Bat's the Man: Why Batman Has Defined What It Means to Be a Hero

By Shrey Sankalp

“It’s not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me.”

When Christian Bale uttered those now hallowed words, a collective cheer rang through my theatre, as I’m sure it rang through yours.
Christopher Nolan’s uniformly excellent The Dark Knight trilogy has its fair share of emphatic moments, but none that quite embody the sense of who Batman is as well as that one lines.

And it’s not just the Nolan trilogy; every live-action, video game or even in the source comic book material, a large part of Batman’s identity hasn’t been Bruce Wayne’s, but Batman’s actions.

Source: comicvine.gamespot.com

Ready, set…      

Let’s talk about the above picture for a minute here.

Messrs.  Kent and Allen are gearing up for a race that’s going to finally settle the age old debate as to who is the faster man alive, and who do they see in the lane next to them?

It’s the man bat, gearing up to outrun a superhuman who’s supposedly the fastest alive and the other who’s an otherworldly alien.  I know, there is absolutely no way Batman could lose this race, right?
Bats probably know it as well as we do, and when the Flash and Supes give him an (apparently) puzzled look, he responds as eloquently as he can: “I’m Batman.”

For all we know, the man probably has a Kryptonite bomb and something to tie the Flash’s legs with in his utility belt.
See? And here we were thinking the world’s most ridiculously over prepared and calculating superhero was jumping into something impulsive.

Source: www.movies.com

Na na na na na na …BATMEN!                                                      

Batman’s quick thinking and tendency to plan things out in great detail have been as consistent a presence in every iteration as his origin story.  Be it Tim Burton’s moody and Goth Batman, or Zack Snyder’s – well – moody and Goth Batman, Batman is as clever as he has always been.  This is a fact ratified by the sheer number of times he has beaten Superman—a near immortal God stand-in—in hand to hand combat, with nothing but his brains at his disposal (okay, maybe a little bit of Kryptonite too, but then you gotta have the brains to implement that stuff, it’s not like you can just poke Superman with it and then tickle him into submission).

And that’s not even scratching the surface of what makes Batman so great!
You didn’t think we’d forget all about his billions, Alfred (God, if only all of us could have him), pretty acceptable mansion, sweet ride, hella rad Batsuits (all except the godawful Joel Schumacher rubber fetish version), his—whoo, I’m running out of breath merely thinking about it!

In essence, we have a mere mortal with billions of dollars in inheritance (aside: there are 1,800 billionaires in the world and not one of them has chosen to become Batman yet – I now, real shame) and a strong desire to rid his city of crime without resorting to killing (discounting Ben Affleck’s gun toting mass murderer interpretation) who has done things entire armies can’t do.  Case in point, him taking on the entire Justice League in the excellent Batman: Endgame comic and coming out on top; or taking out the Mutants in Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns before, as mentioned above, beating the ever-living crap out of Superman.

Source: screenrant.com

Kapow!                                                                                          

What makes him so special? Why can this mere mortal stand toe to toe with aliens, Amazonian goddesses or chemically enhanced individuals, and still come out on top?

Like we said: brains and billions.

Too many people have too much of the above but can’t be Batman (*throws expert shade at the 1800 billionaires*), and the reason is simple: they lack the motivation and the desire to see things through.

But not our man Bruce.

His paranoid proactivity causes him to think about every situation in detail beforehand and then when the moment comes, does what needs to be done.  There are superheroes that can be weakened when you expose them to a rock from their native planet, there are superheroes who can be put out of commission if you were to fire an EMP at their mechanical suit, there are superheroes that—look, you know where we’re heading, don’t you?

Well, that’s one way of putting it.

Every superhero has a weakness.  There is always something you could do to that would disable or hurt them, but not Batman.  Take away his billions, take away his fancy million dollar suit (and no, we’re not talking about the Tom Fords), take away his cape and his cowl, but you can’t take away his wits and you can’t take away his acrobatic and stealthy fighting skills (Ben Affleck’s definitely got the moves, that’s for sure). 

When you think about it, doesn’t that make Batman invincible? Sure, you put a bullet between his eyes and he’d die, but Batman is a symbol, he’s an idea, and you can’t kill those.
You could kill Bruce Wayne, but he’s been an inspiration to so many around him, that there will always be another individual who has the same intelligence, a matched fighting prowess, and the same incorruptible drive who will rise, and keep the mantle alive.

Source: deadline.com

A hero can be anyone.                                                                         

Isn’t that what being a hero means?
To inspire people, give them hope in the darkest of nights (excuse the bad pun) and inspire them to fight for what’s right, and for what they believe in?

Batman has been the most relatable and easily appealing superhero of the last half century for those very reasons, and he has continued to evolve into the modern age but he still stands for what he has always stood for.  He has given hope to generations of children and taught them to stand and fight even if the prospects of the battle seem bleak, because it is what defines our moral core and projects for the world to see the kind of people and society we are.

Ladies and gentlemen, that’s what makes a hero.
Show me a hero who does the same.
That’s the point – you can’t, because there isn’t another.

All said and done, Batman is, was and will for the foreseeable future, be The Man.

Batman is one of the most relatable superheroes because unlike those with superhuman powers, Batman’s profile seems much more attainable to us mere mortals.  Batman comics teach us to stay strong, use our brains and be brave.  That is far more than Superman, Aquaman or any other superhero in “cheat mode” can teach.  Becoming Batman seems as easy as just putting on a Batman costume.  No matter what version of Batman you want to become, Wonder Costumes has outfits to turn you into the masked crusader.  Check out our broad Batman costume category.  You can also contact us directly at 1-800-288-9916 or e-mail info@wondercostumes.com for special requests.