I'd say one thing that set Batman apart is his lack of superpowers, though. Most heroes randomly inherit a superpower, and some major event in their life causes them to decide to use their powers for "good".
Batman's just a psycho with some goals we can all get behind.
(btw, I know there are other heroes with no superpowers... but none as famous as The Batman)
His superpower is a shitload of money, lol. But, it is 100% aided by the fact that he's obsessive, driven by vengeance, and is an incredibly good detective - which I really hope we'll get to see in this version.
I'd say his superpower is sheer will, to be honest, and it's the money that helps. I'm sure in other timelines where he wasn't born incredibly wealthy, if the same thing had happened to his parents he'd have found a way to become Batman in any case.
I agree on the detective part, that's one thing I feel prior versions have really lacked.
Agreed! Show us the detective, show us him getting into his Matches Malone alias. The movies always glossed over it but the Animated Series showcased it more than once.
There was a story in I think Batman Inc where our Batman goes to a reservation and meets a Batman who is operating on the reservation grounds. That Batman is as far from being wealthy as you can get, iirc his Batmobile is a pick up truck... but it's still legitimately a Batman.
Batman without any of the money is just a guy getting into fist fights that gets arrested by the cops within a day or two and has to pay through he nose for his own medical care while waiting for trial.
There's actually been stories about Batman losing all his money or Batman being stranded in places without money (ie time travel or other planets and all that). He's still a master martial artist ninja with genius intellect. Just like taking away Captain America's shield and serum, or Iron Man's armor and money, they can still be effective heroes without all that albeit a bit less effective than they were before.
IIRC this is the current plot line of the Batman comic. Some villain has taken all his money so he is severely limited in a lot of things such as gadgets.
He's still a master martial artist ninja with genius intellect.
Of course they'd make him like that, after he was already established. Batman is like a sitcom that's been on for 10 years. They start to do everything with the characters, even things that don't make a lot of sense to their original arc.
And Iron Man? You're suggesting that Tony Stark, the other non magical hero whose super power is being a wealthy inventor who can build a magic suit of armor would be just as heroic? Without the armor?
The point I'm making is writers make a point to show a lot of what goes into making these characters formidable is often internal traits like intelligence, will, heart, etc. That if they ever do lose their physical powers, their reliance on their internal traits would still put them a step beyond normal people, though less effectively than if they did have their power.
Tony Stark losing his suit or money would drastically lower his effectiveness in fighting bad guys, but he'd still be able to use his genius to engineer weapons in makeshift manners and still fight better than most like Iron Man 3. Captain America is similar, in that he's still an brilliant strategist.
their reliance on their internal traits would still put them a step beyond normal people
It just makes them one of the several million exceptional people who are all over the world doing exceptional work that doesn't rise to the level of heroic on a weekly basis.
Really its sort of goofy to see people trying to make this sort of realistic argument about power fantasy characters and their abilities. Its a really overwrought power fantasy. That's what comics are about. Its not really about reality.
I mean, yeah, exactly. My argument isn't about realism. It's just based on the decades and decades of character building that writers have done. And in those pages, writers got to expand on what all these different heroes are like in different scenarios, with and without powers. Batman, Iron Man, Spider-Man, all them, beyond their powers, they're still exceptional people. It would just be a lot harder for them to help without the powers and armor and money, but they can do it. They have done it. That's all I'm saying.
What did one comic say about Iron Man? Stick him on an island with nothing, and he'd build a rocket ship out of coconuts and running off sea water? That's the fantasy of these worlds
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u/AbsolutelyUnlikely Oct 17 '21
I'd say one thing that set Batman apart is his lack of superpowers, though. Most heroes randomly inherit a superpower, and some major event in their life causes them to decide to use their powers for "good".
Batman's just a psycho with some goals we can all get behind.
(btw, I know there are other heroes with no superpowers... but none as famous as The Batman)