Overview
Originally called Mr. ZERO, he was renamed and popularized by the 1960s Batman television series, in which he was played by several actors.
Nearly 30 years later, a television adaptation of Batman revitalized him once again. Batman: The Animated Series retold Mr. Freeze's origin in a landmark episode by writer Paul Dini, introducing his terminally ill, cryogenically frozen wife Nora, which greater explained his obsession with ice and need to build a criminal empire to raise research funds. As a result, this more complex and tragic antiheroic character 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 Joker. Freeze was resurrected in the comic after the episode aired.
The episode was seen as groundbreaking for a Saturday morning cartoon and helped set the tone for the complex moral motivations seen constantly in the rest of the series. This backstory was also made canon in the comics and has been Fries' official origin in almost every incarnation of Batman since.
Elements of this back story were incorporated into the 1997 film Batman & Robin, in which he was portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Read more about this topic: Mr. Freeze