Something that never fails to irritate me when I see it online is the debate over which Batman actor portrayed the best Bruce Wayne.
I know it’s an odd thing to get worked up about but even when mentioned in conversation; “His Batman was great but his Bruce Wayne wasn’t very good”, this topic annoys the hell out of me!
Why, you ask?
It’s quite simple really - Who the hell cares about Bruce Wayne?!
Now, before you get all defensive and head for the comments to tell me why Bruce Wayne is so important you should know that I’m a HUGE Batman fan and have been since the late 1980s. In fact, he’s my all time favourite comic-book character (don’t call him a superhero coz “technically” he isn’t one).
To be honest, I always feel like this is a totally pointless debate because really…? Who cares?!
Something I love about the whole Batman/Bruce Wayne concept is that with this character, Batman is his true identity and Bruce Wayne is merely his disguise unlike many other superheroes/comic-book heroes where the opposite is true.
If you somehow weren’t aware, Bruce Wayne witnessed his parents' murder as a young boy. As a result of what would now be diagnosed as PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) he dedicated his life to ridding Gotham City of the kind of scum that took his parents from him (as well as any other criminal goings-on that might be occurring) as the masked vigilante, Batman. He’s so consumed by vengeance and grief that he considers “Batman” to be his true identity, and Bruce Wayne nothing more than an alter-ego.
Unlike other comic-book characters I personally don’t think how an actor portrays Bruce Wayne needs to be a talking point. I mean, if we got a Batman movie where Bruce Wayne got more screen time than Batman people would be kicking off! Look what they were like about Iron Man 3, and Tony Stark is a way more interesting character than Bruce Wayne!
I just feel like by now we all know what we each expect from a Batman film: Violence, capes, cool gadgets, interesting villains and…yep, Batman.
I couldn’t give a rat’s arse about Bruce Wayne as long as Batman is the main focus. At the end of the day he’s just there to distract people from the truth - and that is that the richest guy in Gotham is in fact The Caped Crusader.
With all that said, I did think Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne was pretty good. He did a really good job of portraying Bruce as a pretentious, spoilt playboy who couldn’t possibly be anything other than just that. And there you have the perfect disguise (Keaton was the best Batman though).
Would I get excited about watching a film called “Bruce Wayne”? Very unlikely. “Batman” on the other hand…? Every single time!
What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments.
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