Venom

**Venom** is the fourth episode of the fifth season of NBC's *The Batman*. It first aired on December 10, 2012. It is the fifty-sixth episode overall.

## Synopsis

Bruce is forced to take on asked Arkham inmate, Dane Hendrix. However, Hendrix gets away with his crimes due to the male strip club, Venom. Bruce is forced to disguise himself as a stripper to get to Hendrix. Ryder and Maggie face bumps in their relationship.

## Plot

In Arkham Asylum, Dane Hendrix sits in a cell. Dane lifts his pillow up and there is a paper clip. He picks it up and takes off the lightbulb. He messes with the wires and the power goes out in the prison. Dane sticks his hand out of the cell and taps on a screen next to the cell. The doors to the cell then open and Dane gets out. Batman arrives at the scene and gets into Arkham. He looks for Dane and finds a pair of a prison jumpsuit. Dane appears, fully nude, and tells Batman he is glad he can finally be back in his own skin. The two fight and Dane, obviously attracted to Batman, begins to rub his penis against the armor. Dane knocks Batman out and escapes.

Bruce returns to the Batcave and discusses his defeat to Tim, Stephanie, Clark, and Damien. Tim thinks it's odd that the man stripped down to fight, but Bruce tells him that Dane was obviously attracted to him. Tim looks the man up and discovers he was a male stripper at the strip club, Venom. Bruce takes this into consideration to find him.

Ryder and Maggie are in bed as they enjoy their revived relationship. Maggie asks him if he dated anyone after his break-up with Flamingo. Ryder reveals that he was in a serious relationship with a man for a while. Maggie learns that Ryder has not broken up with the man yet and tells him to break-up with the guy and then she'll be with him.

Dane stalks a woman as he follows her home. He then breaks into her home and murders her. Bruce investigates this and Tim learns that she was a former girlfriend of Dane's before she learned of his career. Bruce makes a connection and Tim reveals that Dane has been spotted at his former strip club. Bruce decides he must go undercover as a stripper and Tim and Stephanie make him a fake ID. Stephanie practices being a stripper with him, upsetting Tim.

Ryder sits in a diner as a man, Quinn Turner, enters. The two order a meal as Ryder tries to explain his new relationship. However, this leads to the two making out and entering Quinn's apartment. Ryder allows Quinn to admire his penis, as Quinn performs oral sex on it, while also rubbing it against his own. Ryder then performs anal sex with Quinn against a wall, with Quinn enjoying and also experiencing pain through it. Ryder then pushes Quinn against a wall and forces his penis into Quinn's mouth, as the two enjoy this.

Bane meets with his daughter as the two discuss recent events. Victoria reveals that her mother died six months ago and she has been living with her grandmother. Bane remembers a performance he did before Victoria was born, in which he stripped down and danced for males and females at a nightclub, and that was where he met Victoria's mother. Victor allowed Victoria's mother to touch his penis, unlike any others. The two then began a relationship.

At Venom, Bruce enters and sees Dane performing in outfits with Eddie Langston and Willie Durdest. Bruce gets to the front of the crowd as he gets into character and tries to meet them. The three take off their costumes, revealing thongs that just cover their penis. Bruce yells at them to take it off. The three nod at each other and get a pair of scissors. They each cut it off at the same time and the crowd erupts into the cheers. The three dance with their erect penises and Bruce jumps on stage and tries to suck on Dane.

After the performance, Bruce introduces himself as Matches Malone and asks for a job. Bruce asks to audition. The three performers watch as Bruce does his best dance. Eddie sits up in front of Bruce's penis and Bruce strips to his boxers. Eddie enjoys this and releases his underwater. Bruce begins to dance with his penis, as it begins to erect. Eddie enjoys this and strips down, also. Eddie tells him he has the job if he can make out with him. Bruce kisses Eddie as he pushes him against the table and humps him. The two scream in pleasure and Eddie tells him he has the job. Bruce continues anyway and makes out with Eddie, the two both enjoying this.

Clark walks up to the Daily Planet as Cat officially gives him his job back. Clark thanks her and sees Diana landing in the street out a window. Clark runs out of the building and asks Diana what she is doing back. Diana tells him that her island was attacked and her whole family was killed. Clark comforts her as she bursts into tears.

Ryder and Quinn are in bed as Ryder reveals to him that he was gonna break up with him. Quinn asks him why and Ryder tells him he loves someone else. Quinn gets dressed and leaves. Bruce enters the shower and strips. Willie and Dane enter and also strip. Bruce asks them why they can't get into another shower. Dane tells him there is only one. Bruce is annoyed by this. Willie asks Bruce why he is so into Eddie. Bruce tells them he wanted the job, but Dane tells him he kept going after he got the job. Willie and Dane laugh at this, but then begin to make out. They tell Bruce that Eddie says it builds character if they bond. Bruce nods at this and asks them to admire his penis. The two look down and see Bruce's erect penis. They admire it and begin to kiss it.

At the League of Assassins' base, Ra's bathes in the Lazarus Pit. Two men enter and reveal that they believe Damien is being trained by Bruce and that Damien is the only heir and Ra's could soon be replaced. Ra's is upset by this and exits the pit, and while still fully nude, he orders the men to find Damien and bring him to him. Ra's then leaves in a robe.

Two-Face is shown in his apartment. He stands in the mirror, fully nude, and slaps himself. He then sits on the couch and begins to masturbate. He enjoys this as he begins to watch videos of himself, nude. He hears a knock and quickly turns the videos off. He opens and the Joker enters. The Joker reminds him he is still nude and can tell he was masturbating. Two-Face tells him he doesn't care and rubs his penis against the Joker. The Joker smiles and strips also. The Joker tells him that he doesn't care about him either. Two-Face and Joker begin to discuss Harley, fully nude and the two then make out on the couch. Joker reminds him they don't care about each other, which Two-Face replies with, "I don't care".

Clark tells Cat that he needs the day off to comfort a friend. Cat is upset by this but allows him the one day off. Clark and Diana watch romance movies at Wayne Manor with Tim and Stephanie. The four then remember Damien is somewhere there but shrug it off.

Bruce, Eddie, Dane, and Willie do a show. The four are rejoiced by the ladies, and some men. The four strip to a small cover for their penises. Many women chant for them to take it off. The four then slowly take the covers off, slowly revealing their testicles, and then penis. As part of the show, Bruce and Eddie make out and Eddie, without telling Bruce, begins to perform anal sex. Bruce is uncomfortable with this, but does it for the show. Bruce then shows his penis and Eddie begins to touch it and the two make out again.

Ra's' men have entered the mansion and search for Damien. They find him and Damien defends himself. Tim and Stephanie show up and help him. The two men escape, though. Meanwhile, Bruce has called the police on the strip club, revealing Dane's presence. Dane hears this and the two begin to fight. Bruce reveals himself as Bruce Wayne and Dane is angry. The two fight as Dane tries to kiss him a few times. Allen and many other cops show up and arrest Dane. A cop also discovers the club is a cover for illegal drug use. Bruce escapes the club, leaving Eddie and Willie to escape together, trying to start a new life.

Ryder takes a shower in his apartment. Maggie arrives and asks him if he broke it off. Ryder tells her yes and Maggie enters the shower with him. The two take her clothes off as they make out in the shower. Tim acts cold towards Stephanie, and she finally asks why. He reveals he got jealous when she was helping Bruce with his stripper moves. Stephanie tells him she can do it again with him as he happily complies and the two begin to strip and have sex. Bruce talks to Clark and Diana and reveals this was the weirdest mission he's ever done. Clark and Diana laugh and Bruce tells them he will never become a stripper. Clark tells Diana that they will find the men who killed her family. Diana describes them as dressed in black with swords, with their leader unmasked and had a small beard. Bruce realizes it sounds like she is talking about the League of Assassins and shows her a picture of Ra's and asks her if that was the man that led them. Diana nods.

## Cast

### Starring

{{{Text in **bold** means the character was featured in this episode. Text in *italic* means the character was not featured in this episode.}}}

* Ben Affleck as **Bruce Wayne/Batman**
* Tom Austen as **Tim Drake/Robin**
* Zen Gesner as *James Gordon*
* Nathan Gamble as *James Gordon Jr.*
* Jared Leto as **the Joker**
* Keri Lynn Pratt as **Cat Grant**
* Tom Hardy as **Victor Payne/Bane**
* Yvonne Strahovski as *Kate Kane/Batwoman*
* Tyler Hoechlin as **Clark Kent/Superman**
* Cory Michael Smith as *Edward Nygma/Riddler*
* Floriana Lima as **Maggie Sawyer**
* Nolan North as *Thomas Elliot/Hush*
* Emma Stone as **Stephanie Brown/Spoiler**
* Andrew Stewart-Jones as **Chris Allen**
* Cillian Murphy as *Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow*
* Jonathan Keltz as **Andrew Ryder**
* Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as *Killer Croc*
* Jake T. Austin as **Damien Wayne**
* Liam Neeson as **Ra's al Ghul**
* Nicholas D'Agosto as **Harvey Dent/Two-Face**
* David Zayas as *Sal Maroni*
* Thomas Haden Church as *Cameron van Cleer/Killer Moth*
* Margot Robbie as *Harley Quinn*
* Gal Gadot as **Diana/Diana Prince/Wonder Woman**

### Guest Starring

* Tom Mison as Dane Hendrix
* Michael Fassbender as Eddie "Hunker" Langston
* Sam Huntington as Willie "Little Willie" Durdest
* Jake Thomas as Quinn Turner
* Hannah Gunn as Victoria Payne

## Trivia

* This episode achieved 11.73 million U.S. live viewers.
* Zen Gesner, Nathan Gamble, Yvonne Strahovski, Cory Michael Smith, Nolan North, Cillian Murphy, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, David Zayas, Thomas Haden Church, and Margot Robbie do not appear in this episode as Jim Gordon, James Gordon Jr., Kate Kane, Edward Nygma, Thomas Elliot, Jonathan Crane, Killer Croc, Sal Maroni, Cameron van Cleer, and Harley Quinn.
* This episode received generally favorable reviews. It scored a 64% on Rotten Tomatoes, a 76 out of 100 on Metacritic, and 8.5/10 on IGN. However, this episode was also heavily criticized for it's over-use of male nudity.
* Guest stars in this episode include Tom Mison, Michael Fassbender, Sam Huntington, Jake Thomas, and Hannah Gunn as Dane Hendrix, Eddie Langston, Willie Durdest, Quinn Turner, and Victoria Payne.
* This episode is rated TV-MA for D-L-S-V. The episode begins with a full frontal male nudity warning, with the screen telling the audience the episode will feature much male nudity. The decision to add this was due to the extreme controversy for the first time they had full frontal nudity. The scenes involving male nudity include:
	+ Dane talking to Batman completely nude, with his penis touching the armor.
	+ Ryder having sex with Maggie. His penis is visible five times as he stands up and sits up in and out of bed.
	+ Ryder having anal and oral sex with Quinn Turner. His penis is visible as Quinn admires it and as he has anal sex with Quinn, he shows his penis multiple times.
	+ Bane in flashbacks. His penis is seen as Victor strips and shows off his penis to many males and females.
	+ Dane, Eddie, and Willie as they do a show. Their penises are visible as they take off their pants, revealing a thong, which also reveals their buttocks, before they cut them off and their penises are shown, fully erect.
	+ Bruce auditioning. Bruce strips to his underwear and Eddie pretends to be an audience member and admires his penis and rips his underwear off, revealing his penis. Eddie then does the same and he forces Bruce to make out with him.
	+ Bruce, Willie, and Dane taking a shower together, due to there only being one shower. The three men's penises are shown several times as Willie and Dane make out in the shower and Bruce lets them touch his.
	+ Ra's taking a bath. His penis is shown underwater, before getting out and getting dressed.
	+ Two-Face masturbating. His penis is shown as Harvey masturbates to get his mind off Harley. He is then shown making out with the Joker, also nude, on the couch as they try to both get their mind off Harley.
	+ Dane, Eddie, Willie, and Bruce doing a show. The four are shown as they climb over tables and show off to the ladies.
	+ Bruce and Dane fighting. The two fight as Bruce reveals himself. The two fight in the nude as cops arrive.
	+ Ryder taking a shower. Ryder is shown taking a shower, with his penis visible.
	+ Tim having sex with Stephanie. Tim gets out of bed and his penis is shown front-and-center to the camera twice.
* Almost every scene of the episode featured male nudity. This is a list of the actors and characters they portrayed that appeared nude in this episode, and how many scenes they appeared nude in:
	+ Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne: appeared nude in four scenes. Ben Affleck asked to appear nude in the episode.
	+ Tom Austen as Tim Drake: appeared nude in one scene. The scene was written into the script, though Austen was fine with appearing nude.
	+ Jared Leto as the Joker: appeared nude in one scene. The original scene did not call for the Joker to appear, although Jared Leto wanted to appear nude in a scene and picked this one, as it worked the best.
	+ Tom Hardy as Bane: appeared nude in one scene. The scene was written into the script, although it only called for Hardy to appear nude from behind, but Tom Hardy asked to appear nude in the front also, so the finalized scene was only made up a day before the filming.
	+ Jonathan Keltz as Andrew Ryder: appeared nude in three scenes. The scenes were written into the script, though originally the scenes did not call for Keltz and Jake Thomas to have to perform the sex scenes on camera, though they wanted to.
	+ Liam Neeson as Ra's al Ghul: appeared nude in one scene. The scene was written into the script, though Neeson was fine with appearing nude.
	+ Nicholas D'Agosto as Two-Face: appeared nude in one scene. The scene originally called for Nicholas D'Agosto to pretend to masturbate, as the digital effects would be added later. However, Jared Leto wanted to appear nude in a scene, so the scene with D'Agosto was chosen, with D'Agosto fine make out nude with Leto.
	+ Tom Mison as Dane Hendrix: appeared nude in five scenes, the most out of all cast members in the episode. As Hendrix was the main antagonist for the episode, Tom Mison was prepared to appear nude in four scenes, as the shower scene originally was to feature Ben Affleck and Michael Fassbender, with their characters making out in the shower. However, the writers decided the scene did not fit and they changed it.
	+ Michael Fassbender as Eddie Langston: appeared nude in three scenes. Fassbender was described as overly excited to appear nude in the episode, as he was originally supposed to appear in the shower scene with Wayne, though the scene did not fit and it was changed, removing Fassbender from the scene.
	+ Sam Huntington as Willie Durdest: appeared nude in three scenes. Sam Huntington was prepared to appear nude in four scenes, with Huntington not originally appearing int he shower scene with Wayne.
	+ Jake Thomas as Quinn Turner: appeared nude in one scene. The scene was written into the script, though originally the scene did not call for Thomas and Jonathan Keltz to have to perform the sex scenes on camera, though they wanted to.
* In the episode, Jonathan Keltz and Jake Thomas revealed that they actually performed some of the sex scenes in the episode, with Jake remembering have to allow Keltz's penis into his mouth at least twice, and Keltz remembering having to actually have his penis enter Thomas' butt at least once.
* Ben Affleck, Tom Mison, Michael Fassbender, and Sam Huntington revealed in an interview the full frontal shots of them were mostly them, as the four wanted the performance to look real. Also, Affleck willingly let Mison and Huntington touch and admire his penis, to make it also look real. Fassbender also stated that he enjoyed letting his penis free. The four were forced to enlarge their penises to make it look better for the episode.
* Also, in an interview, Affleck and Fassbender revealed that they willingly did the make out and anal sex shots themselves. Affleck remembers the feeling of having a penis enter his butt and also states that he did allow Fassbender to touch his penis, too.
* In an interview with Fassbender, he revealed that between scenes, the actors in the scenes would try to get dressed in at least boxers as they would go around the set, though Fassbender would walk nude around the set until it was time to leave, with several actors laughing when they passed him.