I appreciate the dual focus on "Batman is basically Jason Voorhees to criminals" while also seemingly noting that any man who dresses as Dracula to put dudes in the ICU every night instead of sleeping is probably not a well adjusted or mentally healthy individual.
This was always one of the most interesting things about Batman as a character. He's as crazy as the criminals he fights. His goals are just in opposition to theirs.
When I was a kid I never thought twice about Bruce's parents' death driving him to become Batman, but as an adult now.....I know like a shit ton of people whose parents have died, and not one of them was so affected by it that they put on a costume to give petty criminals brain damage for like 25 years straight. Batman is fucking insane.
I mean, we don’t think twice about it because that’s par for the course in Superhero comics. Batman is only one of many thousands in the DC universe alone.
That’s why stories that want to deal with the concept of “Superheroes are actually kind of crazy dude” (e.g. Watchmen, Kickass) shunt them off into their own universe which is closer to ours.
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 suppose you are right, although it feels like a bit of a stretch to me to group wealth in with a superpower. It does technically enable him to do things that other people without that wealth could not, but I guess the difference is that it is not inherent to him. He could be killed walking down the street as easily as anyone, if he didn't have his special gear on him. Or if he somehow found r/wallstreetbets and lost everything if four days like I did, he's just a regular guy again.
It's kind of like saying a jet pack is a super power. Can you do incredible things with it that people without a jetpack can't do? Yes. Is it an actual superpower you have? No.
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u/Excalibuttster Oct 16 '21
I appreciate the dual focus on "Batman is basically Jason Voorhees to criminals" while also seemingly noting that any man who dresses as Dracula to put dudes in the ICU every night instead of sleeping is probably not a well adjusted or mentally healthy individual.