While superhero cinema has been incredibly popular for years now, there is one comic book character who has ruled them when it comes to overall popularity and success, and that’s Batman. We’ve seen more movies about and including the Caped Crusader in the last 35 years than any other character from DC or Marvel. Of course, the frequency of seeing the character has resulted in some difficulties in letting each iteration stand on its own.
We’ve seen a half dozen different actors play Batman in live action since Michael Keaton put on the cowl in 1989. Each one has certainly done things a little differently, but while each has tried to put their own spin on Batman, it has to be said that Bruce Wayne has been remarkably similar each time. This is why Robert Pattinson’s take in The Batman was such a breath of fresh air. His Bruce Wayne was unique among the crowd, and Pattinson tells The New York Times that it was his idea. The actor explained…
That was my one idea for Bruce. He’s been portrayed until now as a playboy. But what if he’s completely socially inept and kind of agoraphobic?
While I honestly wasn’t blown away by The Batman overall, there were a couple of different elements of the film that I thought were great. One of them was the characterization of Bruce Wayne, so Pattinson deserves praise for this decision because it was one of the decisions that made The Batman different enough to be worth watching.
Bruce Wayne is traditionally the playboy billionaire. He’s a guy with more money than he’d ever need, which is what allows him to invest in becoming Batman. But he also uses it as a front, usually presenting himself as a bit of a rich idiot as a way to throw off anybody who might try and figure out who Batman is. As the late Kevin Conroy said, Bruce Wayne is the character he plays, Batman is who he really is.
There’s always an element of trauma in Bruce Wayne. His parents’ death has scarred him. However, for Pattinson, that trauma doesn’t just drive him to be Batman; it’s also largely closed him off from society. His money means he doesn’t need to go out into the world, and so he doesn’t. He is only comfortable around people when the mask is between him and everybody else.
With two Batman movies on the horizon, DC Studios certainly has options ahead of it. Perhaps The Brave and the Bold, the upcoming DC movie directed by Andy Muschetti and will be part of the official DCU, will give us a more traditional take on Bruce Wayne, while The Batman franchise, which is still planning at least two more movies, will give us this very different character. Maybe by the end of the trilogy, he’ll have become the Bruce Wayne we know, which would be an interesting character arc for the side of Bruce that doesn’t always get one.
