The Batman Is Back with a “Vengeance”

Spoiler Warning for The Batman

A new Batman has finally debuted on the big screen earlier this month. Robert Pattinson has secured his place in the long line of actors to portray the “world’s greatest detective,” but he has worn the mantle like no other. The director, Matt Reeves, leaned into this detective aspect of the hero that has been a part of the character since his introduction in “Detective Comics” in 1939. This film feels more akin to the noir movies of early Hollywood than other contemporary superhero movies with its dark setting, rich visuals, and slow-burn approach from one clue to the next.

The plot of The Batman sets Bruce Wayne in his second year as a vigilante. He is younger, lonelier, and far more consumed by his alter ego than any of his previous iterations. He lives most of his life nocturnally and appears to see Bruce Wayne as his mask more than “the Batman.” His fighting feels less experienced and he takes heavy hits, but his anger makes him the most brutal fighter on the screen. He takes on the mantle of “vengeance” and he takes it to heart.

It is at this time of his career that a new villain comes on the scene: the Riddler, who begins his crime spree with the murders of many government officials in Gotham City. Batman follows his trail of encrypted clues and livestreams as the Riddler exposes the city’s corruption, which reaches even the Wayne family. For the first time, we see Batman struggle with his own past and what he does, once again showing him to be the most broken Batman we have ever seen.

Once he has faced this revelation, Batman finally catches the Riddler and sees him arrested. It is at this time that the Riddler reveals the connection he thought the two had. He thought they were mirror images of each other and that they had been working together. This is the first time that Batman considers the possibility that he may not be much better than his villains, both wearing masks and breaking laws to reach their own goals. As viewers, we see these parallels throughout the film with similar shots of them surveilling through binoculars, hiding in the darkness, and inspiring fear in their victims.

This message is finally sent home to him in the final act of the movie in which a number of the Riddler’s followers follow his orders to flood Gotham City and attack officials at a rally. Batman takes down one of these followers, and when the man is asked his identity, he responds with the words “I am vengeance,” the very title Batman gave himself in his first shot.

With these words, Batman realizes that he has to be more than just a figure of vengeance and become a more positive symbol and actor: someone who is seen in the light and, even more so, someone who carries the light for others as he is seen doing with a flare in the darkness of the rally. The movie ends with him carrying a woman to a stretcher in the broad daylight, where he is finally recognized as a hero rather than a fearsome vigilante of the night.

This character arc is unique from past iterations of the hero, and gives him a whole new identity. It allows us as viewers to have a new outlook on the motivations of Batman. Whereas other versions have always held onto the death of Bruce’s parents as his deepest motivation with the Batman’s mantle as a burden to be left behind, The Batman sees Bruce emerge from his past trauma and turn his cowl into an emblem of hope.