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{{Short description|Supervillain in the DC Universe}} | |||
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'''Mr. Freeze''' is the name of two<!--Do not add "fictional" as it is tautological; supervillains (and characters in general) are by definition implied to be fictionalized to some extent.--> ]s appearing in ]s published by ]. Created by writer Dave Wood and artists ] and ], the character initially debuted in '']'' #121 (February 1959) as '''Mr. Zero''', a ] with an unknown birth name who, after a physiology-altering mishap, becomes an ice-themed criminal typically armed with freezing weapons and an adversary of the superhero ] forced to live in ] temperatures and wear a special "]" for survival. He was later renamed "Mr. Freeze" after the version featured in the 1966 '']'' television series. | |||
image=] | |||
|caption=Mr. Freeze and Batman <br>Art by Greg Land | |||
|comic_color=background:#8080ff | |||
|character_name=Mr. Freeze | |||
|real_name=Victor Fries | |||
|publisher=] | |||
|debut=''Batman'' #121 (Feb. 1959) | |||
|creators=] | |||
|alliance_color=background:#c0c0ff | |||
|alliances=]<br/>] | |||
|aliases=Mister Zero, Doctor Zero, Doctor Schimmell | |||
|powers= - ]-level intelligence<br> - Expert in ]s <br> - Wields a Freeze Gun and wears a suit that keeps his body temperature below freezing and enhances his strength. | |||
|}} | |||
In 1992, Mr. Freeze was reinvented as a ] ] by writer ], producer ], and artist ] for '']'', which portrayed '''Dr. Victor Fries, PhD''' (pronounced "freeze") as a scientist in ] who suffers a lab accident while trying to ] preserve his terminally ill wife, ]. He turns to crime to fund his research in his obsessive quest to cure Nora by any means necessary, which brings him into conflict with Batman. The animated revamped depiction of Mr. Freeze received widespread acclaim and redefined the character, providing such a burst in his popularity that DC Comics ] the ] conceived by Dini into the mainstream comic book continuity, and adapted it for almost every incarnation of the ] since. | |||
'''Mr. Freeze''', real name '''Dr. Victor Fries''' (pronounced as Victor "Frees" or "Freeze"), is a ] ], an enemy of ]. Created by ], he first appeared in '']'' #121 (]).<ref name="UGO - Freeze"/> | |||
As one of Batman's most enduring enemies belonging to the collective of adversaries that make up his ], Mr. Freeze has been adapted in various ]. He has been portrayed in film by ] in '']'' (1997), and in television by ], ], and ] in the 1966 ''Batman'' series, and ] in '']''. ], ], ], and others have provided the character's voice in animation and video games. | |||
Freeze is a scientist who must wear a ] suit in order to survive, and bases his crimes around a "cold" or "ice" theme, complete with a "cold gun" that freezes its targets solid. In the most common variation of his ], he is a former ]s expert who suffered an industrial accident while attempting to treat his ] wife, ]. | |||
==Creation and development== | |||
In the 1997 film, '']'', he was portrayed by ]. Freeze has been portrayed in television series as '']'' and '']'' by actors ] and ], respectively. | |||
Created by Dave Wood, ], and ], the character made his first appearance in '']'' #121 (February 1959) as "Mr. Zero", a criminal scientist whose experimental "ice gun" backfires and spills cryogenic chemicals on him, forcing him to wear a sub-zero suit for survival and transforming him into a ]y ] who commits ice-themed crimes.<ref name="UGO - Freeze"/><ref>{{cite book |last =Rovin |first =Jeff |title =The Encyclopedia of Supervillains |publisher =Facts on File |date =1987 |location =New York |isbn = 0-8160-1356-X |page=225}}</ref><ref name="B#121">''Batman'' #121 (February 1959). DC Comics.</ref> The name "Mr. Freeze" was first used when the character was adapted for the 1960s '']'' television series, in which he was played by three different actors: ], ] and ].<ref name="Freeze 1">{{cite web|url=http://www.bat-mania.co.uk/main/villains/mr_freeze.php|title=Batmania UK: 1966 Batman: Villains: Mr. Freeze|access-date=2008-05-09|publisher=Bat-Mania}}</ref><ref name="Freeze 2">{{cite web|url=http://www.bat-mania.co.uk/main/villains/mr_freeze2.php|title=Batmania UK: 1966 Batman: Villains: Mr. Freeze 2|access-date=2008-05-09|publisher=Bat-Mania}}</ref><ref name="Freeze 3">{{cite web|url=http://www.bat-mania.co.uk/main/villains/mr_freeze3.php|title=Batmania UK: 1966 Batman: Villains: Mr. Freeze 3|access-date=2008-05-09|publisher=Bat-Mania}}</ref> Mr. Freeze debuted in the episode "]" on February 2, 1966, and his comic book counterpart was soon renamed as well in '']'' #373 (March 1968).<ref name="Detective Comics Vol 1 373">''Detective Comics'' (vol. 1) #373. DC Comics.</ref> | |||
Nearly thirty years later, lead producers ] and ] provided a complete overhaul for the character in adapting him for '']''. Artist ] redesigned Mr. Freeze for the series at Timm's request, while ] provided the character's voice.<ref name="Bio">{{cite web|url= http://www.artofmikemignola.com/Bio|title= Art of Mike Mignola - Bio|year= 2010|publisher= Art of Mike Mignola|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131105025849/http://www.artofmikemignola.com/Bio|archive-date= November 5, 2013|url-status= dead|df= mdy-all|access-date= February 9, 2012}}</ref> The episode "]", which was written by Dini and directed by Timm, aired on September 7, 1992, and retold Mr. Freeze's origin as Dr. Victor Fries, a scientist who turns to crime to find a cure for his cryogenically frozen, terminally ill wife, ].<ref name="Heart of Ice">{{cite web|url=http://www.toonzone.net/anbat/btas/hoi.html|title=Heart of Ice|quote=Mr. Freeze targets the industrialist responsible for his wife's death.|access-date=2008-05-09|publisher=Toon Zone|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080428110756/http://www.toonzone.net/anbat/btas/hoi.html|archive-date=2008-04-28}}</ref> This revamped depiction of Mr. Freeze as a complex and tragic villain was enthusiastically accepted by fans and provided such a burst in the popularity of the character that his comic book counterpart was resurrected in the comic after the episode aired (having previously been unceremoniously ] by the ]).<ref>{{cite comic|writer=]|penciller=]|inker=]|colorist=]|letterer=]|editor=] (comics)|story=Cold Cases|title=]|volume=1|issue=#670|date=January 1994|publisher=]|location=New York City}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Cowsill |first1=Alan |last2=Irvine |first2=Alex |last3=Manning |first3=Matthew K. |last4=McAvennie |first4=Michael |last5=Wallace |first5=Daniel |title=DC Comics Year By Year: A Visual Chronicle |date=2019 |publisher=DK Publishing |isbn=978-1-4654-8578-6 |page=86}}</ref><ref>{{Cite comic|writer=]|penciller=]|inker=]|colorist=]|letterer=Harkins, Tim|editor=]|story=The Funniest Thing Happened...|title=] II: The Joker's Wild!|issue=#1|date=October 1991|publisher=]|location=]}}</ref> Mr. Freeze's characterization and backstory from ''Batman: The Animated Series'' were even ] into the mainstream comic book continuity, and have become the standard portrayal for the character in almost every incarnation of the ''Batman'' mythology and its media adaptations.<ref>{{cite news|first1=Steve|last1=Daly|first2=Anne|last2=Thompson|url=http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,291605,00.html|archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20090427113344/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,291605,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 27, 2009|title=A Tights Squeeze|magazine=]|publisher=]|location=New York City|date=March 8, 1996|access-date=May 8, 2008}}</ref> | |||
==Overview== | |||
Originally called '''Mr. Zero''',<ref name="UGO - Freeze">{{cite web|url=http://batman.ugo.com/roguesgallery/mrfreeze/|title=UGO's World pf Batman - Rogues Gallery: Mr. Freeze|accessdate=2008-05-10|publisher=]}}</ref> he was renamed and popularized by the ], in which he was played by several actors.<ref name="Freeze 1"/><ref name="Freeze 2"/><ref name="Freeze 3"/> Over two decades later, a television adaptation of Batman revitalized him once again. ''],'' retold Mr. Freeze’s ], introducing his ], ] frozen wife, which greater explained his obsession with ice and need to build a criminal empire to raise research funds.<ref name="Heart of Ice"/> | |||
Elements of this ] were incorporated into the 1997 film '']'', in which he was portrayed by ].<ref name="UGO - Freeze"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,291605,00.html|title=A Tights Squeeze|accessdate=2008-05-08|publisher=]}}</ref> | |||
==Fictional character biography== | ==Fictional character biography== | ||
===Pre-Crisis version=== | |||
From the time of his first appearance in 1958 onward, '''Mr. Freeze''' was portrayed as one of many "joke" villains (see also ], ]) cast as stock enemies of Batman.<ref name="UGO - Freeze"/> Originally called Mr. '''Zero''',<ref name="UGO - Freeze"/> the producers of the 1960s '']'' television series renamed him Mr. '''Freeze''' (and portrayed Batman addressing him as "Dr. Schimmel"),<ref name="UGO - Freeze"/> and the name quickly carried over to the comic books. | |||
{{Infobox comics character | |||
| character_name = Mr. Freeze | |||
| image = Image:Batman121 mr zero.jpg | |||
| image_size = | |||
| caption = The Pre-Crisis version of Mr. Freeze's first appearance as "Mr. Zero" in ''Batman'' #121 (February ]).<br>Art by ]. | |||
| publisher = ] | |||
| debut = '''As Mr. Zero:'''<br />'']'' #121 (February 1959)<br />'''As Mr. Freeze:'''<br />"]"<br />'']''<br />(February 2, 1966) | |||
| creators = Dave Wood<br />]<br />] | |||
| real_name = Unknown | |||
| species = ] | |||
| homeworld = ] | |||
| alliances = | |||
| aliases = Mr. Zero<ref name="UGO - Freeze">{{cite web|url=http://batman.ugo.com/roguesgallery/mrfreeze/ |title=UGO's World of Batman – Rogues Gallery: Mr. Freeze |access-date=May 10, 2008 |publisher=] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080527232551/http://batman.ugo.com/roguesgallery/mrfreeze/ |archive-date=May 27, 2008 }}</ref> | |||
| powers = | |||
* ]-level intellect | |||
* ] adaptation | |||
| cat = super | |||
| subcat = DC Comics | |||
| hero = n | |||
| villain = y | |||
}} | |||
In order to create an ice gun, a scientist whose name remains unknown starts experimenting with a concentrated freezing solution. He suffers an unfortunate accident that changes his physiology, forcing him to live in environments below ]. He adopts the criminal identity of Mr. Zero. To be able to go out to the normal environment, Zero creates an ], which helps him remain in cold temperatures, even in hot climates. Using this equipment, Zero gathers a small gang and starts a crime spree in ], stealing mainly diamonds and other precious jewels. Mr. Zero is eventually confronted by the local vigilantes, ] and ]. Unable to stand against his cold weapons, the Dynamic Duo fails to stop Zero. They are captured by him and brought to his secret cold hideout, near the mountains. Trapped in blocks of ice, Batman and Robin learn Zero's plan to steal a large collection of gems. Batman eventually breaks a nearby steam pipe, causing steam to fill the hideout, melting the ice away and apparently curing Zero from his ailment. After this, Batman and Robin are able to capture the whole gang and bring Zero to the authorities.<ref name="B#121" /> | |||
After years of inactivity, Zero's condition apparently returns. Going back to his life of crime, he changes his alias to Mr. Freeze and is forced to remain in cold temperatures once again. In this second exploit, Freeze redesigns his cryo-suit and improves his cryothermal gun. With a new gang, he starts a new series of crimes and steals valuable pieces of art. Similar to his first criminal activities, Freeze is eventually stopped by Batman and Robin.<ref>''Detective Comics'' #373. DC Comics.</ref> | |||
Nearly 30 years later, Mr. Freeze would owe even more to television. In the ''Batman: The Animated Series'' episode "]", he was made into a more complex, ] character.<ref name="Heart of Ice"/> This version of Mr. Freeze was enthusiastically accepted by fans, and has become the standard portrayal for the character in most forms of media, including the comic book series itself, which previously had the character casually killed off by the ]. Freeze was resurrected in the comic after the episode aired.<ref name="UGO - Freeze"/> | |||
Long after this, Freeze becomes part of a ].<ref>''Batman'' #291-294. DC Comics.</ref> | |||
===Modern Age=== | |||
]]] | |||
In the ] ] ], it is explained that Mr. Freeze is a rogue scientist whose design for an "ice gun" backfires when he inadvertently spills ] chemicals on himself, resulting in his needing sub-zero temperatures to survive.<ref name="UGO - Freeze"/> As a child, he is fascinated by freezing animals. His parents, horrified by his "hobby", send him to a strict ], where he is miserable, feeling detached from humanity. In college, he meets a woman named ], whom he falls in love with and ultimately marries.<ref name="UGO - Freeze"/> | |||
Mr. Freeze later changes his cryo-suit with one that allows him more mobility. Freeze eventually falls in love with a woman called Hildy. In order to slow her aging process, Freeze sets out to recreate the accident that transformed him. For his experiments, Freeze uses wealthy people in Gotham as test subjects, but all the efforts result in failure. The victims turn into frozen zombies, who follow Freeze's commands. His new crimes alert the police and Batman. In the ensuing fight, Batman is only able to win when Hildy shows her true intentions and betrays Freeze, only to be encased in solid ice when her plan backfires.<ref>''Batman'' #308. DC Comics.</ref> | |||
Nora later falls ]. Freeze takes on a job working for a large company run by the ruthless Ferris Boyle. Fries discovers a way to put Nora into ] (using company equipment without permission), and places her in that state hoping to sustain her until a cure could be found. Boyle finds out about the experiment and attempts to have her brought out of ], overruling Fries' frantic objections. A struggle ensues, in which Boyle kicks Fries into a table full of chemicals and leaves him for dead. Fries survives, but his body temperature is lowered dramatically; he can now only live at ] temperatures, forced to wear a special refrigerating suit to stay alive. As Mr. Freeze, he uses cryonic technology to create a gun, which fires a beam that freezes any target within its range.<ref name="UGO - Freeze"/><ref>{{cite web|first=Hilary|last=Goldstein|url=http://comics.ign.com/articles/622/622304p2.html|title=IGN: The Best & Worst Batman Villains|accessdate=2008-05-10|date=2005-06-03|publisher=]}}</ref> | |||
Freeze's next plan consists of freezing Gotham City by removing all the heat and transporting the energy to the neighboring city of ]. Freeze is unable to accomplish his goal and is stopped by Batman and ].<ref>''World's Finest'' #257. DC Comics.</ref> | |||
His first act as a costumed criminal is to take revenge upon Boyle, a plan with which Batman interferes.<ref name="UGO - Freeze"/><ref name="Heart of Ice"/> Mr. Freeze fires his freeze-gun at Batman, but he dodges, causing the beam to shatter Nora's capsule. Freeze blames Batman, and swears to destroy whatever the Dark Knight holds dear (mainly ], and eventually ]).<ref name="UGO - Freeze"/> | |||
During one last attempt to freeze Gotham entirely, Mr. Freeze creates a large ice cannon. After robbing a bank, Freeze is confronted by Batman and the new ], who manages to defeat him with help from ] and ], whom Freeze previously captured.<ref>''Batman'' #375. DC Comics.</ref> | |||
Freeze's crimes tend to involve freezing everyone and everything he runs into.<ref name="UGO - Freeze"/> In addition, he hardly ever forges alliances with the other criminals in Gotham, preferring to work alone, although he has worked as a hired enforcer/hitman for the ].<ref name="The Batman - episode">{{cite web|first=Alan|last=Burnett|url=http://www.tv.com/the-batman/the-batman-superman-story-1/episode/1127696/recap.html|title=The Batman: The Batman/Superman Story (1) Recap|accessdate=2008-05-11|date=2007-09-22|publisher=TV.com}}</ref> | |||
===Victor Fries=== | |||
In '']'' #1, Freeze has frozen everyone inside a courtroom. While using a frozen man as a chair, he talks with the ], who convinces him to join the ]. During his time with the group, he fashions for ] a sub-zero machine in exchange for the use of her own ]. He attempts to restore Nora to life without waiting for the ''adjusting'' needed in the pool chemicals. However, she returns to life as the twisted ], and escapes. She blames her husband for her plight, and estranges herself from him.<ref>{{Cite comic | |||
{{Infobox comics character | |||
| Writer = ] | |||
| character_name = Mr. Freeze | |||
| Penciller = ] | |||
| image = Mr._Freeze_(Victor_Fries).png | |||
| Inker = ] | |||
| image_size = | |||
| caption = The Victor Fries version of Mr. Freeze as depicted in ''Batman'' #525 (December 1995).<br />Art by ] (pencils) and ] (inks). | |||
| Title = Villains United | |||
| publisher = ] | |||
| Volume = | |||
| debut = '''Television''': "]"<br />'']''<br />(September 7, 1992)<br />'''Comics''': ''Batman: Mr. Freeze'' #1 (1997) | |||
| Issue = 1 | |||
| creators = ]<br />]<br />] | |||
| Date = March 2005 | |||
| real_name = Dr. Victor Fries | |||
| Publisher = ] | |||
| species = ] | |||
| Page = | |||
| homeworld = ] | |||
| Panel = | |||
| alliances = ]<br />]<br />]<br />]<br />] | |||
| ID = | |||
| powers = | |||
}}</ref> | |||
* ]-level intellect<ref name="DC.com">{{cite news |url=https://www.dc.com/characters/mister-freeze |title=Mister Freeze |website=] |access-date=January 16, 2024 |language=en }}</ref> | |||
* ] adaptation | |||
* ]<ref name="Batman Eternal 31">''Batman Eternal'' #31</ref> | |||
* Cryokinesis<ref name="Batman Annual Vol 2 1">''Batman Annual'' (vol. 2) #1</ref> | |||
* Decelerated aging | |||
* Toxic immunity | |||
* ] grants: | |||
** ] and durability | |||
| cat = super | |||
| subcat = DC Comics | |||
| hero = n | |||
| villain = y | |||
}} | |||
Following the ] crossover event, the ] is rebooted and Mr. Freeze's origin is retroactively revamped to match the one conceived by Paul Dini for ''Batman: The Animated Series''.<ref name="wf interview page 2">{{cite web |url=http://www.worldsfinestonline.com/WF/heartofice/interview/02.php |title=''Heart of Ice'' interview "The Role of Mr. Freeze In The Animated Universe" page 2 – Finding a Voice|access-date=2008-02-08 |publisher= worldsfinestonline.com}}</ref> Dr. Victor Fries, Ph.D. is a brilliant expert in cryogenics in Gotham City. As a child, he was fascinated with cryonic preservation and liked to freeze animals. His parents are horrified by his "hobby" and send him to a strict ], where he is miserable, bullied and ]; as a result, he feels detached from humanity. In college, he meets ], the woman he ultimately marries.<ref name="UGO - Freeze"/> | |||
He is usually imprisoned in ] when apprehended by Batman, as it is the only facility in Gotham that can accommodate his medical requirements for a refrigerated cell.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.batmantas.com/cmp/freeze.htm|title=Mr. Freeze|accessdate=2008-05-18|publisher=Batman The Animated Series}}</ref> | |||
Eighteen months after Bruce Wayne becomes Batman, Nora contracts a fatal disease, so Fries begins developing a freeze ray for ] in order to preserve her in suspended animation until a cure can be found. Fries' boss Ferris Boyle decides to tell the Mob about the gun, leading Batman to create a team of specialists to help him do his job better. As Fries puts Nora in suspended animation, Boyle interrupts and tampers with the experiment, resulting in an explosion that kills Nora. Fries survives, but the chemicals in the freeze ray lower his body temperature to the point that he must wear a cryogenic suit in order to survive. He swears revenge on those responsible for the death of his wife (whom he talks to often) and becomes Mr. Freeze, the first superpowered villain whom Batman faces in this continuity. Eventually, Batman's operatives find Freeze, who shoots one of them with his freeze gun, but Batman eventually apprehends him.<ref name="UGO - Freeze"/> | |||
Most recently, he has been seen among the new ] and is one of the villains featured in '']''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://comicbookdb.com/team.php?ID=216|title=Secret Society of Super-Villains (03-2005+)|accessdate=2008-05-18|publisher=Comic Book DB}}</ref> | |||
During the "]" storyline, Mr. Freeze sold his soul to ] in exchange for cryokinesis and temperature control where the latter ability enables him to survive in warm temperatures without use of his cryogenic suit.<ref>''Underworld Unleashed'' #1. DC Comics.</ref><ref>''Green Lantern'' (vol. 3) #66–69. DC Comics.</ref> While planning to freeze the elderly in order to preserve them, Mr. Freeze was secretly planning to steal their assets causing his henchmen Ice and Cube to get concerned. Though Batman defeats Mr. Freeze, he ends up getting away.<ref>''Batman'' #525. DC Comics.</ref> He would somehow revert to his pre-upgraded appearance causing him to sport a new cryogenic suit and wield a new freeze gun.<ref>''Batman'' #535. DC Comics.</ref> | |||
==Powers and abilities== | |||
Like most Batman villains, Mr. Freeze plans his crimes about a specific ]; in his case, ice and cold.<ref name="UGO - Freeze"/> In darker incarnations of the Batman ], Mr. Freeze's obsession with ice stems from personal tragedy, and his crimes are inspired by his desire to make the rest of the world as miserable as he is.<ref name="Cold Comfort"/> He freezes areas around him using special weapons and equipment, most notably a handheld "cold gun". His refrigeration suit grants him superhuman strength and durability, making him a powerful villain in Batman's ].<ref name="UGO - Freeze"/> He has even shown to be a formidable opponent for Superman.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dccomics.com/graphic_novels/?gn=1262|title=Batman: No Man's Land Volume 3|accessdate=2008-05-10|publisher=]}}</ref> Some interpretations suggest that because Fries has been soaked in the serum he intended to use for cryo-preservation, his age progression has slowed drastically.<ref name="Heart of Ice"/> | |||
Initially locked in ], Freeze was eventually transferred to the Gotham State Penitentiary, from where he escaped and attempted to steal technology from ] until he was stopped and returned to prison by Batman.<ref>''Detective Comics'' #595. DC Comics.</ref> | |||
In the '']'' storyline, the demon ] grants Mr. Freeze the ability to generate sub-zero temperatures, no longer needing his freeze-gun or refrigeration suit. However, after his encounter with ], ], and ] in Central Park, he reverted back to his original subzero biology. He then gained a new subzero armor and weaponry.<ref>{{Cite comic | |||
| Writer = ], Peterson, Harry | |||
| Artist = ] ] and others | |||
| Story = | |||
| Title = Underworld Unleashed | |||
| Volume = | |||
| Issue = 3 | |||
| Date = November 1995 - January 1996 | |||
| Publisher = ] | |||
| Page = | |||
| Panel = | |||
| ID = 1563894475 | |||
}}</ref> | |||
During the "]" storyline, Mr. Freeze sets up a base in the sewers which is stumbled upon by ] and Tommy Mangles.<ref>''Robin'' Vol. 2 #69. DC Comics.</ref> Mr. Freeze finds them and uses his freeze gun on them after getting information about a storage room with canned food in it. He and ] were defeated by ] and arrested by Detective Mackenzie Bock with the Gotham City Police Department also bringing the frozen bodies of Gearhead and Tommy Mangles into their custody as well.<ref>''Robin'' Vol. 2 #70. DC Comics.</ref> | |||
===Animated abilities=== | |||
According to ''Batman: The Animated Series'', Freeze understands how to reproduce his powers.<ref name="BTAS"/> Upon being offered enough money to bankroll large scale research into Nora's condition, Freeze turns the wealthy, terminally ill Grant Walker into another "Mr. Freeze"-like being (on the theory that the "Mr. Freeze condition" would arrest the disease). However, Walker reveals that he wants to use his new abilities to turn the world into a frozen wasteland, leaving him and a few chosen followers to live eternally in Oceana, his underwater "World of Tomorrow". Freeze imprisons him in a block of ice as Oceana collapses around him. For two years, Walker remains in the iceberg, driving him ].<ref name="Deep Freeze"/> Although he does not reappear in the animated series, the "second Mr. Freeze" reappeared in the comic book '']'' (based on the cartoon of the same name). In his last appearance, he breaks into the Wayne Foundation and kidnaps all of the scientists working to cure the original Mr. Freeze. With Batman out of action due to a concussion, ], ], and Robin save the scientists, with the help of Mr. Freeze. Walker is eventually caught after a short fight with Freeze, and then sent to Arkham.<ref name="Cold Comfort"/> | |||
Freeze's crimes tend to involve freezing everyone and everything that he encounters<ref name="UGO - Freeze"/> so he forgoes alliances with the other criminals in Gotham, preferring to work alone. On rare occasions, he has worked with another member of Batman's rogues' gallery, usually, as an enforcer for Gotham's mob bosses, such as the ] during his ]<ref>''Detective comics'' #804–806. DC Comics.</ref> or ] during the ] of ].<ref>''Batman'' #635. DC Comics.</ref><ref>''Batman'' #836. DC Comics.</ref> | |||
In ''The Batman'', Freeze has the ability to generate ice and cold with his hands.<ref name="TB - Big Chill">{{cite episode |title=The Big Chill |episodelink= |series=The Batman |serieslink= |credits=Seung Eun-Kim |network=The WB |station= |airdate=2004-11-06 |season=1 |number=5 |minutes= }}</ref> | |||
In one of his notable team-ups, Freeze constructs a cryogenic machine for ] so that Hush might take revenge on Batman, Freeze's equipment allowing Hush to preserve ]'s surgically removed heart to use as a means of threatening her life.<ref>''Detective Comics'' #850. DC Comics.</ref> | |||
==In other media== | |||
===1960s TV Series=== | |||
In the 1960s '']'' television series, Mr. Freeze was played by ], ], and ].<ref name="Freeze 1">{{cite web|url=http://www.bat-mania.co.uk/villians/mr_freeze.htm|title=Batmania UK: 1966 Batman: Villains: Mr. Freeze|accessdate=2008-05-09|publisher=Bat-Mania}}</ref><ref name="Freeze 2">{{cite web|url=http://www.bat-mania.co.uk/villians/mr_freeze2.htm|title=Batmania UK: 1966 Batman: Villains: Mr. Freeze 2|accessdate=2008-05-09|publisher=Bat-Mania}}</ref><ref name="Freeze 3">{{cite web|url=http://www.bat-mania.co.uk/villians/mr_freeze3.htm|title=Batmania UK: 1966 Batman: Villains: Mr. Freeze 3|accessdate=2008-05-09|publisher=Bat-Mania}}</ref> In his first appearance, ''Instant Freeze'', it is revealed that it was Batman who spilled the cryogenic chemicals on him during an attempted arrest. Batman thus feels a certain amount of guilt for his condition.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tv.com/batman-1966/instant-freeze/episode/6142/summary.html|title=Batman (1966): Instant Freeze|accessdate=2008-05-10|publisher=TV.com}}</ref> Mister Freeze was also given a different name: Dr. Schivel.<ref name="UGO - Freeze"/> | |||
During the "]", Mr. Freeze appears as a member of ]'s ].<ref>''Villains United'' #1. DC Comics.</ref> | |||
===''The New Adventures of Batman''=== | |||
Mr. Freeze appears in one episode of ]'s 1977 animated series '']'', in which he is voiced by ].<ref>{{cite video|year=2007|title=The New Adventures Of Batman|medium=DVD|publisher=Warner Bros. Home Video}}</ref> | |||
After Batman's ], most of the Arkham inmates were ] by a ]. Freeze was among them and he started working on a project called Ice-X Protocol when the GCPD tried to capture him. He stunned them with his gun and captured Gordon, taking him to his secret lair. Gordon managed to break free and defeat Freeze by causing an explosion that weakened Freeze. After his capture, Freeze was taken to ] Prison.<ref>''Battle for the Cowl: Commissioner Gordon'' #1. DC Comics.</ref> | |||
===DC animated universe=== | |||
====''Batman: The Animated Series''==== | |||
{{main|Batman: The Animated Series}} | |||
]''. His appearance in the series was designed by '']'' creator ], at the request of series creator ]<ref name="BTAS">{{cite video|year=2004|title=Batman: The Animated Series|medium=DVD|publisher=Warner Bros. Home Video}}</ref>]] | |||
Mr. Freeze was a significant villain in '']'', as noted above, but is portrayed as a sympathetic villain. He is voiced by ] in the series and its spin-offs.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.toonzone.net/anbat/actors/villains.html#ansara|title=Batman: The Animated Series - Actors - Villains|accessdate=2008-05-09|publisher=Toon Zone}}</ref> | |||
During the "]" storyline, Mr. Freeze is among the villains that are sent to another planet by a Boom Tube by the ].<ref>''Salvation Run'' #1. DC Comics.</ref> | |||
Freeze was introduced in the episode "]", which won an ] for Outstanding Writing in an Animated Program. Freeze leads a band of henchmen and makes several raids on the company Gothcorp, stealing the parts for a freezing machine he wishes to build and use in his battle against the company. This leads to his first confrontation with Batman, whom he defeats easily and traps in a block of ice. Later on, before another attack on Gothcorp after the machine is complete, Freeze catches Batman in the security room, watching an archive video showing just how Freeze became who he now is: while working for Gothcorp, Victor Fries had been using illegal funding for an experiment to save his dying wife, Nora, cryogenically freezing her to preserve her until a cure could be found, but at the last moment, the ruthless Gothcorp CEO, Ferris Boyle, had broken into the lab with guards and kicked Fries into a batch of chemicals, leaving him to die. Fries survived, but was severely ] by the substances and transformed into Mr. Freeze. Now on a vendetta against Boyle, Freeze traps Batman and leaves him in his hideout, confronting Boyle at the Gothcorp Humanitarian Party and freezing him up to the waist. Batman, however, escapes confronts Freeze at the party, fighting him one-on-one until he manages to break Freeze's helmet with a flask of chicken soup (to induce thermal shock). Freeze is defeated, and taken to Arkham along with Boyle, as Batman presented evidence of Boyle's crimes to the press.<ref name="Heart of Ice">{{cite web|url=http://www.toonzone.net/anbat/btas/hoi.html|title=Heart of Ice|quote=Mr. Freeze targets the industrialist responsible for his wife's death.|accessdate=2008-05-09|publisher=Toon Zone}}</ref> | |||
Mr. Freeze later fashions a sub-zero machine for ] in exchange for the use of her Lazarus Pit. He attempts to restore Nora to life without waiting for the adjusting needed in the pool chemicals; she returns to life as the twisted Lazara and escapes. She blames her husband for her plight, and she estranges herself from him.<ref>''Batgirl'' #69–70. DC Comics.</ref> | |||
Freeze later appears in ''Deep Freeze'', where he is sprung out of prison (against his will) and taken to an off-shore city named Oceana by an ] owned by theme-park builder Grant Walker, who is fascinated with Freeze and needs his technology to condition his body to become like Freeze's, for his maniacal plan of a Global Deep Freeze to create a new world from his selected residents of Oceana. Freeze, at first, refuses to help Walker, but when Walker shows Freeze his wife, alive but still cryogenically frozen, Freeze accepts. Batman and Robin arrive and tell him that if Freeze helps Walker freeze Gotham, Nora would hate him. Freeze finally sees the truth, and helps Batman and Robin stop Walker at the last minute. Freeze battles Walker, who has been placed in a cryo-suit identical to Freeze's, and wins by pinning Walker to a wall with his gun. Freeze then proceeds to overload Oceana's power-core, blowing the city to smithereens and warning the inhabitants to flee for their lives. Freeze opts to stay behind and die with his wife, and freezes Robin to stop Batman from following him. Freeze, Nora and Walker disappear in the explosion, but the episode's end reveals that they all survive, temporarily trapped in ]s.<ref name="Deep Freeze">{{cite web|url=http://www.toonzone.net/anbat/btas/df.html|title=Deep Freeze|accessdate=2008-05-09|publisher=Toon Zone}}</ref> | |||
===='' |
====''The New 52''==== | ||
] and ].]] | |||
In the ] film '']'', Freeze has found a home in the Arctic and started a family (of sorts) with his ] son, Kunac, his frozen wife, Nora, and his two pet ]s, Notchka and Chokka. Nora's condition begins to rapidly deteriorate due to an accident (a ] emerged from underwater directly underneath them, shattering their footing and knocking Nora's chamber), so Freeze enlists the help of Dr. Gregory Belson to find a cure. Belson determines that Nora needs an organ transplant, and due to her rare ] there are not many suitable donors. Freeze declares that they will use a live donor. Belson is at first reluctant to kill an innocent girl, but Freeze bribes him with a gold nugget and even more gold from the Arctic that will put an end to Belson's financial problems. ] (a.k.a. ]) is a perfect match, and Freeze learns from her roommate that she is at a restaurant with her boyfriend, ] (Robin). Freeze attacks the restaurant and kidnaps Barbara, taking her to an abandoned oil rig where he and Belson are hiding. Freeze and Belson explain the situation to Barbara, who claims that she is willing to help Nora for the "blood transfusion", but not at the oil rig, prompting Freeze to chain Barbara in her room. The time for the operation comes, but Barbara escapes. Belson gives pursuit and almost catches her, but for the arrival of Batman and Robin. Freeze follows, and in the ensuing confrontation, Belson accidentally shoots one of the fuel tanks and starts a rapidly-spreading fire as Freeze traps Batman and Robin in a crane. Freeze insists that Belson perform the operation, despite the oil rig collapsing and ready to explode, but Belson betrays Freeze and attempts to escape alone, dying in the process (killed by the falling base). Freeze's leg is broken after a pile of rubble falls on him, and thus he decides to help Batman and Robin save him and Barbara as long as they find Nora and Kunac first. Nora, Kunac and Barbara are taken to safety in the Batwing (Freeze wished for them to be rescued first for Batman to come back for him), but Batman fails to save the weakened Freeze in time, due to a pipe falling on them and sending Freeze plummeting into the ocean below. The oil rig finally explodes, but Freeze escapes just in time and swims back to shore with Notchka and Chokka. Freeze then returns with his polar bears to the Arctic to resume his life alone, but sees on television that Nora has been revived after an organ transplant operation funded by Wayne Enterprises, moving him to tears.<ref>{{cite video|year=1998|title=Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero|medium=DVD|publisher=Warner Bros.}}</ref> | |||
In September 2011, '']'' rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline, during the '']'' crossover, the ] sends assassins known as Talons to kill 40 of the most important citizens of Gotham, including Mr. Freeze. ], ] and ] choose to save him, and subsequently remand him into ]'s custody.<ref>{{cite comic| writer=]|penciller=]|inker=]|letterer=Sienty, Dezi|editor=]|story=Last Regrets – I've Had a Few|title=]| volume=1|issue=#8| date=June 2012| publisher=]|location=]}}</ref> ''Batman Annual'' (vol. 2) #1 introduces a new origin for Mr. Freeze. Here, Victor Fries' fascination with cryonics began when he was a boy and his mother fell through the ice of a frozen lake. The ice was able to keep her preserved long enough for help to arrive, thus sparking his lifelong obsession with cold. It is later revealed that the accident left Fries' mother in constant pain, and Fries ended her suffering by pushing her into the same frozen lake. In this new origin, Nora was never Fries' wife. Her name was Nora Fields, a woman born in 1934. When Nora was 23, she was diagnosed with an incurable heart disease, so her family placed her in cryogenic stasis hoping that a cure would be found in the future. Fries, having written his doctoral thesis on Nora, took on a position as a cryogenic researcher and technician at Wayne Enterprises, the facility that housed Nora's body. Eventually, he fell in love with Nora and became dedicated to finding a reliable method for slowly thawing cryogenic subjects. However, Bruce Wayne ordered the project to be shut down, as he began to feel uncomfortable with Fries' obsession with Nora. Furious, Fries hurled a chair at Wayne, who dodged the attack; the chair smashed into an array of cryonic chemical tanks, the contents of which sprayed onto Fries and transformed him into Mr. Freeze.<ref>{{cite comic|writer=]|penciller=]|inker=]|colorist=]|letterer=Cipriano, Sal|editor=Marts, Mike|story=Night of the Owls: First Snow|title=Batman Annual|volume=2|issue=#1|date=July 2012|publisher=]|location=]}}</ref> | |||
The Court of Owls uses Freeze's cryogenic-thaw formula to revive their Talons, and then they try to kill him. Freeze survives but is captured by the Red Hood and sent to ]. He escapes shortly afterward and rearms himself with the Penguin's help. Freeze decides to kill Bruce Wayne and takes Nora, whom he believes to be his wife so that they can leave ] behind forever. Infiltrating ], Freeze has a brief fight with ] and ], but he subdues them. Then, Freeze goes to the penthouse, where he finds Batman and the frozen Nora. Batman defeats Mr. Freeze by injecting his suit with the thawing formula, which he had intended to use to revive Nora from suspended animation. | |||
====''The New Batman Adventures''==== | |||
]'']] | |||
In the '']'', Mr. Freeze featured a new, sleeker and darker look, in which his head is mounted on four thin, ]ic legs. Director ] admitted that his change was because of his recurring loss that his wife had no more hope for recovery, incorporating this darker, colder personality.<ref>{{cite video|year=2005|title=Batman: The Animated Series Volume Four|medium=DVD|publisher=Warner Brother Home Video}}</ref> His robotic form crawled into a suit and locked into it. | |||
During the "]" storyline, Mr. Freeze appears as a member of the Secret Society of Super Villains at the time when the ] arrived from their world.<ref>{{cite comic| writer=]|penciller=]|inker=]|colorist=]|letterer=Leigh, Rob| editor=Cunningham, Brian|story=Nightfall| title=]|volume=1|issue=#1|date=November 2013| publisher=]| location=]}}</ref> The ] later visits Mr. Freeze to let him know of the war going on at ].<ref>{{cite comic| writer=]|penciller=Kudranksi, Szymon|inker=Kudranksi, Szymon|colorist=]|letterer=Sienty, Dezi|editor=Marts, Mike|story=City of Fear| title=Detective Comics|volume=2|issue=#23.3|date=November 2013| publisher=]| location=]}}</ref> The ]s are able to bring the remaining Talons to Mr. Freeze after the Man-Bat and the Scarecrow steal them from Blackgate.<ref>{{cite comic| writer=]|penciller=]|inker=Mendoza, Jaime|colorist=Delhouse, Andrew|letterer=Esposito, Taylor|editor=Gluckstern, Rachel|story=Batman Death March| title=]|volume=1|issue=#1|date=December 2013| publisher=]| location=]}}</ref><ref>{{cite comic| writer=]|penciller=]|inker=Mendoza, Jaime|colorist=Dalhouse, Andrew|letterer=Lanham, Travis|editor=Gluckstern, Rachel|story=Das Bat!| title=]|volume=1|issue=#3|date=February 2014| publisher=]| location=]}}</ref> Mr. Freeze and ] later encounter the Rogues when they land in their territory.<ref>{{cite comic| writer=Buccallato, Brian|penciller=Hepburn, Scott|inker=Coehlho, Andre|colorist=Filardi, Nick|letterer=Sienty, Dezi|editor=Cunningham, Brian|story=Dark Knight| title=]|volume=1|issue=#3|date=February 2014| publisher=]| location=]}}</ref> Mr. Freeze tells the ] III he is not interested in capitalizing on the bounty on their heads, only to use the ] to create optimal conditions for him to freeze Gotham. As the Rogues are fighting the two, Black Mask (alongside his False Face society) arrives to capture the Rogues to receive the bounty.<ref>{{cite comic| writer=Buccallato, Brian|penciller=Hepburn, Scott|inker=Coehlho, Andre|colorist=Filardi, Nick|letterer=Sienty, Dezi|editor=Cunningham, Brian|story=Escape from Gotham| title=]|volume=1|issue=#4|date=March 2014| publisher=]| location=]}}</ref> | |||
In the episode "Cold Comfort", Mr. Freeze's wife, Nora, who has now fully recovered, having accepted that Freeze had likely been killed in the oil rig's collapse, has remarried the doctor assigned to her case and left Gotham permanently. Furthermore, he learns that the serum that mutated his body is slowly destroying it; although he has kidnapped many scientists to try and stop the process, they only succeed after the process has claimed all but his head. The ] of this revelation breaks what little remains of Freeze's humanity, and he begins committing crimes in order to inflict the loss he's suffered on others by taking away the things they value most. At his hideout, Freeze is confronted by Batman and Batgirl, where he reveals his true condition to them and also his goal of taking away what Batman holds dear: all of Gotham, by dropping a Reverse Fusion Bomb that will freeze the city. Freeze boards the plane to drop the bomb, but Batman follows him, and they engage in one last duel in which Batman emerges the victor by using his grappling gun to hook Freeze to the bomb and drop it into the river, where they both disappear in an explosion that creates a huge iceberg. Freeze is presumed killed, but the episode's end reveals that Freeze's head is missing from his frozen armour,<ref name="Cold Comfort">{{cite web|url=http://www.toonzone.net/anbat/tnba/cc.html|title=Cold Comfort|accessdate=2008-05-09|publisher=Toon Zone}}</ref><ref>{{cite episode |title=Cold Comfort |episodelink= |series=The New Batman Adventures |serieslink= |credits=Hilary J. Bader, Dan Riba, Shirley Walker, Koko Yang, Dong Yang |network=The WB |station= |airdate=1997-10-11 |season=1 |number=3 |minutes= }}</ref> and as revealed in ''Batman Beyond'', Freeze escapes with his life.<ref name="Meltdown">{{cite web|url=http://www.toonzone.net/anbat/bb/meltdown.html|title=Meltdown|accessdate=2008-05-09|publisher=Toon Zone}}</ref><ref name="BB - Meltdown">{{cite episode |title=Meltdown |episodelink= |series=Batman Beyond |serieslink= |credits=Hilary J. Bader, Alan Burnett, Butch Lukic, Lolita Ritmanis, Koko Yang, Dong Yang |network=The WB |station= |airdate=1999-02-13 |season=1 |number=5 |minutes= }}</ref> | |||
===='' |
====''DC Rebirth''==== | ||
In the '']'' sequel '']'', Mr. Freeze is among the villains that attend the underground meeting held by the ] that talks about the Superman Theory. When Comedian crashes the meeting, Mr. Freeze's helmet is punctured by a bullet shot by an unseen combatant.<ref>''Doomsday Clock'' #6 (July 2018). DC Comics.</ref> In the "Ends of the Earth" story arc of ''All-Star Batman'', Freeze has awoken many people that have been held in cryogenic stasis — using them as an army to steal resources for his research to cure his wife Nora, himself, and all of these people — and plans to release deadly bacteria held in one of the world's oldest ice cores to make a new world, but ] has injected himself with a cold-resistant virus that becomes airborne when his skin is exposed and is able to kill the spores.<ref>''All-Star Batman'' #7 (2017). DC Comics.</ref> | |||
Freeze has made numerous appearances in the comics set in the same ]. In '']'' issue #5 he was found shortly after the battle and back in action.<ref>{{Cite comic | |||
| Writer = ] | |||
| Artist = ], ] | |||
| Story = Polar Opposites | |||
| Title = Batman: Gotham Adventures | |||
| Volume = | |||
| Issue = 5 | |||
| Date = October 1998 | |||
| Publisher = ] | |||
| Page = | |||
| Panel = | |||
| ID = | |||
}}</ref> He has made further appearances in ''Batman Adventures''. The comic's writers intended ''Batman Adventures'' #15 to be Mr. Freeze's final appearance. Though the issue's ending is ambiguous, it does set up for his eventual ], as revealed in '']''.<ref name="World's Finest"/> Nora finally encounters Victor after her new husband is nearly killed (In truth, the man had created a robot in Freeze's image to attack him to prove to Nora that her first husband was a monster). The story ends with Mr. Freeze's head falling into a pond at the ]. Deleted material from the comic portrays Ferris Boyle and Grant Walker being killed by the Mr. Freeze robot. While the end of the story is left ambiguous, it was intended for Mr. Freeze to be taken by Powers Technology and put in storage. The company's owner, Warren Powers (father of ], one of ''Batman Beyond'''s chief villains) states that the secret to ] is locked inside that head.<ref name="World's Finest">{{cite web|url=http://www.worldsfinestonline.com/WF/batribute/backstage/15.php|title=The World's Finest - Batman Adventures: #15|accessdate=2008-05-09|publisher=World's Finest}}</ref> | |||
During the "]" storyline, Mr. Freeze was given a special playing card by ] which enables him to perform cryokinesis.<ref>''Teen Titans'' Vol. 6 #12. Marvel Comics.</ref> Mr. Freeze and his frost monsters fought different superheroes who moved through his domain. Robin is the one who defeated Mr. Freeze and he regressed back to normal when the threat of the Dark Multiverse was sent back to its own dimension.<ref>''Nightwing'' Vol. 4 #29. DC Comics.</ref> | |||
====''Batman Beyond''==== | |||
{{main|Batman Beyond}} | |||
In '']'', which is set 40 years in the future, Bruce Wayne still has one of Mr. Freeze's guns in the ]. His successor as Batman, ], uses it to freeze ] when she infiltrates the Batcave. | |||
Mr. Freeze was suspected of murdering three women and was put on trial. Due to Batman's later investigation, he found that Mr. Freeze didn't commit the crime and he was found not guilty by the jury.<ref>''Batman'' Vol. 3 #51-53. DC Comics.</ref> | |||
The episode "Meltdown" reveals that the disembodied head of Victor Fries survives the events of "Cold Comfort"; thanks to the cryogenics technology, he is now essentially ]. Stephanie Lake, a doctor working for Derek Powers, uses Mr. Freeze as a test subject for a process she hoped would be able to cure Powers' condition. She creates a ] body for him and transfers Fries' essence into it. Given a normal life back, Fries tries to right some of the wrongs he committed as a criminal. However, the new body soon begins to revert to the same sub-zero biology. The doctor and Powers betray Fries, hoping to learn more from an ]. He escapes, recovers an old suit of sub-zero armor, and becomes Mr. Freeze again. He seeks revenge by blowing up a Wayne-Powers complex (with Freeze, the doctor and Powers in it), but McGinnis foils the plan. Freeze redeems himself by saving Batman from Powers, now mutated into the ] Blight, but apparently dies when he refuses to escape the exploding complex with Batman.<ref name="Meltdown"/><ref name="BB - Meltdown"/> | |||
Several ] due to the events in "]", ]'s Apex Lex form gives Mr. Freeze a vial that would cure and furthermore revive his frozen wife. Freeze had to kidnap several women who matched his late wife's characteristics in both mental and physical states, going as far as modifying their DNA to hers in order to experiment with the vial before reviving his wife. In the end, it worked and his wife came back to life cured. She soon took up the name "Mrs. Freeze".<ref>{{Cite book|title=Detective Comics #1014 - Cold Dark World: Awake!|last1=Tomasi|first1=Peter|last2=Mahnke|first2=Doug|publisher=DC Comics|date=October 2019|issue=1014}}</ref> After Mrs. Freeze betrayed him, Mr. Freeze turned to Batman for help.<ref>''Detective Comics'' #1015. DC Comics.</ref> During the fight, Mrs. Freeze used a syringe on Mr. Freeze which started to heat him up while also eradicating the special nanites that kept him cold without the assistance of his cryogenic suit. Batman had to put Mr. Freeze in the same cryogenic state that Nora was in while Mrs. Freeze fled to the northern parts of Canada.<ref>''Detective Comics'' #1016. DC Comics.</ref> | |||
====''Justice League''==== | |||
Mr. Freeze made two appearances in '']'' comics. In the first, he claims that ] has stolen his freeze gun design, but in the second they are working together, alongside other cold-based villains.<ref>{{Cite comic | |||
| Writer = ] | |||
| Artist = ], ] | |||
| Story = Cold War | |||
| Title = Justice League Adventures | |||
| Volume = | |||
| Issue = 12 | |||
| Date = December 2002 | |||
| Publisher = ] | |||
| Page = | |||
| Panel = | |||
| ID = | |||
}}</ref> He never appeared in the ''Justice League'' animated series, but his freeze gun is a primary weapon Batman uses against a ]ian attack in the Batcave, as seen in the episode "]".<ref>{{cite episode |title=Starcrossed |episodelink= |series=Justice League |serieslink= |credits=Butch Lukic, Dan Riba, Rich Fogel, Dwayne McDuffie |network=Cartoon Network |station= |airdate=2004-05-29 |season=2 |number=50, 51, 52 |minutes= }}</ref> | |||
Mr. Freeze was later seen as an inmate at Arkham Tower.<ref>''Detective Comics'' #1053. DC Comics.</ref> | |||
===''Batman and Robin''=== | |||
{{main|Batman & Robin (film)}} | |||
]'' played by Austrian-American actor and current ], ].]] | |||
==Powers and abilities== | |||
Mr. Freeze appears in '']'', played by ]. Although his tragic origin is the same, the film features a largely ] interpretation of the character; throughout the movie, Mr. Freeze spouts endless ]s related to cold weather and temperatures (e.g., "You’re not sending me to the cooler!", "Allow me to break the ice", and "Ice to see you!" or "Everybody! Chill!"). The film's characterization of Mr. Freeze (as well as Schwarzenegger's performance) was largely panned by critics, like the rest of the film.<ref>{{cite web|first=Michael|last=Swaim|url=http://www.cracked.com/article_15665_7-least-faithful-comic-book-movies.html|title=The 7 Least-Faithful Book Movies|accessdate=2008-05-10|publisher=Cracked.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first=Janet|last=Maslin|url=http://www.nytimes.com/library/film/batman-film-review.html|title=Batman and Robin|quote=In other words they're a lot smarter than, say, Mr. Freeze, whose deadliest weapon in the film is an arsenal of puns. (e.g "I'm afraid my condition has left me cold to your pleas!" and "You are not sending me to the cooler!)|accessdate=2008-05-23|date=1997-06-20|work=]}}</ref> | |||
Like most Batman villains, Mr. Freeze's crimes are often centered around a specific ]; in his case, ice, cold and snow. The lab accident that bathed him in chemical coolants radically altered his biology and lowered his body temperature to 23 degrees Fahrenheit, transforming him into a metahuman who is impervious to sub-freezing temperatures and incapable of surviving outside of them.<ref name="Batman Annual Vol 2 1"/> As a result, anything Freeze's skin comes into contact with will freeze. He can generate ice around his body, encase an entire person's body in ice simply by touching them, and cause ice to rapidly form along structures through physical contact.<ref name="Batman Eternal 31"/><ref name="Batman Annual Vol 2 1"/> The demon ] briefly grants Freeze the ability to generate absolute zero temperatures around him, though his body is soon reverted to its original sub-zero state.<ref>{{Cite comic|writer = ]|artist = ]; ] and others| Title = Underworld Unleashed| Issue = #3| Date = November 1995 – January 1996| Publisher = ]| location=New York City}}</ref> Since the chemicals he was exposed to were meant for cryo-stasis, Freeze's aging has been decelerated to the point that he is considered to be virtually immortal, and he is immune to most ]s, ], ]es, and illnesses.<ref>''Arkham Manor: Endgame'' #1. DC Comics.</ref><ref name="UGO - Freeze"/> | |||
Freeze possesses a genius-level intellect and a gifted scientific mind. He is an expert in ], ], ], ], and ], having built his own specialized ] suit and equipment to keep his body temperature below freezing, as well as a "freeze ray" gun capable of creating gusts of cold that approach absolute zero.<ref name="UGO - Freeze"/> Freeze's ] also increases his strength and durability to superhuman levels. His inventions have been described as being as technologically advanced as that of ] or ].<ref>''Detective Comics'' #849. DC Comics.</ref> | |||
===''The Batman''=== | |||
]'s'' version of Mr. Freeze]] | |||
In '']'', he is voiced by ].<ref name="The Batman - episode"/> Mr. Freeze is a simple criminal who is condemned to life in a cryogenic suit by an accident while being pursued by Batman after a ] heist. The criminal runs into a cryogenics lab and is knocked into one of the freeze chambers, electrocuting him as his body is frozen. The accident turns him into a quasi-] being that generates extreme cold around him; he is forced to wear a special suit (developed by a cryogenicist he coerces into working for him) to prevent him from freezing everything he comes in contact with. Batman has a hard time beating him, reaching the point where the criminal nearly freezes him alive. Alfred saves the day by making a winter-themed bat-suit which the Caped Crusader uses to defeat Mr. Freeze.<ref name="TB - Big Chill"/> In a later episode, Mr. Freeze teams up with ] to put Gotham in a permanent winter.<ref>{{cite episode |title=Fire and Ice |episodelink= |series= The Batman|serieslink= |credits=Seung Eun-Kim, Michael Jelenic |network=The WB |station= |airdate=2005-05-28|season=2 |number=21 |minutes= }}</ref> In "The Icy Depths", he competes against ] to claim an umbrella that is in fact a map to a sunken treasure.<ref>{{cite episode |title=The Icy Depths |episodelink= |series=The Batman |serieslink= |credits=Anthony Chun, Steven Melching |network=The CW |station= |airdate=2006-05-06 |season=3|number=38 |minutes= }}</ref> | |||
<!-- Deleted image removed: ] --> | |||
In the episode "Artifacts", set in 2027, Freeze's powers increase to the point that he wears a special mech suit. However, he loses an unhealthy amount of weight and the use of his legs, and now uses mechanical spider legs. After a near-death escape, Freeze places himself in cryogenic suspension, until someone wakes him up 1,000 years in the future in 3027. Once his suit is repaired, Mr. Freeze resumes terrorizing Gotham. Eventually, law enforcement officers use the same methods saved for the future by Batman to defeat Freeze in case of his return, while confusing him with ] projections.<ref>{{cite episode |title=Artifacts |episodelink= |series=The Batman |serieslink= |credits=Brandon Vietti, Greg Weisman |network=The CW |station= |airdate=2007-02-03 |season=4 |number=46 |minutes= }}</ref> | |||
==Reception== | |||
===Dark Horse comic books=== | |||
'']''{{'}}s list of the Top 100 Comic Book Villains of All Time List ranked Mr. Freeze as #67.<ref name="IGNT100CBVATMF67">{{cite web |url=https://www.ign.com/lists/top-100-comic-book-villains/67|title=Mr. Freeze is Number 67 |publisher=Comics.ign.com |access-date=2010-12-25}}</ref> | |||
Mr. Freeze appears in '']'' 's third comic book, ''Blood Ties''. His gang members are killed by the Predators, but he is spared since he is not visible to the Predator because of his body temperature.<ref>{{Cite comic | |||
| Writer = ] | |||
| Penciller = ] | |||
| Inker = Kubert, Andy | |||
| Story = Blood Ties | |||
| Title = Batman vs. Predator | |||
| Volume = | |||
| Issue = 3 | |||
| Date = February 1992 | |||
| Publisher = ], ] | |||
| Page = | |||
| Panel = | |||
| ID = | |||
}}</ref> | |||
==Other characters named Mr. Freeze== | |||
In ''Batman / Aliens 2'', Mr. Freeze is not actually seen, but his freeze gun is used to destroy aliens, and an alien ] from Fries' ] can be seen. ] is somewhat surprised to see Batman using Freeze's gun, and responds to it, saying, "Does Freeze know you're playing with his popsicle gun?"<ref>{{Cite comic | |||
===Robot Mr. Freeze=== | |||
| Writer = ] | |||
In '']'', Mr. Freeze appears as a robot created and controlled by Professor Thurman to pose as a villain so that Thurman could use his "Instant Freeze Icing Machine" invention to commit crimes without incriminating himself, but the plan is eventually foiled by the Blackhawks and Thurman is arrested.<ref>{{cite comic|artist=]|penciller=]|inker=]|title=]|issue=#117|publisher=]|location=New York City|date=October 1957}}</ref> | |||
| Penciller = ] | |||
| Inker = ] | |||
| Story = | |||
| Title = Batman/Aliens 2 | |||
| Volume = | |||
| Issue = 2 | |||
| Date = 2003 | |||
| Publisher = ], ] | |||
| Page = | |||
| Panel = | |||
| ID = 84-7904-703-8 | |||
}}</ref> | |||
=== |
===Earth-Two Mr. Zero=== | ||
An issue of '']'' revealed that there was a criminal on ] who also operated as Mr. Zero. While not much is known about Earth-Two's Mr. Zero, his freeze gun was among the weaponry used by ] to attack ], ], and Batman of Earth-One.<ref>''The Brave and the Bold'' #182. DC Comics.</ref> | |||
Mr. Freeze also appears in several ''Batman'' video games. He is a boss in ''Batman: The Animated Series'', ''The Adventures of Batman & Robin'' for the ] (in which Freeze was the game's final boss), the video game adaptation of the movie ''Batman & Robin'', ''Batman: Chaos in Gotham'', '']'' and '']'' (the only game to feature the comic book version of Mr. Freeze, as all other games use the animated or movie version).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gamestop.com/Catalog/ProductDetails.aspx?product_id=15788|title=Game Stop - Batman Vengeance|accessdate=2008-05-08|publisher=Game Stop}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gamestop.com/Catalog/ProductDetails.aspx?product_id=21120|title=Game Stop - Batman: Dark Tomorrow|accessdate=2008-05-08|publisher=Game Stop}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first=Matt|last=Casarnassina|url=http://cube.ign.com/articles/166/166827p1.html|title=IGN: Batman Vengeance Review|accessdate=2008-05-10|date=2001-11-19|publisher=]}}</ref> Michael Ansara reprised his role as Mr. Freeze for ''Batman Vengeance''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mobygames.com/game/batman-vengeance|title=Batman Vengeance - MobyGames|accessdate=2008-05-10|publisher=Moby Games}}</ref> He is also set to appear in the new ]. In it his design is based mainly on the animated series, and he uses his freeze gun to freeze people and water. He is also able to pick up objects others can't. | |||
== |
==Other versions== | ||
===''Flashpoint''=== | |||
] is also the name of two LIM ] at two ] parks (] and ]).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sixflags.com/stLouis/rides/MrFreeze.aspx|title=Mr. Freeze: Six Flags, St. Louis|accessdate=2008-05-10|publisher=Six Flags}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sixflags.com/overTexas/rides/MrFreeze.aspx|title=Mr. Freeze: Six Flags Over Texas|accessdate=2008-05-10|publisher=Six Flags}}</ref> | |||
An alternate timeline variant of Victor Fries / Mr. Freeze appears in '']''. This version is a friend of ] and an enemy of the eponymous ], who later kills Freeze. Additionally, Freeze's motivations revolve around seeking a cure for Fallout's radioactive powers.<ref>''Flashpoint: Citizen Cold'' #1 (June 2011). DC Comics.</ref><ref>''Flashpoint: Citizen Cold'' #2 (July 2011). DC Comics.</ref><ref>''Flashpoint: Citizen Cold'' #3 (August 2011). DC Comics.</ref> | |||
===''Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles''=== | |||
] toymaker ]'s ] features one set, 7783-The Batcave: ] and Mr. Freeze's Invasion, which includes a ] incarnation of the supervillain. This version most closely resembles Freeze's appearance in ''Batman: The Animated Series''.<ref>{{cite web|author=Dare|url=http://www.action-figure.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Reviews&file=index&req=showcontent&id=589|title=Batman - Mr. Freeze|accessdate=2008-05-18|date=2003|publisher=Action Figure}}</ref> | |||
An alternate universe variant of Victor Fries / Mr. Freeze appears in '']''. After being exposed to mutagen by the ], Freeze mutates into an anthropomorphic polar bear and joins other mutated Arkham Asylum inmates to attack Batman and ] before the inmates are defeated by ]. Sometime later, the inmates are stated to have been cured and in ] custody.<ref>''Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' #6. DC Comics/IDW.</ref> | |||
===''Batman: White Knight''=== | |||
An alternate universe variant of Victor Fries appears in '']''. This version retired from his criminal lifestyle to focus on curing his wife Nora Fries' disease. Additionally, his cryogenically mutated physiology considerably slowed his body's aging process. Years prior, Victor unnamed father and Nora's father, Jacob Smithstein, worked as cryogenic researchers in interwar Germany. Amidst the rise of the Nazis, Victor's father joined them as an SS officer and became cold and abusive towards Victor. After being conscripted to experiment on Jewish prisoners using cryotech, Victor helped the Smithsteins escape, during which Jacob was shot and made Victor promise to protect Nora. After arriving in the U.S., Victor would go on to help deliver Bruce Wayne after the latter's mother Martha went into premature labor and attempt to save ].<ref>{{Cite comic|writer = Sean Murphy|artist = Klaus Janson|colorist = Matt Hollingsworth|letterer = Andworld Design|editor = Mark Doyle|title = Batman: White Knight Presents Von Freeze|volume = 1|issue = 1|date = '''January 2020'''|publisher = DC Black Label|location = Burbank, CA}}</ref> | |||
===''Victor and Nora: A Gotham Love Story''=== | |||
An alternate universe variant of Victor Fries appears in the ] novel ''Victor and Nora: A Gotham Love Story'', written by ] and with art by Isaac Goodhart.<ref></ref> | |||
==In other media== | |||
{{main|Mr. Freeze in other media}} | |||
==See also== | |||
* ] | |||
==References== | ==References== | ||
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Latest revision as of 15:40, 28 November 2024
Supervillain in the DC Universe For other uses, see Mr. Freeze (disambiguation).Mr. Freeze is the name of two supervillains appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Dave Wood and artists Sheldon Moldoff and Bob Kane, the character initially debuted in Batman #121 (February 1959) as Mr. Zero, a mad scientist with an unknown birth name who, after a physiology-altering mishap, becomes an ice-themed criminal typically armed with freezing weapons and an adversary of the superhero Batman forced to live in sub-zero temperatures and wear a special "cryo-suit" for survival. He was later renamed "Mr. Freeze" after the version featured in the 1966 Batman television series.
In 1992, Mr. Freeze was reinvented as a tragic villain by writer Paul Dini, producer Bruce Timm, and artist Mike Mignola for Batman: The Animated Series, which portrayed Dr. Victor Fries, PhD (pronounced "freeze") as a scientist in Gotham City who suffers a lab accident while trying to cryogenically preserve his terminally ill wife, Nora. He turns to crime to fund his research in his obsessive quest to cure Nora by any means necessary, which brings him into conflict with Batman. The animated revamped depiction of Mr. Freeze received widespread acclaim and redefined the character, providing such a burst in his popularity that DC Comics retroactively integrated the origin story conceived by Dini into the mainstream comic book continuity, and adapted it for almost every incarnation of the Batman franchise since.
As one of Batman's most enduring enemies belonging to the collective of adversaries that make up his rogues gallery, Mr. Freeze has been adapted in various media incarnations. He has been portrayed in film by Arnold Schwarzenegger in Batman & Robin (1997), and in television by George Sanders, Otto Preminger, and Eli Wallach in the 1966 Batman series, and Nathan Darrow in Gotham. Michael Ansara, Clancy Brown, Maurice LaMarche, and others have provided the character's voice in animation and video games.
Creation and development
Created by Dave Wood, Sheldon Moldoff, and Bob Kane, the character made his first appearance in Batman #121 (February 1959) as "Mr. Zero", a criminal scientist whose experimental "ice gun" backfires and spills cryogenic chemicals on him, forcing him to wear a sub-zero suit for survival and transforming him into a gimmicky stock villain who commits ice-themed crimes. The name "Mr. Freeze" was first used when the character was adapted for the 1960s Batman television series, in which he was played by three different actors: George Sanders, Otto Preminger and Eli Wallach. Mr. Freeze debuted in the episode "Instant Freeze" on February 2, 1966, and his comic book counterpart was soon renamed as well in Detective Comics #373 (March 1968).
Nearly thirty years later, lead producers Paul Dini and Bruce Timm provided a complete overhaul for the character in adapting him for Batman: The Animated Series. Artist Mike Mignola redesigned Mr. Freeze for the series at Timm's request, while Michael Ansara provided the character's voice. The episode "Heart of Ice", which was written by Dini and directed by Timm, aired on September 7, 1992, and retold Mr. Freeze's origin as Dr. Victor Fries, a scientist who turns to crime to find a cure for his cryogenically frozen, terminally ill wife, Nora. This revamped depiction of Mr. Freeze as a complex and tragic villain was enthusiastically accepted by fans and provided such a burst in the popularity of the character that his comic book counterpart was resurrected in the comic after the episode aired (having previously been unceremoniously killed off by the Joker). Mr. Freeze's characterization and backstory from Batman: The Animated Series were even retconned into the mainstream comic book continuity, and have become the standard portrayal for the character in almost every incarnation of the Batman mythology and its media adaptations.
Fictional character biography
Pre-Crisis version
Comics characterMr. Freeze | |
---|---|
The Pre-Crisis version of Mr. Freeze's first appearance as "Mr. Zero" in Batman #121 (February 1959). Art by Curt Swan. | |
Publication information | |
Publisher | DC Comics |
First appearance | As Mr. Zero: Batman #121 (February 1959) As Mr. Freeze: "Instant Freeze" Batman (February 2, 1966) |
Created by | Dave Wood Sheldon Moldoff Bob Kane |
In-story information | |
Alter ego | Unknown |
Species | Metahuman |
Place of origin | Gotham City |
Notable aliases | Mr. Zero |
Abilities |
In order to create an ice gun, a scientist whose name remains unknown starts experimenting with a concentrated freezing solution. He suffers an unfortunate accident that changes his physiology, forcing him to live in environments below zero temperature. He adopts the criminal identity of Mr. Zero. To be able to go out to the normal environment, Zero creates an air conditioned costume, which helps him remain in cold temperatures, even in hot climates. Using this equipment, Zero gathers a small gang and starts a crime spree in Gotham City, stealing mainly diamonds and other precious jewels. Mr. Zero is eventually confronted by the local vigilantes, Batman and Robin. Unable to stand against his cold weapons, the Dynamic Duo fails to stop Zero. They are captured by him and brought to his secret cold hideout, near the mountains. Trapped in blocks of ice, Batman and Robin learn Zero's plan to steal a large collection of gems. Batman eventually breaks a nearby steam pipe, causing steam to fill the hideout, melting the ice away and apparently curing Zero from his ailment. After this, Batman and Robin are able to capture the whole gang and bring Zero to the authorities.
After years of inactivity, Zero's condition apparently returns. Going back to his life of crime, he changes his alias to Mr. Freeze and is forced to remain in cold temperatures once again. In this second exploit, Freeze redesigns his cryo-suit and improves his cryothermal gun. With a new gang, he starts a new series of crimes and steals valuable pieces of art. Similar to his first criminal activities, Freeze is eventually stopped by Batman and Robin.
Long after this, Freeze becomes part of a mock criminal trial.
Mr. Freeze later changes his cryo-suit with one that allows him more mobility. Freeze eventually falls in love with a woman called Hildy. In order to slow her aging process, Freeze sets out to recreate the accident that transformed him. For his experiments, Freeze uses wealthy people in Gotham as test subjects, but all the efforts result in failure. The victims turn into frozen zombies, who follow Freeze's commands. His new crimes alert the police and Batman. In the ensuing fight, Batman is only able to win when Hildy shows her true intentions and betrays Freeze, only to be encased in solid ice when her plan backfires.
Freeze's next plan consists of freezing Gotham City by removing all the heat and transporting the energy to the neighboring city of Metropolis. Freeze is unable to accomplish his goal and is stopped by Batman and Superman.
During one last attempt to freeze Gotham entirely, Mr. Freeze creates a large ice cannon. After robbing a bank, Freeze is confronted by Batman and the new Robin, who manages to defeat him with help from Vicki Vale and Julia Pennyworth, whom Freeze previously captured.
Victor Fries
Comics characterMr. Freeze | |
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The Victor Fries version of Mr. Freeze as depicted in Batman #525 (December 1995). Art by Kelley Jones (pencils) and John Beatty (inks). | |
Publication information | |
Publisher | DC Comics |
First appearance | Television: "Heart of Ice" Batman: The Animated Series (September 7, 1992) Comics: Batman: Mr. Freeze #1 (1997) |
Created by | Paul Dini Bruce Timm Mike Mignola |
In-story information | |
Alter ego | Dr. Victor Fries |
Species | Metahuman |
Place of origin | Gotham City |
Team affiliations | Injustice League Secret Society of Super Villains Legion of Doom Suicide Squad GothCorp |
Abilities |
|
Following the Crisis On Infinite Earths crossover event, the DC Universe is rebooted and Mr. Freeze's origin is retroactively revamped to match the one conceived by Paul Dini for Batman: The Animated Series. Dr. Victor Fries, Ph.D. is a brilliant expert in cryogenics in Gotham City. As a child, he was fascinated with cryonic preservation and liked to freeze animals. His parents are horrified by his "hobby" and send him to a strict reform school, where he is miserable, bullied and abandoned by his parents; as a result, he feels detached from humanity. In college, he meets Nora, the woman he ultimately marries.
Eighteen months after Bruce Wayne becomes Batman, Nora contracts a fatal disease, so Fries begins developing a freeze ray for GothCorp in order to preserve her in suspended animation until a cure can be found. Fries' boss Ferris Boyle decides to tell the Mob about the gun, leading Batman to create a team of specialists to help him do his job better. As Fries puts Nora in suspended animation, Boyle interrupts and tampers with the experiment, resulting in an explosion that kills Nora. Fries survives, but the chemicals in the freeze ray lower his body temperature to the point that he must wear a cryogenic suit in order to survive. He swears revenge on those responsible for the death of his wife (whom he talks to often) and becomes Mr. Freeze, the first superpowered villain whom Batman faces in this continuity. Eventually, Batman's operatives find Freeze, who shoots one of them with his freeze gun, but Batman eventually apprehends him.
During the "Underworld Unleashed" storyline, Mr. Freeze sold his soul to Neron in exchange for cryokinesis and temperature control where the latter ability enables him to survive in warm temperatures without use of his cryogenic suit. While planning to freeze the elderly in order to preserve them, Mr. Freeze was secretly planning to steal their assets causing his henchmen Ice and Cube to get concerned. Though Batman defeats Mr. Freeze, he ends up getting away. He would somehow revert to his pre-upgraded appearance causing him to sport a new cryogenic suit and wield a new freeze gun.
Initially locked in Arkham Asylum, Freeze was eventually transferred to the Gotham State Penitentiary, from where he escaped and attempted to steal technology from S.T.A.R. Labs until he was stopped and returned to prison by Batman.
During the "No Man's Land" storyline, Mr. Freeze sets up a base in the sewers which is stumbled upon by Gearhead and Tommy Mangles. Mr. Freeze finds them and uses his freeze gun on them after getting information about a storage room with canned food in it. He and Ratcatcher were defeated by Robin and arrested by Detective Mackenzie Bock with the Gotham City Police Department also bringing the frozen bodies of Gearhead and Tommy Mangles into their custody as well.
Freeze's crimes tend to involve freezing everyone and everything that he encounters so he forgoes alliances with the other criminals in Gotham, preferring to work alone. On rare occasions, he has worked with another member of Batman's rogues' gallery, usually, as an enforcer for Gotham's mob bosses, such as the Penguin during his reign or Black Mask during the return of Jason Todd.
In one of his notable team-ups, Freeze constructs a cryogenic machine for Hush so that Hush might take revenge on Batman, Freeze's equipment allowing Hush to preserve Catwoman's surgically removed heart to use as a means of threatening her life.
During the "Infinite Crisis", Mr. Freeze appears as a member of Alexander Luthor Jr.'s Secret Society of Super Villains.
After Batman's death, most of the Arkham inmates were freed by a new Black Mask. Freeze was among them and he started working on a project called Ice-X Protocol when the GCPD tried to capture him. He stunned them with his gun and captured Gordon, taking him to his secret lair. Gordon managed to break free and defeat Freeze by causing an explosion that weakened Freeze. After his capture, Freeze was taken to Iron Heights Prison.
During the "Salvation Run" storyline, Mr. Freeze is among the villains that are sent to another planet by a Boom Tube by the Suicide Squad.
Mr. Freeze later fashions a sub-zero machine for Nyssa al Ghul in exchange for the use of her Lazarus Pit. He attempts to restore Nora to life without waiting for the adjusting needed in the pool chemicals; she returns to life as the twisted Lazara and escapes. She blames her husband for her plight, and she estranges herself from him.
The New 52
In September 2011, The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline, during the Night of the Owls crossover, the Court of Owls sends assassins known as Talons to kill 40 of the most important citizens of Gotham, including Mr. Freeze. The Red Hood, Starfire and Arsenal choose to save him, and subsequently remand him into Batgirl's custody. Batman Annual (vol. 2) #1 introduces a new origin for Mr. Freeze. Here, Victor Fries' fascination with cryonics began when he was a boy and his mother fell through the ice of a frozen lake. The ice was able to keep her preserved long enough for help to arrive, thus sparking his lifelong obsession with cold. It is later revealed that the accident left Fries' mother in constant pain, and Fries ended her suffering by pushing her into the same frozen lake. In this new origin, Nora was never Fries' wife. Her name was Nora Fields, a woman born in 1934. When Nora was 23, she was diagnosed with an incurable heart disease, so her family placed her in cryogenic stasis hoping that a cure would be found in the future. Fries, having written his doctoral thesis on Nora, took on a position as a cryogenic researcher and technician at Wayne Enterprises, the facility that housed Nora's body. Eventually, he fell in love with Nora and became dedicated to finding a reliable method for slowly thawing cryogenic subjects. However, Bruce Wayne ordered the project to be shut down, as he began to feel uncomfortable with Fries' obsession with Nora. Furious, Fries hurled a chair at Wayne, who dodged the attack; the chair smashed into an array of cryonic chemical tanks, the contents of which sprayed onto Fries and transformed him into Mr. Freeze.
The Court of Owls uses Freeze's cryogenic-thaw formula to revive their Talons, and then they try to kill him. Freeze survives but is captured by the Red Hood and sent to Arkham Asylum. He escapes shortly afterward and rearms himself with the Penguin's help. Freeze decides to kill Bruce Wayne and takes Nora, whom he believes to be his wife so that they can leave Gotham City behind forever. Infiltrating Wayne Enterprises, Freeze has a brief fight with Nightwing and Robin, but he subdues them. Then, Freeze goes to the penthouse, where he finds Batman and the frozen Nora. Batman defeats Mr. Freeze by injecting his suit with the thawing formula, which he had intended to use to revive Nora from suspended animation.
During the "Forever Evil" storyline, Mr. Freeze appears as a member of the Secret Society of Super Villains at the time when the Crime Syndicate arrived from their world. The Scarecrow later visits Mr. Freeze to let him know of the war going on at Blackgate Penitentiary. The Man-Bats are able to bring the remaining Talons to Mr. Freeze after the Man-Bat and the Scarecrow steal them from Blackgate. Mr. Freeze and Clayface later encounter the Rogues when they land in their territory. Mr. Freeze tells the Mirror Master III he is not interested in capitalizing on the bounty on their heads, only to use the Weather Wizard to create optimal conditions for him to freeze Gotham. As the Rogues are fighting the two, Black Mask (alongside his False Face society) arrives to capture the Rogues to receive the bounty.
DC Rebirth
In the Watchmen sequel Doomsday Clock, Mr. Freeze is among the villains that attend the underground meeting held by the Riddler that talks about the Superman Theory. When Comedian crashes the meeting, Mr. Freeze's helmet is punctured by a bullet shot by an unseen combatant. In the "Ends of the Earth" story arc of All-Star Batman, Freeze has awoken many people that have been held in cryogenic stasis — using them as an army to steal resources for his research to cure his wife Nora, himself, and all of these people — and plans to release deadly bacteria held in one of the world's oldest ice cores to make a new world, but Batman has injected himself with a cold-resistant virus that becomes airborne when his skin is exposed and is able to kill the spores.
During the "Dark Nights: Metal" storyline, Mr. Freeze was given a special playing card by The Batman Who Laughs which enables him to perform cryokinesis. Mr. Freeze and his frost monsters fought different superheroes who moved through his domain. Robin is the one who defeated Mr. Freeze and he regressed back to normal when the threat of the Dark Multiverse was sent back to its own dimension.
Mr. Freeze was suspected of murdering three women and was put on trial. Due to Batman's later investigation, he found that Mr. Freeze didn't commit the crime and he was found not guilty by the jury.
Several years later due to the events in "Year of the Villain", Lex Luthor's Apex Lex form gives Mr. Freeze a vial that would cure and furthermore revive his frozen wife. Freeze had to kidnap several women who matched his late wife's characteristics in both mental and physical states, going as far as modifying their DNA to hers in order to experiment with the vial before reviving his wife. In the end, it worked and his wife came back to life cured. She soon took up the name "Mrs. Freeze". After Mrs. Freeze betrayed him, Mr. Freeze turned to Batman for help. During the fight, Mrs. Freeze used a syringe on Mr. Freeze which started to heat him up while also eradicating the special nanites that kept him cold without the assistance of his cryogenic suit. Batman had to put Mr. Freeze in the same cryogenic state that Nora was in while Mrs. Freeze fled to the northern parts of Canada.
Mr. Freeze was later seen as an inmate at Arkham Tower.
Powers and abilities
Like most Batman villains, Mr. Freeze's crimes are often centered around a specific theme; in his case, ice, cold and snow. The lab accident that bathed him in chemical coolants radically altered his biology and lowered his body temperature to 23 degrees Fahrenheit, transforming him into a metahuman who is impervious to sub-freezing temperatures and incapable of surviving outside of them. As a result, anything Freeze's skin comes into contact with will freeze. He can generate ice around his body, encase an entire person's body in ice simply by touching them, and cause ice to rapidly form along structures through physical contact. The demon Neron briefly grants Freeze the ability to generate absolute zero temperatures around him, though his body is soon reverted to its original sub-zero state. Since the chemicals he was exposed to were meant for cryo-stasis, Freeze's aging has been decelerated to the point that he is considered to be virtually immortal, and he is immune to most toxins, bacteria, viruses, and illnesses.
Freeze possesses a genius-level intellect and a gifted scientific mind. He is an expert in physics, chemistry, neurobiology, medicine, and mechanical engineering, having built his own specialized cryogenic suit and equipment to keep his body temperature below freezing, as well as a "freeze ray" gun capable of creating gusts of cold that approach absolute zero. Freeze's armored suit also increases his strength and durability to superhuman levels. His inventions have been described as being as technologically advanced as that of Apokolips or Lex Luthor.
Reception
IGN's list of the Top 100 Comic Book Villains of All Time List ranked Mr. Freeze as #67.
Other characters named Mr. Freeze
Robot Mr. Freeze
In Blackhawk, Mr. Freeze appears as a robot created and controlled by Professor Thurman to pose as a villain so that Thurman could use his "Instant Freeze Icing Machine" invention to commit crimes without incriminating himself, but the plan is eventually foiled by the Blackhawks and Thurman is arrested.
Earth-Two Mr. Zero
An issue of The Brave and the Bold revealed that there was a criminal on Earth-Two who also operated as Mr. Zero. While not much is known about Earth-Two's Mr. Zero, his freeze gun was among the weaponry used by Earth-Two's Hugo Strange to attack Robin, Batwoman, and Batman of Earth-One.
Other versions
Flashpoint
An alternate timeline variant of Victor Fries / Mr. Freeze appears in Flashpoint: Citizen Cold. This version is a friend of Fallout and an enemy of the eponymous Citizen Cold, who later kills Freeze. Additionally, Freeze's motivations revolve around seeking a cure for Fallout's radioactive powers.
Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
An alternate universe variant of Victor Fries / Mr. Freeze appears in Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. After being exposed to mutagen by the Shredder, Freeze mutates into an anthropomorphic polar bear and joins other mutated Arkham Asylum inmates to attack Batman and Robin before the inmates are defeated by Splinter. Sometime later, the inmates are stated to have been cured and in A.R.G.U.S. custody.
Batman: White Knight
An alternate universe variant of Victor Fries appears in Batman: White Knight. This version retired from his criminal lifestyle to focus on curing his wife Nora Fries' disease. Additionally, his cryogenically mutated physiology considerably slowed his body's aging process. Years prior, Victor unnamed father and Nora's father, Jacob Smithstein, worked as cryogenic researchers in interwar Germany. Amidst the rise of the Nazis, Victor's father joined them as an SS officer and became cold and abusive towards Victor. After being conscripted to experiment on Jewish prisoners using cryotech, Victor helped the Smithsteins escape, during which Jacob was shot and made Victor promise to protect Nora. After arriving in the U.S., Victor would go on to help deliver Bruce Wayne after the latter's mother Martha went into premature labor and attempt to save Alfred Pennyworth.
Victor and Nora: A Gotham Love Story
An alternate universe variant of Victor Fries appears in the DC Graphic Novels for Young Adults novel Victor and Nora: A Gotham Love Story, written by Lauren Myracle and with art by Isaac Goodhart.
In other media
Main article: Mr. Freeze in other mediaSee also
References
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- Rovin, Jeff (1987). The Encyclopedia of Supervillains. New York: Facts on File. p. 225. ISBN 0-8160-1356-X.
- ^ Batman #121 (February 1959). DC Comics.
- "Batmania UK: 1966 Batman: Villains: Mr. Freeze". Bat-Mania. Retrieved 2008-05-09.
- "Batmania UK: 1966 Batman: Villains: Mr. Freeze 2". Bat-Mania. Retrieved 2008-05-09.
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- "Heart of Ice". Toon Zone. Archived from the original on 2008-04-28. Retrieved 2008-05-09.
Mr. Freeze targets the industrialist responsible for his wife's death.
- Dixon, Chuck (w), Kitson, Barry (p), Smith, Bob (i), Roy, Adrienne (col), Costanza, John (let), Peterson, Scott (comics) (ed). "Cold Cases" Detective Comics, vol. 1, no. 670 (January 1994). New York City: DC Comics.
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- "Mister Freeze". DC.com. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
- ^ Batman Eternal #31
- ^ Batman Annual (vol. 2) #1
- "Heart of Ice interview "The Role of Mr. Freeze In The Animated Universe" page 2 – Finding a Voice". worldsfinestonline.com. Retrieved 2008-02-08.
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