Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Batman Batman is a franchise that is famous for its legendary villains. Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy, the Riddler, and of course the Joker all have notorious renown not just in the comic book’s canon but throughout superhero culture. Perhaps one of the reasons so many people are fascinated with Batman in the first place is due to his fantastic villains. In fact, when a new movie comes out, it’s more likely for people to ask about the Joker than they are about the protagonist, especially after Heath Ledger’s unforgettable performance in The Dark Knight. But we forget Batman isn’t meant to be some placeholder playing opposite his evil counterpart. It is, in fact, still his name on the marquee.

In Matt Reeves’ new movie The Batman, we’re reminded just who is the star of the show. This is surprisingly refreshing, considering we’ve been obsessed with his colorful rogues’ gallery for so long. Even though the villain looms darkly over the whole film, the Caped Crusader still has a dominating presence worthy of his status. And his identity as a superhero who could theoretically exist is explored in a way that has never been done before. Which is one reason it is so successful.

In this movie, Batman walks a thin moral line between hero and villain in a way that says to us all, the only difference between being good or evil are the choices you make.

Who Is the Man Behind the Mask?

Too often, are audiences begged to ask: what drives a man like the Joker to be so evil? But only rarely, perhaps never, do we turn this question on Bruce Wayne: what drives him to be so good? Maybe the answer is not the one you were expecting. We all know the origin story: a young boy is orphaned when his family is accosted in an alleyway and killed. In Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins, we see the whole situation develop, but it’s a bit two-dimensional. Boy’s parents killed by mugger; boy hates criminals. Nice and easy. This explanation is clean enough to create just about every Batman we see. And it’s funny that no one dives a little deeper.


Matt Reeves takes this perspective and puts it in the hands of a real person; as if to prove to audiences that an orphan would not be so well-adjusted. Bruce Wayne’s dislike of Gotham’s underworld becomes a full-on obsession straight out of the DSM-5. If we were to ask why Batman is beating up criminals at the beginning of the movie, we’d realize it’s not to protect the city but literally to enact “vengeance” on his parents’ killer. He isn’t getting justice. Batman is just a kid, punching that mugger over and over and over again. But he’s a big kid, using military-grade technology to hurt people who he thinks deserve it. He might as well be in Arkham Asylum himself.

Related: The Philosophy of Batman

In one of the movie’s best moments, that close relationship between hero and villain is expounded upon in the final act of The Batman, when our hero meets the Riddler in prison. The Riddler has a psychotic delusion that Batman has been working with him the entire time, and they would enjoy the fruits of their labor from prison. But Batman is still convinced that he is nothing like his antagonist. Ironically, one shows his face while the other remains masked. The truth of their similarities doesn’t hit Batman until he is in the final battle and hears one of Riddler’s cronies introduce himself the same way he did at the start of the movie: “I’m vengeance.” It’s then he understands that he’s been on the side of good only coincidentally and his enemy’s motivations were the same as his.

Villainy as a Mirror

The Riddler is made to be as terrifying as a real-life serial killer, which probably made it a frightening role to play. And although all we need for Batman’s character to have a proper arc in this film are his antagonist’s motivations, we aren’t given an origin story for either him or the Riddler. Generally, in a Batman movie, the viewer is given at least some look at how his adversaries were created. And it’s done so that the audience can sympathize with the villain and understand Batman’s no-kill policy. Mr. Freeze is trying to save his terminally ill wife. Harvey Dent lost his sense of justice and believes chance is the only truth in the world. The Joker… well, he’s hard to relate to.

Related: Batman’s Big-Screen Villains Ranked from Worst to Best


But along with adding depth to the character, these backstories create a metaphor for how Bruce Wayne must fight similar challenges psychologically just as he fights his villains physically. He understands the desperation caused by loss that plagues Mr. Freeze. His will to uphold his ideals is tested by how Harvey Dent has forsaken his own. And the Joker strikes to Batman’s core, questioning whether his identity is grounded in the man Bruce Wayne or the mask he puts on every night.

Though this may be the central conflict of Batman’s character, it’s repeatedly explored through the villains and seldom in Batman himself. The movie is willing to take that lens of internal conflict and turn it on Bruce Wayne, understanding that these battles aren’t just fought on the streets of Gotham City but inside our hero’s heart. The Batman shows us not just what makes a hero, but what it takes to be one.

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