Max Eckhardt

Lt. Eckhardt
General Information
Real name:	Max Eckhardt (First name possibly Maxwell or Maximilian)
Aliases:	Lt. Max Eckhardt
Alignment:	Bad
Affiliation:	Carl Grissom
Portrayed by:	William Hootkins
Appearances:	Batman

"You mean when you run the show? You ain't got no future, Jack! You're an A-1 nut boy, and Grissom knows it."

―Max Eckhardt to Jack Napier

Max Eckhardt was a Lieutenant of the GCPD during the time period that Batman made his presence known in Gotham City.

History

Eckhardt was one of the many corrupt officers on the payroll of crime lord Carl Grissom. Although Eckhardt never directly came face to face with Batman, he discarded all claims about the mysterious vigilante, and even belittled reporter Alexander Knox for his belief in him.

Moments afterward, Eckhardt met with Jack Napier, one of Grissom's enforcers, to accept a bribe. Napier informed Eckhardt that newly-elected District Attorney, Harvey Dent, was nosing around one of Grissom's front companies, but Eckhardt brooded that he was in charge of looking after Grissom's illegal front companies and will deal with the problems. Napier reminded him that his problems are also the problems of the team he works with. In response, Eckhardt reminds Napier that he follows only Grissom's orders. Napier then hinted Eckhardt of his plan to overthrow Grissom, but Eckhardt merely scoffed at him, and told him that he had no future while inferring Napier's mental instability is the reason why Grissom wouldn't let him run the mob. A brief struggle ensued, and Eckhardt only decided not to shoot Napier when his right hand man Bob, quickdrawed a gun over Napier's shoulder.

Eckhardt shot to death by Napier at Axis Chemicals.

Eckhardt later received a call from Grissom, who informed him that he set up a trap for Napier and his men at Axis Chemicals (Napier had an affair with Grissom's mistress, Alicia Hunt, something that Eckhardt himself apparently informed Grissom about, or at the very least confirmed Grissom's suspicions, and Grissom wanted revenge), and requested that Eckhardt ambush and kill Napier with a squadron of police officers. A gunfight erupted at Axis Chemicals between the police and the mobsters, during which Commissioner Gordon arrived, took control, and ordered the police to apprehend Napier alive. Eckhardt then distanced himself from the raid, and eventually stood by as Bob held Gordon up in order to force Batman to release Napier. After Batman seemingly escaped, Eckhardt then attempted to sneak away, but was shot in the chest and killed by a vengeful Napier (also making reference to Eckhardt's earlier remark by sarcastically suggesting to him that he think about his future just before shooting him), who fell into a vat of chemicals moments afterwards during a fight with Batman, and started his transformation into the Joker.

Abilities

• Skilled Detective: Owing to his being one of the Police, Max Eckhardt was skilled at deductive reasoning and investigations, as it was implied in the film (and confirmed in the novelization) that he had quickly deduced that Jack Napier was seeing Alicia Hunt behind Carl Grissom's back.

Appearances

• Batman
  • Batman (novelization)
  • Batman (comic adaptation)

Behind the Scenes

When Eckhardt said: "Where have you been spending your nights?", it’s likely a hint that he found out about the affair that Jack had with Alicia, and therefore told Grissom; this was confirmed in the novelization.

Possible Inspirations

Although that was not been directly confirmed by the film's Screenwriters, it was widely believed that Max Eckhardt was inspired by the comic characters Detective Harvey Bullock and Detective Arnold Flass, both of whom were, at least at one point, were corrupt policemen on crime's payroll, and were partners of Commissioner Gordon. Also, Eckhardt's physical structure and attitude: overweight, unshaven, and gruff, were also characteristics of Bullock.

Gallery

Screen Captures

Promotional Images

Production Photos

Trading Cards

The Last of Eckhardt

Sawyer/Lehmann slides