The villain of Final Crisis, Libra, is actually Thomas Wayne, Batman's father, who never really died in that alley in Gotham.

Batman - "In his first major tease, Morrison said, "Batman isn't coming back from it. Batman, as we know him, is not coming back from it."

I dunno. I still feel like this whole "Batman is going to die" thing is a set-up. I think that either DC leaked the info themselves, or it was a rumor that was based off of half-truths, and now DC has decided to run with it. I think they'll definitely be something huge about Batman in Final Crisis, but I doubt he's going to die.

I wouldn't necessarily be opposed though.

Correct. Batman will be coming back as something different from what we currently know him as.

This doesn't mean death. The Thomas Wayne idea is actually intriguing, but I can't picture it.

Intriguing's not the word I'd use.

This is supposed to be a big part of what leads into the Batman R.I.P. storyline.