Please Bring Back the Real Batman

Maybe it was because it was 2021, and nothing remotely interesting was released in theaters that year, but, for whatever reason, Zack Snyder's Justice League was one of the few things I was actively looking forward to during that timeframe. While Zack Snyder's JL wasn't disappointing per se, there was one thing that stood out like a sore thumb to me.

Batman.

Now ironically, Batman's interpretation in Zack Snyder's JL was head and shoulders above the chubby version we got in Joss Whedon's theatrical release since most of the movie was worked from the ground up through reshoots, but I couldn't help but feel that there was just something a little...off about this portrayal of Batman.

The thing that felt missing to me was that the ninja skills of Batman were completely missing. This is obvious in the scene where the league is heading down into the sewers to investigate an alien threat.

Instead of having Batman act as a scout by sneaking ahead, assessing the situation, and covertly taking out sentries, he's instead nonchalantly leading the group of superheroes slowly down into the sewers without any hint of his ninja skills. But just imagine how cool that scene could have been if Batman had been prowling around in the dark, taking out enemies one by one without anybody noticing. Cool, right?

Some critics weren't happy with the idea of Batman becoming the de facto leader of the JL, but I could have gotten on board with the idea of Batman being the head honcho had they not conveniently forgotten who Batman is and what his unique skill set brings to the team.

To sum it up nicely, when asked about his superpowers, Bruce Wayne simply responds, "I'm rich." In Zack Snyder's JL, that really is his only superpower.

What's sad about this is that for whatever reason, Snyder's portrayal in Batman v Superman did a much better job of portraying the character of the Caped Crusader. Not that this portrayal of Batman was perfect by any means, but you at least get the idea that Batman is just as competent at prowling around as he is punching bad guys to a pulp. He's so scary in Batman v Superman that even the people he rescues are terrified of him, as shown in the scene where Batman is first introduced.

But as I previously mentioned, any hint of this idea of Batman was thrown into the wastebasket to make Batman a more approachable character, which in reality was very much a disservice to the character.

But before I put all the blame on Zack Snyder's shoulders, let's not forget that the man, the legend, Christopher Nolan himself, fell privy to this same trap of losing sight of the Caped Crusader's unique skills.

The man, the myth, the legend

Batman Begins still ranks as possibly my favorite film of all time, primarily due to the tight and focused storytelling, but also because it took the history and skills of the titular character seriously. The screenplay made a point to emphasize that not only was Bruce Wayne going to take the fight to Gotham's criminal underworld, but it explained how he was going to do it. His fight with criminal gangs wasn't going to be an outright battle but a cold war of investigation, stealth, and fear as he worked to build up the legend of Batman.

But by the time The Dark Knight came along, Christopher Nolan's Batman had seemingly lost all of his ninja skills and had no appetite for sneaking around in the shadows. Gone were Batman's use of stealth and fear. Now the Caped Crusader was more than willing to conduct his business out in the open and in lighted places. Aside from a few instances, we rarely get a hint that this is the prodigy trained by the League of Shadows so eloquently shown in Begins.

In Batman Begins, did Batman brawl with thugs? Sure. But the moments leading up to the action set pieces were filled with dread, anxiety, and fear as Bruce Wayne used mind games and the environment to mess with his opponent's heads before engaging them head-on.

For as great as a movie that The Dark Knight is, the loss of Batman's identity as a stealthy operative who uses fear as an offensive tactic is always a point off in my book.

And by the time The Dark Knight Rises came along, Christopher Nolan's Batman universe had transformed into a pseudo war film. Batman becomes an outright war hero in this interpretation as he leads an army of cops against Bane's henchman in a heated battle in the dead of day.

While I love and appreciate each of these films to varying degrees, every time I view them, I can't avoid the voice in the back of my head telling me that there's something off with each of these representations of Batman aside from his portrayal in Begins.

And don't even get me started on the Tim Burton films. While I enjoyed the Burton and Schumacher films when I was a kid to some extent, as I got older, my enjoyment turned to distaste at the utter disaster Batman portrayal in those movies.

The Batman

This brings us to the yet to be released, The Batman, directed by Matt Reeves. While it's taken me a while to warm up to the idea of Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne–much as I did to the casting of Ben Affleck–the first teaser for the film blew me away with the dark and moody vibe it's presenting.

But with the new trailers that have been released, I've begun to question the same thing I've questioned about all the other Batman films. Will The Batman show our hero as a ninja or an out-and-out brawler in this new interpretation?

I do not doubt Reeve's will deliver a solid and entertaining action film, but will it portray a Batman who uses his mind and stealth over brute force?

One scene that worries me is where we see Batman emerging from the darkness as thugs blast him with fully automatic weapons, but because of his armored suit, he's untouched and promptly takes the bad guys out. While I'm not opposed to the idea of body armor for Batman, much as it was used in the Nolan trilogy and Batman v Superman, turning Batman into an armored tank of a character seems to defeat the purpose of who Batman is and what he's capable of. If Batman can just stroll into any dangerous situation, unafraid of a hailstorm of bullets, not only does it stretch plausibility, but it also makes his character far less interesting.

Conclusion

I guess what I'm getting at is that I want Batman to be really, really good, but Batman needs to be different from other heroes to make that happen. He needs to use his wit, intelligence, and ninja skills to get the job done. Unfortunately, it seems easy for filmmakers to lose sight of what makes Batman great, and without that focus, it's easy for Batman stories to go off the rails. Here's hoping that The Batman will turn out to be a terrific Caped Crusader film, but in my book, I doubt that any Batman movie will ever top Batman Begins for me.