What comic book fan never thought of being Batman at some point in your life? Between the base and equipment, his specialized fighting moves, and the incredibly cool car, the hero has a lot of things that have earned him the love and adoration of fans around the world.
But the one aspect of Batman that makes him possible, his immense wealth, has, ironically, been the subject of debate among fans. I'm sure you've noticed that there's been a real shift against the obscenely rich in recent years and the tensions only seem to get worse as the years go by. Now a notable Batman The writer is chiming in with his thoughts and generating an interesting conversation about the Dark Knight's billionaire status.
James Tynion IV Reminds Fans That Batman Wasn't Always Extremely Rich
Batman shouldn't be part of the most corrupt systems
Put PopverseFormer Batman writer James Tynion IV recently spoke at CCXP and spoke to the crowd about his time on the title. Eventually, he began discussing his 2020 storyline, “Joker War,” which saw the Clown Prince of Crime hit Batman where it hurt and stole the Wayne Family fortune. Although Bruce lost almost everything and spent the next few years without his family's immense wealth, he still served as the Caped Crusader, albeit on a limited budget. Tynion spoke about his decision to strip Batman of his billionaire status and reflected on the character's financial history.
...in the early Batman stories, he wasn't one of the richest people in the world.
Tynion highlighted that his story directly confronted changing attitudes towards the extremely rich and highlighted that in Batman's earliest stories, he was not one of the richest people in the world. He admitted he wanted to take Bruce down.”some pins”, but not so much that he couldn't do his job as Batman. Instead of, Batman had to work within more restrictive limits and not be able tobuy six satellites and build a rocket tomorrow”.
Tynion had more to say about how particularly difficult it is to stick Batman, saying he's a billionaire but the only one who's truly fighting against the injustices of the upper elite. Tynion reaffirmed this by saying that “Batman has also always been against a corrupt system”, even in the old stories where his actions were limited to just he tried to eradicate local corruption. Tynion also made a point of noting that even though Batman comes from the upper elite, he will always be fighting them and will never truly be part of them.
DC is aware of how society feels about billionaires and has tried to recast Batman
At least it gave us the absolute Batman
I'd say you'd have to be willfully ignorant not to see how angry people are at the ultra-rich right now. Many are struggling while the rich only seem to get richer, especially as legislation to control multimillionaires seems, at best, a pipe dream. And as is often the case, we begin to see this anger reflected in the art we consume, in movies, television shows, and even comics. So it was just a matter of time before DC Comics decided to see how it could make its most iconic character work in this rapidly changing culture.
Around the time that anti-billionaire attitudes began to become more popular, “Joker War” was published and removed Batman's status as one of the richest people in the DC Universe. We got to see a slightly smaller version of the Dark Knight, who swapped his towering Wayne Manor for a brownstone in the heart of Gotham. That said, it didn't take long for Bruce to make money back thanks to his alter ego, Zur-En-Arrh, who had amassed several billion dollars and hidden it in secret accounts. Then Batman is a billionaire once again, but not exactly the richest person on the planet.
Batman became a billionaire once again in Batman #149 (2024)!
I was kind of disappointed that DC went through such a big change again, especially since it only lasted a few years and never seemed to bother Batman. However, the publisher recently introduced a new Dark Knight in Absolute Batmanand the biggest selling point was that this Bruce was not rich by any means. I was skeptical, but Absolute Batman It was a fun read and is everything a Batman story should be, even if Bruce doesn't have an absurd amount of money to his name.
Batman can change with the times as long as fans are open-minded
A new status quo can work as long as DC persists
I know more fans don't like the idea of changing aspects of Batman. For many, he is an untouchable pillar and, believe me, I also don't think changes should be made to him arbitrarily. But the truth is, the way people feel about the super-elite isn't going away anytime soon. More people than ever are aware of wealth disparity and oligarchy and the idea of a “good billionaire” is increasingly difficult to imagine, even for a fictional superhero universe.
...the truth is that the way people feel about the super-elite isn't going away anytime soon.
Now I think Batman shouldn't have any money? Of course. Having money is an intrinsic part of his character, as it has allowed him to travel the world and develop the equipment necessary to wage his war on crime. And as James Tynion IV said, Batman wasn't always one of the richest people on the planethe simply had too much cash on hand. And while I like what DC did with Absolute BatmanI don't think it should in any way be the standard for every Batman.
James Tynion IV probably got it right when he had the Joker steal Batman's fortune. He made it so that Bruce was no longer part of the upper crust, but had just enough to survive and continue his crusade. It's a novel idea and one that could have actually worked if DC had persisted and not if Bruce had rescued him by making him rich again in the future. Batman doesn't need to be a billionaire, but it doesn't hurt for him to have the funds he needs to remain the Dark Knight.
Removing Batman's billionaire status is for the best
A small change could keep the Dark Knight relevant
Batman has been around for nearly a century, so it's no surprise that a part of him has simply fallen out of favor in the real world. But that doesn't mean the character needs to be completely reworked, just modified to better reflect what the culture is like now. Batman could still have millions, even hundreds of millions to his name, and most would probably not even blink. But given how society's views on wealth in this world are rapidly changing, it's probably a good idea to leave Batman's billionaire status behind for good.
Source: Popverse