"I bet your parents taught you that you mean something, that you're here for a reason. My parents taught me a different lesson...dying in the gutter, for no reason at all. They told me the world only makes sense if you force it to."
Bruce Wayne is the billionaire owner of Wayne Enterprises, and a costumed vigilante operating in Gotham City known as Batman.
After witnessing the murder of his parents at the hands of a mugger as a child, Bruce ultimately became the fearsome vigilante Batman as an adult, beginning his crime fighting career 18 years before the Black Zero Event. Over those years, he became heavily seasoned as an expert crime fighter and detective, having fought and overpowered numerous criminal adversaries, most notably the extreme psychopath Joker.
Two years after witnessing the Black Zero Event, Batman grew increasingly wary of the alien hero Superman, and the two would initially fiercely battle one another. However, they would ultimately settle their differences and team up with Wonder Woman, together managing to take down Lex Luthor's unleashed bloodthirsty monster, Doomsday. With Superman seemingly killed by the dying monster, Batman and Wonder Woman would be inspired by his noble sacrifice to begin establishing the valiant Justice League, in order to battle any future threats to the world.
In 1981, Bruce Wayne and his parents were having a family night out at the theatre in Gotham City. They are confronted by a mugger, who shoots both Thomas and Martha, killing them in cold blood right before Bruce's eyes. From then, Bruce was raised by the Wayne family bodyguard Alfred Pennyworth. The two are buried on the grounds of Wayne Manor. Bruce runs away from the funeral, falling into a cavern filled with bats.
Fighting Crime in Gotham as Batman
"Twenty years in Gotham, Alfred. We've seen what promises are worth. How many good guys are left? How many stayed that way?"
In the eventuating years, Bruce trained, becoming a fearsome yet heroic vigilante known as "The Batman", while also swiftly reclaiming control over his family company Wayne Enterprises as CEO.
Bruce spent 18 years (up until the alien invasion of General Zod) fighting crime in Gotham as Batman, during which time he encountered numerous villains (such as his archenemy, the extreme psychopath Joker), had taken a young sidekick nicknamed "Robin"[1], and captured many criminals, locking them away in either prison or Arkham Asylum, including every member of the future Suicide Squad (even the infamously lethal assassin Deadshot and the stronger Killer Croc).[2] He would also form an alliance with GCPD officer James Gordon, and a Bat-Signal projector was used to summon Batman, if the latter were ever urgently needed. In addition, Batman later claims to have come across "a few" suspicious women during his long career.
Initially, Batman was all about finesse, hardly appearing at all, as evidenced when he caught Sal and tied him up from a tall building.
8 years prior to the Black Zero Event, the Joker managed to kill Robin and left a note for Batman, spraypainted on Robin's damaged suit. A devastated Bruce hung Robin's suit in the Batcave, as a monument to honor his comrade and to also remind himself of what he fights for.[1]
Black Zero Event
"That son of a bitch brought the war to us two years ago!"
Bruce Witnesses the battle between Superman and Zod.
Bruce was in Metropolis in the midst of General Zod's attack on the city with the Black Zero. As Zod attempted to terraform the Earth, starting with Metropolis, Bruce took a helicopter to the outskirts of Metropolis and witnessed the Black Zero destroying the city. He took a vehicle and made his way towards the Wayne Financial Building, giving the order via phone for the people inside to evacuate. Bruce's friend and employee Jack gave the order to evacuate, but he remained inside the building. Bruce dodged several debris and falling buildings and jets before finally reaching a stop in front of an entire crowd of citizens. Bruce exited the vehicle and watched along with the crowd as the Black Zero was destroyed and sent back to the Phantom Zone with Kal-El's starship. As buildings began to fall, Bruce made his way to the Wayne Financial Building on foot and called Jack again, but got no signal. While there, he bore witness to the vicious duel between Superman and General Zod. As the mighty aliens fought high above the city, General Zod's heat vision tore through the Wayne Financial Building, causing it to collapse into ruins. A horrified Bruce screamed for Jack and ran towards the collapsing building while everyone else fled. Bruce searched for survivors and found Wallace Keefe trapped underneath rubble. Bruce and a few other employees there helped rescue the now paralyzed Keefe. Bruce then noticed a little girl staring at the building's ruins and saved her from getting crushed by debris. He told her that she would be safe and asked where her mother was, but she could only point to the now destroyed building before breaking down in tears. Bruce consoled the girl as he watched Superman and Zod fight in the sky.
As a result of witnessing the incredible destruction and carnage unleashed by the Black Zero Event and subsequent duel of the mighty aliens, Bruce became more brutal as Batman, now resorting to breaking the legs of jewel thief Pete Doumanian, for instance, though he still refused to kill the thugs that he apprehended.[3]
Life after the Black Zero Event
Defeating Firefly
"He was always tough. But over the years, he got harder. I mean, you figure he's seen some things."
Months later, Batman intervened when Firefly was setting up charges to detonate a building. He used a batarang to knock the detonator from the villains grip, destroyed it with a mighty stomp, and proceeded to engage Firefly, who unsuccessfully attacked the Dark Knight with his flamethrower, as it proved ineffective against Batman's fireproof cape and oxygen mask. Batman thus subdued him rather quickly, leaving Firefly's two low-level criminal allies tied up on a sidewalk for the GCPD officers to find, though, unknown to him, Batman was being watched by Lex Luthor the entire time via a CCTV, in order to analyzing the Dark Knight's capabilities, which firmly established to Lex that the rumors of Batman being inhuman and supernatural are actually completely false.[3]
Wayne Enterprises Field Trip
While at Wayne Enterprises, Bruce followed a Metropolis Middle School student, Zoe, who was watching a group of criminals using Kryptonian armor and plasma rifles, in to a restricted section of the building. He urged her to return to her group, as he would seek the "proper authority", but they were caught by the gang. Suddenly, Superman showed up, causing the criminals to make a break for it. The Kryptonian plasma rifles briefly held Superman back (though he was also unwilling to hurt them). Bruce then took down the guard watching him and Zoe, before activating a Kryptonian signal jammer, which let out a high-frequency screeching noise that subdued everybody, briefly including Superman. Given the opportunity to take out the criminals, Superman handed them over to the Metropolis Police Department, as Bruce praised Zoe for her courage, before returning her to her school group.[4]
Confronting Emily on Evidence
As Batman, Bruce was later chasing a group through the Carytown Crossing, in the movie and shopping district. He landed his motorbike on top of their car, causing them to crash, before subduing and tying them up. He ran from the scene, disappearing down a manhole. The following night, he located Emily, who had taken a photo of him. He acknowledged that she would do the right thing and destroy the evidence, disappearing in to the night.[5]
―Rescued sex trafficker hostages about Batman[src]
A cop sees Batman for the first time.
Batman rescues a group of young Asian women from a sex trafficker by subduing him and then ruthlessly branding him. One of Gotham City's rookie police officers tried to shoot him but the Dark Knight escaped, leaving the sex trafficker with a bat symbol brand on his chest. This would be the second criminal branded by the Dark Knight, with the first being a child predator, that was later assaulted in prison for bearing the brand, thereby making the mark a death sentence in prison.
The White Portuguese
Bruce has been searching for someone known only as the "White Portuguese" which he tells Alfred is bringing in a dirty bomb to Gotham city. Bruce learns that a man named Anatoli Knyazev may have information regarding the "White Portuguese", but even after interrogating 6 people as Batman, he learns nothing. Hence, Bruce Wayne later attends an underground fight club where he meets Anatoli. He and Bruce had a brief conversation, which allowed Bruce to successfully clone Anatoli's phone and discover that Anatoli worked for Lex Luthor.
Meeting Clark Kent and Lex Luthor
"Mr. Wayne! Clark Kent, Daily Planet. What's your position on the Bat Vigilante in Gotham?"
―Rescued sex trafficker hostages about Batman[src]
Bruce attends a party at LexCorp (to which the host has already invited him) hoping to tap into the LexCorp mainframe, by plugging a device into the servers.
Upon tying to retrieve his device later on, Bruce is suddenly stopped by Daily Planet reporter Clark Kent, who wishes to ask him questions about the methods of Gotham's protector, the vigilante Batman. Bruce points out the hypocrisy of Kent's questions and explains his own distrust toward Metropolis' hero, Superman. Though their conversation quickly becomes more tense at that moment, they are promptly interrupted by Lex Luthor, who enthusiastically greets both of them. Bruce then breaks from the crowd during a speech by Lex, and tries to unplug his device, only to find it has already been unplugged by a mysterious antiques dealer named Diana Prince. Bruce follows after her, but loses her.
Confronting Diana Prince
Later, Bruce finds Diana at a museum's exhibit of a fake replica of Alexander the Great's sword, where he confronts her about the information she stole, but Diana tells Bruce that she was unable to obtain anything due to the data having military-grade encryption. Diana explains that she stole the information because Luthor had a picture that belonged to her. Diana returns the data to Bruce. Viewing the decrypted data, Wayne realizes that Lex is not only experimenting with Kryptonite, but also investigating about Meta Humans. One of them is Prince herself, who is an immortal warrior. He also realizes that "White Portuguese" is a ship. Wayne admits to Alfred that he plans to steal the Kryptonite to weaponize it, should it become necessary to fight Superman.
Bruce's Nightmare and Flash's Warning
Batman being overwhelmed by Superman's stormtroopers and Parademons.
After falling asleep at his desk, Bruce began to experience a form of a nightmarish dream, seemingly a vision of a possible apocalyptic future. A devastated Superman kills thousands, and is driven by his incredible grief and despair to become dark and malevolent, taking over the Earth as its tyrant ruler, creating a stormtrooper army to aid him in his totalitarian regime of Earth, killing anybody who opposes him. Batman, in desert clothing, exits a bunker and watches his allies approach. He meets with them and asks for the Kryptonite rock. However, they open the box to reveal only green lightbulbs. They apologize to him and hold him at gunpoint. He follows through with their commands as the stormtroopers reveal themselves to Batman and his allies. They execute them, as Batman watches helplessly. Angered, he begins a killing spree and guns down multiple stormtroopers working for Superman while helping some of his surviving allies escape the area. Although he manages to take down most of the stormtroopers while Parademons invade the area and abduct many humans there, Batman is eventually overwhelmed by the remaining stormtroopers there. He snaps one of their necks but is brutally beaten by the other stormtroopers. A Parademon then knocks him unconscious.
Batman recuperates chained up in the bunker with his remaining allies, eyeing them helplessly. Superman himself then lands in the bunker, and his stormtroopers reverently bow before their leader. He approaches Batman, swiftly murdering the latter's other allies with his heat vision. Superman then unmasks the horrified vigilante. He expresses his anger at Bruce for letting "her" die, as she was "his world." He sneers at Bruce one final time, and ruthlessly tears his heart from his chest. At this point, Bruce awoke from this nightmare to find a distorted and unstable portal of electricity right in front of him. Inside it, the Flash appeared, and gave Bruce a distorted warning regarding Superman's possible path and that Lois Lane was the key to this. Before the portal disappeared, the Flash begged Bruce to find them all and save her. Bruce abruptly awoke again, though he did not believe that either experience were entirely a dream.
While intercepting Lex Luthor's men transporting Kryptonite, Superman interrupted the chase, damaging the Batmobile after Batman tried running him down and again when Superman tore the doors off. Superman threatened the Dark Knight, warning him to give up his crusade, and that he should consider Superman's warning mercy. As he turned to leave, Batman countered with a threat of his own, expressing his determination to make the godlike alien "bleed". After Superman flew away, seemingly not impressed with the threat, Batman drove to the Batcave in the damaged Batmobile.
Duel with Superman
"You're not brave. Men are brave. But you were never a man."
After witnessing an explosion at a congressional hearing seemingly caused by Superman, Batman began to track the Kryptonite to LexCorp, breaks into the building and retrieves it, leaving a batarang where Lex Luthor had it stored. Batman prepares his preemptive strike against Superman and builds a powerful exoskeleton and Kryptonite powered arsenal. Batman then set up traps in the old Gotham City Police Department building, placed a Kryptonite spear in the ground for later use. Having prepared for the fight, Batman tore off the old cloth covering the Bat-Signal and turned it on, shining it into the thundery sky.
Batman and Superman meet face to face.
A reluctant Superman traveled to Gotham to face Batman, who was waiting for him in the yard. Superman attempted to reason with him, but set off one of his traps, causing sonic emitters to boom at him, halting Superman for a few seconds. However, he destroys them, and continued to reason with Batman, but it became clear he wasn't getting through to him, as another trap (with automated machine guns) is set off when Superman pushes Batman aside, but Superman disposed of it quickly as well. Superman then tackled Batman into the air, through the building and hurled him into the Bat-Signal. Superman ordered the momentarily shocked vigilante to stay down, letting him know that he has been holding back this whole time, and that Batman would have already been dead, had Superman actually wanted to kill him. However, Batman defiantly resumed the fight by throwing a smoke grenade at Superman, and momentarily vanishing out of sight. Batman then fired a grenade at Superman, who easily caught it. However, it then unexpectedly sprayed Kryptonite gas into Superman face, which severely weakened him, bringing Superman to his knees.
Batman battles Superman.
Batman taunted Superman as he grew weaker. Superman attempted to fight back, but Batman took full advantage of Superman's now weakened state, easily countered his attacks and crashed through the skylight to the lower floor. However, Superman began to recover from the poisoning at this point, as he powerfully countered Batman's increasingly ineffectual attacks, even knocking him to the lower floor. As more of his powers continued returning, Superman charged at Batman, who, in desperation, fired another grenade at Superman as he leaped for the attack. With his suit now damaged, Batman grabbed a bathroom sink and smashed it on the once again weakened Superman's head, knocking him unconscious.
Batman triumphant over Superman.
Batman dropped Superman several stories down to the bottom floor. Batman then flung Superman around the room with his Grapple Gun, telling him that his parents taught him that the world only makes sense if you force it to. Batman grabbed the spear and placed his foot on Superman's neck to keep him down. He cut Superman's cheek with the Kryptonite, angrily telling him that he was never a god, or even a man. He prepared to kill him, but Superman then begged him to save "Martha", telling him that he has her and to find him, which caused Batman to remember the night his parents died. Confused and angry, Batman demanded to know why he said that name. Lois Lane, having arrived by helicopter, begged Batman to stop and told him that Martha is the name of Clark's mother. Shocked, Batman came to his senses, realizing the truth and that Superman was not a threat. Angered, he tossed away the spear. Superman and Lois explain the situation to him, leading to Batman telling Superman to go back to Metropolis and he would go after Martha, promising him that she wouldn't die.
Saving Martha
"I'll kill her! Believe me, I'll do it!" "I believe you."
After Batman nearly defeated Superman, the latter asked the Dark Knight to save Martha, his mother. Reminded of his own mother (who had the same first name), Batman ended the fight, agreeing to save Superman's mother. After tracking and entering the warehouse Martha was held captive in, Batman engaged in a vicious fight with numerous thugs, eventually incapacitating them. Making his way to the room Martha was held, Batman had a stand-off with the remaining henchmen, igniting a flamethrower's tank, killing the two of them with Batman and Martha unscathed from the heat due to the former's cape and saving Martha.
Battle with Doomsday
The nuclear explosion that results in the missile hitting Superman and Doomsday is so gigantic, that Batman can clearly see it from Earth's surface.
Doomsday's body lands on the abandoned Stryker's Island, but he is far from dead, as the tremendous explosion seems to have only made the monster stronger, with its body once again regenerating. Batman then attacks it with his Batwing, unleashing an immense amount of firepower, but Doomsday is unscathed, and brings the plane down with his heat vision and breath. Before Batman can escape his crashed vehicle, Doomsday corners him, and fires a tremendous superheated torrent at him. Wonder Woman arrives, however, just in time to save Batman, deflecting the beams with her indestructible bracelets, which creates a massive wave of energy outwards.
Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman, stand ready to face Doomsday
Shortly thereafter, a recovered Superman returns from space, and proceeds to jointly attack Doomsday in tandem with Wonder Woman, while Batman tries to expose the monster to Kryptonite, which would exploit its only known vulnerability.
After seeing Superman sacrificing his own life to defeat Doomsday (using Batman's Kryptonite Spear), Batman is visibly shocked and saddened, and promptly retrieves Superman's lifeless body, enveloping him in his own cape, shortly before the arrival of a devastated Lois Lane.
Superman's Funeral and Contingency Plan
"I failed him in life. I won't fail him in death."
Bruce and Diana remain at the cemetery afterwards, and Bruce, guilt-ridden over having failed Superman in life, asks her to help him honor Superman's heroic sacrifice by helping him bring together the metahumans from Lex's file, in case a threat of that scale ever should arise again. Diana inquires why Bruce is proposing it. He replies that it is simply due to a feeling he has that things will imminently get worse.
Visiting Lex Luthor
"Whatever you do! Wherever you go! I'll be watching you!"
Batman visits the cell of the now shaven-headed Lex Luthor, expressing his anger at him for his actions. He pins him against the wall and threatens him, but Luthor counters by stating that "god" is now dead, and that there is something else, something and someone bigger coming, from outer space. Batman then defiantly punches the wall with his branding-ring, leaving the mark of a bat symbol on the wall. When Luthor turns his head, Batman disappears. He yells at the Dark Knight, that the bells are dinging, mockingly mimicking the dinging sounds.
This article is about upcoming content and is subject to change. You can help the DC Extended Universe Wiki by adding new information when it becomes available.
To be added
Personality
Bruce Wayne is very dedicated and determined to his work of crime-fighting vigilantism, sometimes employing illegal and morally dubious tactics (like torture, much to the chagrin of Superman, causing him to initially view the former as a brutal and unforgiving criminal), but ultimately for the good of Gotham. Despite his dark past and serious work, Bruce has displayed a sense of humor around his butler Alfred.
In addition, Bruce tends to be extremely distrusting of others, especially those in possession of great power, since he notably claimed that even if there is only a one percent chance of Superman being a potential enemy of humanity, that it has to be taken as an absolute certainty, due to the incredible destruction and carnage that the supremely powerful alien could potentially unleash. This very cynical point of view on Bruce's part comes from him having seen "what promises are worth" many times during his two decades as Batman, having seen many seemingly benevolent individuals become malevolently corrupted, to the point that Bruce claims that hardly any "good guys" are left anymore. However, after witnessing Superman's heroic death in the mortal battle against Doomsday, a visibly saddened Bruce gained a great deal of respect towards his fallen ally, is guilt-ridden about failing him (wasting 2 Kryptonite gas grenades on Superman, while they might have been used to kill Doomsday without losing Superman), and becomes determined not to fail Superman in death, by bringing together and leading the metahumans from Lex Luthor's file, together with Wonder Woman. In addition, Superman's noble sacrifice seems to have inspired and given Bruce a more optimistic and hopeful outlook, since he says to Diana that despite their many flaws, men are still good, and that they do in fact have the potential in them to rebuild and improve (the motto of Superman's House of El).
Although possessing great hate and anger towards criminals, Batman, like the other Justice Leaguers, has proven himself a very caring and selfless person, constantly putting his life on the line to save innocent lives (notably when he fearlessly ran straight into the clouds of falling debris in Metropolis, managing to save a little girl) and bringing the most dangerous criminals to justice for society's protection.
Bruce's strongest characteristic was initially a strong moral code to never kill, until he became considerably more hardcore in his approach to fighting crime in Gotham, after witnessing the Black Zero Event first hand. It is believed that due to pain, loss and exhaustion he’s experienced during his time protecting the streets of Gotham, as well as his growing cynical, pessimistic, and world-weary, caused Batman to decide that he was better off letting his enemies die than allowing them to return and cause more harm. Hence, in his nightmarish vision of a possible future, Batman had no problem gunning down Superman's stormtroopers with his pistol and the machine guns of the stormtroopers he disarmed, mostly due to being angered by the deaths of his allies. Even as they overwhelmed him, Batman broke a stormtrooper's neck with his bare hands in mere seconds.
After the Black Zero Event, Batman seemingly has no problem with taking lives, as he has repeatedly killed by crashing and wrecking vehicles with enemies still inside using the Batmobile, as well as using both its guns and the Batwing's to cause explosions near enemies, usually by blowing up nearby vehicles. He has also caused explosions in which enemies were caught in, such as by knocking grenades near enemies, or using a stolen machine gun to ignite Anatoli Knyazev's flamethrower when he was about to kill Martha Kent, causing it to explode and seemingly kill everyone in the room, though he shielded Martha Kent from the blast with his cape and saved her, as promised. Batman was even about to kill Superman by stabbing him with the Kryptonite spear, until being reminded of his mother, and learning that Superman's own mother shared the same name (Martha), causing him to remember his parents' murder and to throw away the spear in disgust, understanding that Lex Luthor had almost succeeded in manipulating him into becoming the abominable killer of Martha's son, just like how the thug had once orphaned him, the son of another Martha. This realization, as well as the heroic death of Superman at the hands of Doomsday, seemingly induced Batman to turn away from his former brutal method of taking lives, as he now has a renewed hope in humanity.
Abilities
Peak Human Condition: Batman, as a highly skilled and experienced vigilante, is in top physical condition (from frequent intense workouts in the Batcave and his numerous vigilante escapades in the city), and while not superhuman (making him the physically weakest member of the Justice League), his extremely muscular and athletic physique makes Batman immensely physically powerful by normal human standards.
Peak Human Strength: By properly using physical forces, momentum and leverage, as well as his knowledge of anatomical weaknesses and strength based exercises, Batman is able to seemingly simulate low-level superhuman strength. Hence, Batman is capable of easily lifting and hurling human opponents over his head, knocking them out with a single blow, throwing people into walls hard enough to break through them, punching people hard enough to send them headfirst into the floor and their head through the floorboards, effortlessly smashing right through wooden walls and floors, and sending people flying through the air several feet. Batman can also drag a heavy truck tire, perform pull-ups with a heavy barbell chained to his legs, bench an extreme amount of weight on a barbell, tear apart Firefly's armored suit with his bare hands, and destroy the latter's detonator with a single stomp[6]. The lead knuckles on Batman's gauntlets allow him to hit even harder, inflicting more damage with his punches. Also, Batman could jump several feet into the air over a large box while slamming a man into it, after lifting it into the air with him while he was jumping. In his nightmare, he broke the neck of one of Superman's stormtroopers with his bare hands in mere seconds, even while he was being restrained by multiple others.
Peak Human Durability: Batman was also exceptionally durable by human standards (further enhanced by his bulletproof Batsuit), as he could not be slowed down or fazed by falling from a ceiling, allowing him to land on his feet and quickly attack opponents. This also allowed Batman to be unfazed when crashing through a glass window feet first.
Peak Human Agility: Batman has demonstrated superb nimbleness and agility, perching on a wall to avoid arriving police officers, quickly moving across ceilings and walls with almost ape-like acrobatics and gymnastics (which further's the suspicions of others that Batman is inhuman and supernatural), and even dodging gunfire from a GCPD police offer's shotgun, with the officer barely getting a glimpse of Batman, as the Dark Knight's speed and agility made him appear as blurs of motion, enhancing the inhuman and supernatural illusion further. His seemingly inhuman mobility allows him to move away from the sight of others and stalk enemies from the shadows or from higher vantage points. Also, Batman could jump several feet into the air over a large box while slamming a man into it, after lifting it into the air with him while he was jumping. Batman even managed to grapple away from a superhumanly fast charge from Doomsday, as well as several of the monster's huge thermal blasts.
Master Martial Artist: Batman is an extremely skilled combatant (on par with Wonder Woman), an infamously formidable master of a vast array of martial arts, with 20 years of experience battling and overpowering numerous criminals in Gotham City. His fighting also incorporates the proper use of physical forces, momentum and leverage, as well as his knowledge of anatomical weaknesses and pressure-points, executing it all at very high speeds. With his tremendous combat skills, Batman effortlessly brought down Knyazev's 24 men at once (despite being quite tired after his fierce duel with Superman right before), has brought down the Joker multiple times, can overpower even physically stronger opponents, like Killer Croc, and brought down quite a few Superman stromtroopers, until ultimately succumbing to their sheer numbers (in his nightmare vision of a possible future). In fact, Batman is the one who defeated most of the future Suicide Squad members (even the infamously lethal assassin Deadshot), having them placed behind bars in Belle Reve[7]. Under Batman's tutelage, his ward Robin would become a highly skilled combatant in is own right.
Expert Marksman: Batman is a highly skilled marksman, utilizing his batarangs, sniper rifle, grenade launcher and grapple gun with a high degree of accuracy, notably using a batarang to knock a detonator out of Firefly's hand, and shooting a tracker onto Knyazev's truck from a great distance. In his nightmarish vision of a possible future, Batman was highly proficient with firearms, using a handgun in a holster on his side, as well as repeatedly disarming Superman's stormtroopers of their assault rifles, using them as his own. When Wonder Woman restrained Doomsday, Batman was able to shoot a Kryptonite gas grenade at the monster from a considerable distance away, further showing his exceptional accuracy.
Stealth: Batman is an immensely formidable master of stealth and infiltration, capable of breaching high security facilities without being detected, which is all the more remarkable and impressive, given his large muscular frame. Batman's stealth is so effective in fact, that some criminals would claim that you wouldn't even know he was there until it was already too late. Hence, Batman was able to infiltrate a LexCorp building (in order to obtain Kryptonite) and later to even sneak into the jail cell of Lex Luthor, and disappear from it just as suddenly, as soon as Luthor briefly looks away. Batman used the flickering lights and caused the cell doors to open, making himself to appear to be a ghost or demon. Batman's remarkable speed and almost ape-like agility allow him to move away from the sight of others and stalk enemies from either the shadows or higher vantage points, while letting them catch glimpses or hear his cape, giving them the illusion of Batman being a supernatural creature instead of a man. When utilizing a gas grenade, Batman's amazing stealth is further augmented, to the point that he was able to temporarily evade Superman himself while using one.
Intimidation: Batman commands a very intimidating presence, and is able to instill terror into the hearts of Gotham's criminals, with some of them not even daring to shoot him after Batman fiercely gazes them in the eye[8]. After Batman rescues some female hostages from a sex trafficker, they are so terrified of the dark vigilante and his "diabolical" appearance, that they refuse to leave their cage even after the police arrived on the scene. Hence, Superman would initially go as far as to call Batman "a one-man reign of terror." Among the extremely few individuals who do not fear Batman, are the pathological psychopath Joker, bold supergenius Lex Luthor, his long-time ally Commissioner Gordon, and beings of superior godlike power, such as Superman and Wonder Woman.
Interrogation: Batman is infamously adept in interrogation techniques, often using law enforcement methods, as well as torture (notably branding a Gotham sex trafficker with a batarang) as an effective means of punishment or information extraction.
Indomitable Will: Batman, although he has no superhuman powers, has tremendous determination and strength of will, which make him an extremely formidable opponent. Hence, during the Black Zero Event, Bruce fearlessly ran through the extremely dangerous clouds of debris in order to save any survivors within a the wreckage of a collapsed building. Months later, even when Superman himself personally warned Batman to back off, and demonstrated his incredible alien might (by effortlessly damaging the Batmobile), Batman showed no signs of fear, and was as determined as ever to fight the mighty godlike alien, boldly countering Superman's threat with one of his own (promising to make the invincible alien "bleed"). Batman later refused to stay down when Superman knocked him to the ground repeatedly during their duel, persisting until he finally won and had the weakened Man of Steel at his mercy. Later, while helping Superman and Wonder Woman battle Doomsday, Batman refused to back down from the seemingly hopeless battle with the unkillable juggernaut, and attacked the monster, persistently attempting to expose it to Kryptonite, ultimately succeeding, thereby greatly contributing to Doomsday's defeat. Even when Lex Luthor warns Batman of the inevitable threat posed by a mysterious tremendously powerful alien individual coming soon to Earth, Batman, despite Earth now being vulnerable after Superman's death, refuses to despair, and instead has Wonder Woman help him bring together a team of powerful metahumans (Aquaman, Flash, and Cyborg) into the Justice League, to fight against this new threat.
Genius-Level Intellect: Bruce is extremely intelligent, to the point that he has successfully gone toe-to-toe with the extremely dangerous, inventive and completely unpredictable psychopath Joker for years. Hence, Batman's brilliant intellect is arguably his greatest and most formidable ability of all. However, Batman is notably not quite as intelligent as supergenius Lex Luthor, with the latter thereby successfully outsmarting and manipulating Batman into obtaining Kryptonite and killing Superman, with Batman never suspecting it, and figuring it out only after his duel with the alien superhero had ended.
Master Tactician: Batman, given his lack of superpowers,
Batman triumphant over Superman.
often uses cunning and planning to successfully outwit stronger and more powerful foes, rather than simply "out-fighting" them, often using any of their exploitable weaknesses (such as Kryptonite in the case of both Superman and Doomsday) to his advantage. Due to this, Batman was ultimately able to defeat Superman in their fierce duel, and later managed to outwit Doomsday's feral mind, successfully baiting the monster into getting restrained by Wonder Woman, thereby giving Superman the crucial opening the latter needed to deliver the killing strike to the monster.
Expert Deceiver: Batman is extremely skilled in the art of deception, with Alfred even going so far as claiming that Batman's skills in that regard ever since the age of seven have been equivalent to Mozart's in music. Hence, Batman has been effectively able to fool the people of Gotham (especially the criminal underworld) into thinking that he is inhuman and supernatural (with female sex trafficker victims notably mistaking him for a "Devil"). Bruce also successfully deceived Mercy Graves into thinking that he was drunk, managing to thus avoid suspicion during his attendance of Lex's fundraiser party. However, Batman had notably never been particularly skilled at deceiving Alfred Pennyworth (the one person who knew Bruce best, having raised the latter from his childhood), and was unable to deceive Lex Luthor, who was quick to see through the Dark Knight's inhuman and supernatural façade, thereby deducing (via CCTV) that Batman is actually only a mere man without any powers.
Expert Detective: Batman is a highly skilled detective, capable of observation, forensic investigation, and psychological assessments, as well as both inductive and deductive reasoning of the highest caliber. Hence, Bruce knew that a museum's sword of Alexander the Great was in fact a fake replica, and he was was quickly able to see through the "babe in the woods act" of Diana Prince, discerning something suspicious about the antiques dealer right away, refusing to allow Diana's remarkable beauty to cloud his judgement and free her of his suspicion, unlike what a vast majority of men would have done. Bruce also effectively utilized his detective skills to learn of Anatoli Knyazev's connection to the "White Portuguese", Lex Luthor and Kryptonite, as well as the latter's secret research on metahumans.
Expert Engineer: Batman is highly skilled in vehicles' operations, with him and Alfred having personally built and over time improved upon his various sophisticated gadgets, most notably, the Batmobile, Standard Batsuit, and Batcomputer. Bruce later personally designed the Armored Batsuit, Kryptonite gas grenades and a Kryptonite-tipped spear, all of which proved very effective against Superman.
Expert Driver: Batman is a highly skilled driver, able to successfully pursue his enemies (most notably Joker and Harley Quinn, as well as Anatoli Knyazev and his men) through the streets of Gotham on his Batmobile, and also managed to navigate the extremely dangerous streets of Metropolis during the Black Zero Event in his civilian car, successfully avoiding falling debris.
Expert Pilot: Batman is a highly skilled pilot, able to effectively fight Doomsday himself from within his Batwing, albeit only temporarily.
Expert Businessman: Bruce Wayne is a highly skilled businessman (though not quite on par with Lex Luthor), helping his father's company, Wayne Enterprises, grow and gain more business partners, as the CEO. As a result, Bruce is very well-respected in the business world.
Bilingualism: Bruce, apart from his native English, also speaks fluent Russian, as seen in his conversation with Anatoli Knyazev.
Weaknesses
Human Vulnerabilities: Batman's greatest weakness is that he is a human with no enhanced strength, speed, durability, or metahuman powers, therefore making him quite vulnerable to the physical attacks of stronger and more powerful opponents, more so than any other Justice League member. Batman, however, usually compensates for this quite well with his highly durable fireproof batsuits, tremendous combat skills, highly sophisticated technological gadgets, and brilliant tactical intellect. However, despite all of his combat skills and weapons, Batman was ultimately overwhelmed and defeated by the sheer number of Superman stormtroopers, was knocked unconscious from behind by the blow of a strong Parademon, was restrained by chains, and was effortlessly killed when the extremely strong Superman ruthlessly tears Batman's heart from his chest (all in his nightmare vision of a possible future). Later, when fighting against Superman, Batman notably had trouble keeping up, as even in his extremely durable Armored Batsuit, Superman, while holding back (otherwise having the power to quickly and effortlessly kill Batman), still managed to swiftly beat the Dark Knight to the ground, with Batman heavily panting, requiring a few seconds to recover, and only avoiding being overwhelmed by resorting to Kryptonite gas grenades just in time. Batman was also in mortal danger when Doomsday took down the Batwing, and was about to unleash his massive thermal blast upon the former, with only Wonder Woman's timely intervention saving him.
Subtle Manipulation: Batman, despite his brilliant intellect and extensive experience, can ultimately still be outsmarted and manipulated himself, though supergenius Lex Luthor is notably the only one known to have ever successfully done so, due to him being one of the extreme few individuals to surpass Batman in intellect. Hence, Lex succeeds in learning Batman's secret identity and psychological profile, which allows him to subtly enrage Bruce Wayne (having Wallace Keefe send him angry notes, and later blowing up the DC Capitol), and to subsequently manipulate Batman into first stealing the Kryptonite from LexCorp, and then effectively utilizing it against Superman in a fierce duel. Batman never suspects this, and is tricked into carrying out Lex Luthor's dirty work for him by personally murdering Superman, with only Superman's mention of Martha Kent's name stopping the Dark Knight's killing blow just in time.
Equipment
As the CEO of Wayne Enterprises, Bruce Wayne has an immense fortune, making him one of the wealthiest people in the world, rivaled only by extreme few, like his competitor Lex Luthor. His wealth allows Bruce access to some of the most sophisticated technology in the world, allowing him to create the equipment that is crucial to him as Batman, with it effectively compensating for his lack of superpowers.
Bruce Wayne, wearing the standard Batsuit.
Standard Batsuit: Batman's highly durable Kevlar-titanium weave protective suit and combat armor, used to compensate for his lack of invulnerability. It is invulnerable to knives, and small caliber bullets and is also fireproof[9]. The Batsuit's cowl also digitally alters Batman's voice, making it unrecognizable to those that know him as Bruce Wayne[10]. The cowl, neck, gauntlets, and boots are able to effortlessly deflect small arms rounds and blades, though the rest of the suit seems to be more vulnerable, as a blade could at least partially pierce the arm. Even so, it is not enough to truly harm or slow down the wearer, as Batman seemed to only feel a small amount of pain after getting stabbed in the shoulder by one of Knyazev's men. In addition, the suit and cape can protect the wearer from explosions, which allowed Batman to shield Martha Kent from Knyazev's exploding flamethrower tank that engulfed the entire room they where in.
Armored Batsuit: Batman's much more heavily armored and mechanized version of the Standard Batsuit, which he wore when confronting Superman. It is extremely durable, enough for Batman to survive relatively unscathed after being tackled right through a building by the mighty alien, though Batman was still left heavily panting on the ground, and required a few seconds to recover. Also, Superman was holding back in their confrontation, and claimed that had he actually wanted to kill Batman, the armor would not have saved him at all.
Batmobile: Batman's imposing and heavily armed custom combat vehicle used by him for transportation, pursuit and capture and one of his most powerful tools to aid in his war against crime in Gotham.
Batwing: Batman's aerial combat prototype vehicle with an immense amount of firepower, used by him against Doomsday. It is sometimes remotely piloted by Alfred from within the Batcave.
A batarang.
Batarangs: Batman's extremely sharp (capable of piercing concrete walls), but non-lethal throwing gadgets in the shape of his symbol, wielded by Batman when carrying out various different tasks, from incapacitating criminals to breaking through windows.
Utility Belt: Batman's specially designed belt, with its many pouches filled with an arsenal of numerous gadgets, weapons and tools at all times, to aid Batman in his mission.
Batcomputer: Batman's giant and powerful multi-purpose supercomputer console, located in the Batcave, with several monitor screens. Among other things, one of its monitors is equipped with thermal imaging, allowing Batman to easily deduce the number of Knyazev's people within a building from a distance. It is also constantly hooked up to police radio's from the Gotham City Police Department, as well as news stations, allowing Batman to be up to date with all the goings on in his city. When Batman is on one of his vigilante escapades, Alfred sometimes utilizes the Batcomuter to help the Dark Knight with a specific task, notably when Batman saved Martha Kent from Knyazev.
Grapple Gun: Batman's line launching, multi-purpose, highly versatile, and handgun-like device that fires a retractible, detachable line with a mechanized, magnetic, or clawed end, which Batman utilizes to traverse Gotham City, escape danger and remain hidden from foes, all while allowing him to scale rappel, swing, catapult, or slingshot himself along structures or across gaps. It allows him to ascend and descend, much like an elevator or pulley system, at a harmless rate. It consists of a spool of cable, a winding device, and reloading feature. Once, it is shot a surface, it pulls the user at great speed towards their target and quickly retracts into the device once it is reached. This can be done in rapid succession, with the device being able to fire against instantly after retracting, with the speed of the device retracting being similar to flight. The line can pull great amounts of weight, as Batman can use it to slowly descend several stories while wearing his Armored Batsuit. It can also be used to pull on an enemy with great force, enough to stun and daze them or to injure them, with the end of the line also acting like a harpoon, as it can pierce into the flesh of a target and pull them. The line could even send people flying through the air towards the user due to the force it exerted when retracting, which allowed Batman to strike his airborne target unopposed. The protrusion at the base of the gun's grip also makes it ideal to be used as a blunt weapon in close-quarters combat. As the line can be detachable, it can be used as a lasso, with Batman tying the line to Superman's leg and, with the strength of his Armored Batsuit, slung him around a large corridor and into several pillars. Batman even managed to grapple away from a superhumanly fast charge from Doomsday, as well as several of the monster's huge heat blasts.
Respirator Mask: Batman's small mask than allows him to successfully breathe in locations with limited oxygen, such as when he was attacked by Firefly's flamethrower.
Sticky Bombs: Batman's small, custom-built hand-held explosives that can stick to surfaces before detonating.
Gas Grenades: Batman's canister-type grenades that emit a great amount of smoke, augmenting his already amazing stealth, to the point that Batman was able to temporarily evade Superman himself while using one.
Kryptonite Spear: Batman utilized this weapon in his duel with Superman, with it later (ironically) being used by Superman, this time against Doomsday. Due to its nature, it is one of the extremely few weapons capable of mortally wounding both Kryptonians and Doomsday.
Cellphone-Cloner: Batman, as Bruce Wayne, can use a phone capable of cloning the software and contacts of another, allowing him to both listen to the cloned phone's messages and track it. He used this on Anatoli Knyazev's phone while briefly standing close to him.
Branding-Ring: Batman also has a brass knuckle-like device with a bat symbol, a device that superheats to the point where it can burn though flesh and stone with ease, branding the bat-symbol into the surface it is punched into. Batman uses it to mark the worst of criminals with his symbol for effective intimidation (notably doing so to both a sex trafficker and child predator), and as a warning to others.
Relationships
"I can't print this, Lois, you might've hallucinated half of it." ―Perry White, Man of Steel
It is suggested that this article, or a section of this article, is in need of proper citations.
The Keep Calm and Call Batman poster in Man of Steel.
A reference to Batman was shown during the final battle between Superman and General Zod. A poster can be seen that says "Keep Calm and Call Batman" in the central train station in Metropolis' CBD. A Wayne Enterprise satellite also appeared during Superman and Zod's fight.
According to producer Charles Roven, Batman is an extremely rough, physical person. Ben Affleck said that he identified with Batman's character in that they are both very angry people.
Batman's voice is digitally altered by a vocoder in his cowl[13].
In certain scenes, Batman's cape is actually digital.
This version of Batman was partially inspired by the incarnation from The Dark Knight Returns written by Frank Miller, depicting him as being older, more brutal in his fight against crime, and utilizing a durable battle armor, along with tear gas bombs filled with gaseous Kryptonite and other weakening methods to combat Superman on equal footing. His costume is also based on the costume worn by that particular incarnation
Behind the scenes
On August 23, 2013, Warner Bros. announced that Affleck had been cast as Batman. Beforehand numerous actors such as Josh Brolin, Joe Manganiello, Tyler Hoechlin, Richard Armitage, Wes Bentley, Jake Gyllenhaal and Orlando Bloom were considered for the part.
Ben Affleck's casting initially caused somewhat of a controversy.
Ben Affleck portrayed the actor George Reeves in the biopic 'Hollywoodland'. Reeves played Superman in Superman serials, making Affleck the only actor to portray both Superman and Batman.
Affleck played the Marvel superhero Daredevil in the film Daredevil and also in deleted scenes in the spin-off film Elektra.
