who were waiting outside, although Falcone still remained confident he was going to be able to get out of it.

While Gordon read Falcone his rights, and Martinez put him in handcuffs, Penguin then came out of the Iceberg Lounge and called Falcone a rat, due to him being revealed to have given up Salvatore Maroni to the GCPD. However, Falcone simply responded by mocking Penguin, calling him a gimp in an empty suit.

In response, Penguin pulled out a gun, as Batman knocked Falcone to the floor while Penguin was grappled by several police officers. However, in the confusion, Falcone had been shot, with Penguin insisting that he had not fire his weapon. Batman realized that he had brought the rat into the light and that Riddler had sniped Falcone from across the street, as Selina Kyle walked over and looked at her father dying in the street.

## Personality

*"You know why communism failed, right?"
"No, boss."
"Austerity."*
―Carmine Falcone and Briscoe[src]
Carmine Falcone has a personality of the typical classical crime lord. He is highly intelligent, cunning, devious, egomaniacal, manipulative, ruthless, sadistic, and utterly disturbing to the core. During his reign as Gotham City's biggest crime lord, he was shown as posh, elegant, luxurious and old-fashioned, even stating that communism failed due to the idea of austerism. Falcone is also a very charming and charismatic individual and can easily make people trust him. His closest associates seem to respect him very much..

Falcone is a sadistic, power hungry man. He was willing to steal everything that benefits himself only, and exploiting the corrupt officials who can get him what he wants and everything he needs to ensure that he stays in power for a long time. Carmine also seems to have a particularly nasty preference for strangling women who have personally displeased him, as it is how he killed both Selina Kyle's mother and Annika Kosolov in the past, and is also how he attempted to kill Kyle herself when she tried to assassinate him.

Despite his evil, Falcone is capable of putting on an affable, friendly façade. Not hiding that he is a bad man, but being able to give the impression of being an "honorable" type of criminal. He was able to gain the respect and even trust of Thomas Wayne, despite Thomas being a noble man attempting to make a better Gotham, but once he found an opportunity to get dirt on Thomas he took it, having the reporter Thomas asked him to scare killed to blackmail him, and possibly had Thomas killed. In the present day he acts friendly to Bruce Wayne, and tells him over how he had a mutual respect with Bruce's father, despite having blackmailed said father, and later convincing Bruce that Thomas deliberately asked him to kill the reporter. Falcone is also hedonist and womanizer, usually seen accompanied with beautiful young women.

## Abilities

*"After Thomas Wayne died, they all went after it like vultures. The mayor, Falcone, Maroni. Everyone got in on it. It was perfect for making bribes, laundering money. A huge charitable fund with no oversight. Everybody got a piece. But Falcone wanted more. So he orchestrated a play to take Maroni down big. He'd rat out his drops operation, make the careers of everybody that went after him, then install them all as his puppets. You think this goddamn election matters? Falcone's the mayor. He's been the mayor for the last 20 years."*
―William Kenzie[src]
* **Gifted Intelligence**: Falcone was the criminal head of Gotham City's underworld and head of the Falcone Crime Syndicate, as well as as the secret boss of politicians, District Attorneys, and even police officers who were all stealing money from the unsupervised Wayne Renewal Fund. He was smart enough to use the opportunity to rat out rival crime boss Salvatore Maroni and steal his drug business in order to set himself up as the undisputed king of Gotham, simultaneously advancing the careers of those who brought him in and installing them as his inside men in the police department. He made Don Mitchell, Jr. take Annika Kosolov's passport so he could find out what the former told her. According to William Kenzie, the outcome of the 2021 mayoral election was irrelevant, as Falcone was practically the mayor for the last two decades.

*"Your father should have known that Falcone would do anything to finally have something on him that he could use. That's who Falcone is."*
―Alfred Pennyworth to Bruce Wayne[src]
* **Intimidation**: Falcone practically owned Gotham City, controlling everyone through blackmail and fear.

## Equipment

*"Why shouldn't I take this cue stick and play a dozen games of Nine Ball on your thick head?"*
―Carmine Falcone to Piggy Porcello[src]
* **Pool Cue**:

## Facilities

* **Shoreline Lofts**: *To be added*
* **Iceberg Lounge**: *To be added*
* **44 Below**: *To be added*

## Relationships

* Sofia Falcone - Daughter
* Alberto Falcone - Son
* Selina Kyle - Daughter, Attempted Killer, and Attempted Victim

Allies* Falcone Crime Syndicate - Subordinates
	+ Piggy Porcello
	+ Vinnie
	+ Briscoe
	+ William Kenzie
* Gotham Renewal Corporation
* Don Mitchell Jr. †
* Pete Savage †
* Keith Bergman
* Collin Becker
* Patrick Svendsven
* Gil Colson †
* Glen Keller
* Travis Cromwell
* Ritchie Beckett
* Carla Diaz
* Cheri
	+ Salvatore Maroni - Rival and Predecessor
* Maria Kyle † - Lover and Victim
* Gotham City Police Department - Former Allies
	+ Janice Dure
	+ James Gordon
	+ Martinez
* Thomas Wayne † - Savior
* Martha Wayne †
* Bruce Wayne
* Edward Elliot † - Victim
* Annika Kosolov † - Victim
* Batman
* Oswald Cobblepot/Penguin - Former Subordinate and Attempted Killer
* The Twins - Former Subordinates
* Riddler - Killer

## Trivia

* It's heavily implied that Falcone was involved with the murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne, but the exact circumstances remain unknown. Falcone taunts Batman that whatever dirty secrets he may have, it's all going with him to his grave. And then the Riddler kills Falcone, ensuring Batman will never find out the truth behind his parents' deaths.
* According to *The Batman: The Official Script Book*, Falcone was in his sixties before he was killed. This places his date of birth between 1952 and 1961.

## Behind the Scenes

* In DC Comics, **Carmine "The Roman" Falcone** was one of the great crime lords of Gotham City and was one of the earliest enemies of the Batman. His nickname comes from the ruthless way he established his criminal empire, which, coincidentally, is referred as the Roman Empire. In addition to his extended crime family, his successors include his children Alberto Falcone, Mario Falcone, and Sofia Gigante-Falcone. He was later killed by Two-Face in *The Long Halloween* story.
* Carmine Falcone in The Batman Universe will be the third live-action incarnation of the character following incarnations portrayed by Tom Wilkinson and John Doman.
* Matt Reeves has named Roman Polanski's *Chinatown* as an influence on *The Batman*. Carmine Falcone is very similar to that movie's villain, Noah Cross, as he secretly controls Gotham City through massive corruption (as Cross controls Los Angeles) and is implied to have an incestuous desire for his daughter.
* The slash scars which Selina gives Carmine are a reference to his appearance in the comics. In the comics, Selina gave him these scars during *Batman: Year One* (1987), and he bore them for the entirety of *Batman: The Long Halloween* (1996-1997). The scars are inspired by the scars of historic mobster Al "Scarface" Capone, who received them from a bottle-opener.
* The scene in-which Carmine describes a young Bruce Wayne watching his father give Carmine surgery in the family-home is an allusion to a back-flash scene of this occurring in *Batman: The Long Halloween*.

## References

1. ↑ Translates from Spanish to: *The Winged Rat*
2. ↑ *The Batman: The Official Script Book*
Lewman, David (February 1, 2022). *Before The Batman: An Original Movie Novel*. United States: Penguin Books.
Reeves, Matt & Craig, Peter (writers); Reeves, Matt & Clark, Dylan (producers); & Reeves, Matt (director) (March 4, 2022). *The Batman*.
5. ↑ The Batman: Matt Reeves Cites Chinatown and Other 1970s Noirs as Influences | Den of Geek

## External Links

* Carmine Falcone on DC Database
* Carmine Falcone on Wikipedia