DC’s live adaptations are notorious in comic book circles for being subpar compared to Marvel’s movies.
The worst of DC’s offenses is their portrayal of their most popular character: Batman.
The character has been dragged through rough concrete in these adaptations and has been stripped entirely of his core. Unfortunately, these versions of Batman have shaped public opinion into one very far off from the actual character.
Batman Begins (2005) officially put Batman — played by Christian Bale– on the map for non-comics fans.
While the film introduced a fresh origin story for Bruce Wayne, it largely served as a medium to push Christopher Nolan’s political beliefs.
In the movie, the main antagonist is Ra’s Al Ghul – a traditionally Middle Eastern character – is played by a white actor and given motivations that closely mirrored those of Al Qaeda. Bruce Wayne, the billionaire hero, seeks to stop this terrorist attack.
The plot and main antagonist of the movie made it clear that it was a post-9/11 fantasy with White saviors and pro-wealthy themes.
If Nolan’s Batman was flawed, Zack Snyder’s Batman movie was absolute garbage with no redeeming quality.
Batman v Superman portrays Batman as a cynical, murderous vigilante who brands criminals and kills without remorse, completely contradicting everything Batman stands for.
In the comics, Batman’s most defining trait is his belief in rehabilitation and his no-kill rule. In fact, he is estranged from his second son (Jason Todd) in the comics because he refuses to kill the Joker.
Synder ignores this and turns Batman into a hollow figure whose only purpose is to fight Superman.
Furthermore, Batman’s rationale for killing Superman in the movie is exactly that of Lex Luthor, who is Superman’s actual nemesis in the comics. It appears that Snyder only included Batman for marketing rather than storytelling.
His Batman wasn’t just a misfire – it was a complete betrayal to the character.
This drought of good live-action movies might, however, be coming to an end.
In 2022, Warner Bros. released The Batman starring Robert Pattinson, directed by Matt Reeves. From the surface, it looked like every other Batman remake: dark, gritty, and mysterious. However, Pattinson portrayed a Bruce Wayne who is only about two years into his vigilante career.
This Bruce Wayne is young, severely depressed, and isolated from society. Two years into the gig, he has created a facade for himself in the criminal world, that of a vengeance-seeking shadow.
Very typical, so far.
However, throughout the movie, Wayne slowly sheds this version of himself as he comes to understand the core of Batman and that his purpose in Gotham should be to spread hope, not fear.
That is what Nolan and Snyder failed to understand; that is why their versions of “Batman” are not truly the Batman.
It is unlikely that the Reeves movie and its anticipated sequel will fix the misinterpretation of Batman in modern media. But The Batman is a good step in the right direction.
Hopefully, this movie symbolizes a shift from the era of grim, dark bastardizations of the character to a real representation and storytelling in future adaptations.
