Even withJames Gunn’s newSupermancurrently rebooting the Man of Steel’s global popularity, it’s still hard to imagine aDC Comicscharacter more instantly iconic thanBatman. Sincethe character’s inception in the late 1930s, The Dark Knight has steadily secureda formative place in American pop culture. From TV shows as whimsical asAdam West’sBatmanto movies as gritty asRobert Pattinson’s recent turn in the cowl, DC’s caped crusader has inspired fansacross multiple generations and mediums, saving his home city of Gotham from an equally iconic rogues' gallery countless times in the process.
In contrast to the colorful costumes and enthusiastic attitudes ofmany fellow DC mainstays, Batman rides a much finer, darker line when it comes to dispensing punishment to criminals. InFrank Miller’sThe Dark Knight Returns, the character even goes so far asto claim all superheroes are criminals in their own way, and Batman is notorious for regularly beating criminals half to death, plotting against his friends, and immersing himself in the depravities of criminality in order to defeat his enemies. As a result, it isn’t hard to imaginea version of Batmanthat loses sight of his mission. In fact, if anything,Gotham should count its blessings that Batman doesn’t decide to turn against his city, because there is nothing more terrifying in the DC Universe than the idea of Batman deciding to become a villain.
Batman Could Have Easily Chosen To Destroy Gotham in the DC Universe
What’s so unsettling about the prospect of a battle between Batman and Gotham City is how one-sided the conflict would ultimately be. Aside from how easy it would be for Bruce Wayne to funnel his seemingly infinite resources, gadgets, and technology into an effort to dominate Gotham rather than protect it, Batman has already provenhe can easily dispatch the Gotham Police Department.In iconic Batman storieslikeBatman: Year One,The Dark Knight Returns, and, most notably,The Dark Knight, Batman is able to take out entire SWAT teams and special units with minimal prep time, and that’s not counting all the other times the character has evaded capture in other seriesand video game adaptations. Moreover, Batman’s intelligence makes him a uniquely lethal opponent, with the plot of movies likeJustice League: Doomdemonstrating how Gotham’s Dark Knighthas the capacity to incapacitate the entire Justice Leagueif he truly decides to activate his brutal contingency plans.
Supposing Batman aimed this great intellect at Gotham, the city would have no chance, and that’s just based on the Batman with which most fans are familiar. Throughout the character’s history, there have been multiple Batman variants that illustratejust how much of a menace the superhero could be. In recent days,The Batman Who Laughs has been the best exampleof Bruce Wayne’s horrific potential, a Batman-Joker hybrid who not only threatens Gotham, but the entirety of his world. The variant most fans are probably more accustomed to seeing, however, isOwlman, Batman’s interdimensional oppositeand disturbed doppelgänger. Aside from helping his world’s Crime Syndicate enforce their will over the entire world in an inverted depiction of the Justice League, Owlman also uses his gadgets and intelligence to maintain control over Gotham, providing the clearest look at howa Batman without morality would terrorize his coveted city.
Can The Dark Knight Take a Punch? Every Cinematic Batman, Ranked by How Tough They Are
“Do you bleed?”
Batman Has All the Makings of DC’s Deadliest Supervillain
The Dark Knight is also uniquely susceptible to his darkest impulses. Like most heroes, the character’s backstory is dark enough to produce a hero or a villain, andGotham City certainly doesn’t have a history of appreciating Batman’s efforts. Theending ofThe Dark Knightprovides the clearest example of just how ready the city is to turn on its hero the moment Gotham feels threatened, but a long history of corrupt police commissioners, hostile mayors, and anti-vigilante task forces also proves the city’s government is typically far from thankful for its caped crusader. Combined withBatman’s lack of superpowers, it’s easy to believe Batman’s frustrations wouldlead to him blowing off some steam on Gotham’s finest. Yet, as Batman (Christian Bale) says to Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) at the end ofBatman Begins, he never expects that anyone should have to thank him for regularly risking his life.
While Batman’s precise characterization differs according to the writerattached to each adaptation, the common element of The Dark Knight’s personality is his selfless stoicism. Whether out of a desire to preserve his parents' memory or a pathological fear of becoming just like their killer,Batman refuses to cross his moral line. Despite his solemn appearance, the Caped Crusader chooses empathy over his own cynicism, with some of the character’s best moments showcasing his surprising kindness, such aswhenKevin Conroy’s Batmancomforts Ace (Hynden Welch) in her final moments inJustice League Unlimited. At the end of the day, the reason the real Batman would never target Gotham is alsoa reminder of why so many people love the character, with The Dark Knight ultimately representing the human desire to do good despite all the darkness in a nightmarish world.
The Dark Knight
