Since his inception in 1939, The Batman has taken pride in himself by abiding to one strick rule; “Justice, not vengeance”, and he has fought tooth and nail, others, and his inner demons to make sure no one around him (and even himself) crosses that line because, according to the caped crusader, there’s no coming back once you cross the line of murdering criminals.
Granted, Batman can take you dangerously close to death. He can rip off an arm and a leg, or break a few bones in your body to make you rethink the path you have chosen, but killing is something he doesn’t do. That is one of the reasons The Joker seems so fascinated by Batman. The fact that he chooses not to kill when that is the surest and easiest way to put a criminal down for good baffles him. Little wonder why he has made it his life’s mission to get Batman to kill someone – even himself.
However, after following his code in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Trilogy, fans were introduced to the murderous Batman in Zack Snyder’s and David S. Goyer’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. And it doesn’t look good for future films of the world’s greatest detective in the DCEU.
To start with, there’s the killing spree The Batman went on. Almost every criminal he came in contact with in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice were killed by him, save for the first criminal he branded at the beginning, Superman, and Lex Luthor. As clearly shown, The Joker had already killed Robin (probably Jason Todd) and even in the comics and animations, Batman still didn’t kill nor did he seek revenge after he found out Jason was killed… So what made both Zack Snyder and David S. Goyer decide that a murderous Batman was the way to announce his introduction to the DCEU?
That just means that in future films, it wouldn’t take anything for Batman to kill anyone and anything. Is that really the Justice Bob Kane had in mind when he created the character?
Secondly, The Zack Snyder’s version of The Batman doesn’t think things through, neither is he – and this is putting it mildly – intelligent enough to be the actual Batman we have all come to know and love. The Batman isn’t one to just pick a fight with anybody, neither is he one that doesn’t know how to discern a good person from a bad person. Like in the case of BvS, his trusted butler, Alfred, told him that Superman isn’t the enemy, to which Bruce Wayne responded saying “if there is even a 1% chance that he is our enemy, we have to take that with utmost certainty”
It’s normal for one to freak out when you are seeing someone with god-like powers for the first time, but not Batman. In BvS, The Dark Knight chose to pick a fight with Superman without any tangible reason, and worse of, he did so without knowing any single thing about Superman.
He didn’t know Superman’s real name, parent’s name, what he did for a living, hometown, his lover’s name, and every other detail the world’s greatest detective IS meant to know before taking on a character… Which if we are being honest, is very, very, very, unbatman-like.
Plus, the fact that Lex Luthor knew all those things when Batman didn’t only makes it stranger.
The normal Batman we know would have found out everything about Superman from the moment he first came to earth, and would be able to discern whether Superman is a friend or foe. Which is why Batman stopping when he heard Superman say “Martha” is still a scene that irritates any DC/Batman lover anywhere.
I’m looking forward to seeing what happens between Batman and Deathstroke in his first solo movie in the DCEU. Based on what we have seen, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he kills Deathstroke. However, if he doesn’t kill the mercenary, it will feel more like DC’s Arrow than anything else.
Still, I can’t wait to watch Ben Affleck in a full solo Batman movie, because he really pulled off an amazing performance in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
What do you think about the new portrayal of Batman in the DCEU? Let us know in the comment section below.
Batman will ride his way into theatres when Justice League comes out in November.