Sean Gordon Murphy, the mastermind behind Batman: White Knight, has been garnering praise for using a cured Joker to convince Gotham that Batman is its true villain. After recently absolving the Waynes of supporting Baron Von Fries (a Nazi and Mr. Freeze’s father), Murphy has now revealed a backstory he wanted to do with Klaus Janson (The Dark Knight Returns) that was cut regarding Victor Fries and his wife, Nora Smithstein, in his alternate universe tale.
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Murphy took to Twitter to elaborate on Baron as a character influenced by rocket engineer Baron Von Braun. He then dove into the Fries’ history with Nora’s family, stating: “I actually had a WW2 backstory scene for Freeze that I cut from White Knight (not enough room). I even pitched it as mini, drawn by @klausjansonnyc. It’s based around the complex history of Victor and Nora’s family, and how WW2 divided them (Nora is Jewish in BWK).”
Murphy added: “In BWK, Nora and Victor’s fathers were BFF scientists who developed FreezeTech together. But things fell apart when the Nazis came to power, and Nora’s family lost everything.” This shed light into Baron’s career, which eventually saw him captured by the Allies and then working against the Nazis with Thomas Wayne.
In BWK, Nora and Victor’s fathers were BFF scientists who developed FreezeTech together. But things fell apart when the Nazis came to power, and Nora’s family lost everything.
— Sean Gordon Murphy (@Sean_G_Murphy) March 17, 2018
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However, with Thomas’ questionable relationship with him now cleared up, it’s intriguing to learn more about Nora’s Jewish lineage, which further hints at possible friction between her, Victor and Baron. In the book, the lovers sided with Thomas, as all three broke away from the Allies and Victor’s father, who wanted to weaponize Freeze-Tech. The trio instead wanted to use it for cryogenic medicine, which led to Thomas even funding Victor and Nora’s wedding as he saw them as kindred spirits on a mission for world peace.