Characters / DCEU: Batman

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Bruce Wayne / Batman

"I don't care how many demons he's fought in how many hells. He's never fought us. Not us united."

^{Click here to see Bruce Wayne}
"Maybe it's the Gotham City in me. We just have a bad history with freaks dressed like clowns."

Species: Human

Citizenship: American

Affiliation(s): Wayne Enterprises, Justice League

Portrayed By: Ben Affleck, Brandon Spink (age 9), Richard Cetrone (stunts)

Voiced By: René García (Latin-American Spanish), Claudio Serrano (European Spanish), Masato Obara (Japanese), Boris Rehlinger (European French), Pierre Auger (Canadian French), Jorge Lucas (Brazilian Portuguese)

Film appearances: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice | Suicide Squad | Justice League | Zack Snyder's Justice League | The Flash

Appearances in Other Media: Gotham City Turkish Airlines TV Spot, The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive

"Twenty years in Gotham, Alfred. We've seen what promises are worth. How many good guys are left? How many stayed that way?"

Bruce Wayne is a multi-billionaire by day, and secretly the Batman - a costumed crime-fighting vigilante - by night. After witnessing the murder of his parents Thomas and Martha Wayne as a child, he vowed to cleanse the streets in Gotham City of corruption and misdeed, and became heavily seasoned as an expert crime fighter and detective.

Further personal tragedies made him increasingly cynical, violent and reckless in his crime fighting, however. The reveal of Superman to the world changed him completely in this regard, for the worst at first following the cataclysmic battle of Metropolis, then for the best when he saw who the Man of Steel really was.

There was no bigger sign of change in him than his decision to form and lead the Justice League to protect mankind against a new invasion from Apokolips in the absence of Superman, motivated by the latter's selfless sacrifice.

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#-F

• '90s Anti-Hero: Dark, brooding and not averse to using lethal force. Since Batman has been active for 20 years circa The New '10s, it's not hard to see where he got his influence from.
• Action Hero: Previous cinematic versions of Batman used quick, simple fighting techniques to complement his gadgets in the task of dispatching his enemies. This Batman favors straightforward martial arts assault combined with surprise Arkham Series-style take downs and only uses his gadgets to enhance them.
• Adaptation Personality Change:
  • Another major difference is that this version of Bruce Wayne is much more bitter, brutal, and jaded compared to previous cinematic and animated versions, which is justified by how this version has already been fighting crime in Gotham for twenty years by this point.
  • In both cuts of Justice League, unlike his traditional opposition to the use of the Lazarus Pit in other versions to resurrect people, Superman's return by use of the Genesis Chamber and a Mother Box is due to a decision Bruce actively made—though given how Steppenwolf was able to overpower the League, his decision to revive Superman could count as the Godzilla Threshold. The Snyder Cut also indicates this is due to guilt for his role in Superman's death, something implied in the theatrical cut.
• Adopt the Dog: In light of the above Adaptation Personality Change, his decision to spare Superman and save Martha Kent marks the point where he stops acting like an Unscrupulous Hero and becomes fully heroic again. It also inspires him to unite other metahumans to band together and protect the Earth after Superman's death.
• Age Lift: Batman in the comics is thought of being in his mid-thirties, and his actors in prior adaptations were in that range as well. Ben Affleck was already in his 40s, so Batman is now Older and Wiser (not quite Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, who was 55, but visibly on the way). Though the fact that he's in his 40s and had a 20+ year career as Batman implies that like in the comics, he did start off as Batman in his 20s. According to tie-in media, he became Batman in 1993 at the age of 21, sharing the same birth year as his actor.
• Alternate Self:
  • Bruce has numerous alternate counterparts within The Multiverse of the Arrowverse from the blonde-haired, middle aged Dark Knight of Earth-9 to the campy Lighter and Softer Bright Knight of Earth-66 and the Caped Crusader of Earth-89 in addition to his other selves in Earth-Prime, Earth-21, Earth-97, Earth-99, Earth-167, Earth-203 and Earth-N52.
  • Within the direct DCEU itself, the Knightmare Batman and an older version of Batman somehow resembling that of the Arrowverse's Earth-89 appear in past or future alternate timelines.
• Animal Motif: Bats, the symbol of one of his childhood fears and a predator of the night.
• Anonymous Benefactor: He anonymously funded Clark Kent's funeral in Smallville.
• Anti-Hero: In addition to being Older and Wiser, in Dawn of Justice, the Batman we see is an extremely paranoid, aggressive, and ruthless superhero. He's the first cinematic Batman since the Tim Burton films to openly use guns and inflict lethal damage on his opponents, though it's usually only in situations where he's in extreme desperation/stress, is out of other options, or where the mooks wouldn't have died if they'd had a little more common sense. He only kills criminals when they're openly trying to kill him first, with his attempted, premeditated murder of Superman being the sole exception.
• The Anti-Nihilist: In a scene taken directly from Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, he tells Clark that his parents' murder taught him "the world only makes sense when you force it to". Keep in mind, he says this at his lowest and has moved on from this mindset as of Justice League. See Character Development.
• Armor Is Useless: Averted. The Batsuit can withstand knives and point-blank handgun fire with little issue. That said, it's not gonna do anything against beings with literally superhuman strength.
• The Atoner: At the end of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, he funds Clark Kent/Superman's private funeral, and vows to form the Justice League as atonement for misjudging the Man of Steel and having an indirect part in his death, and also to protect the Earth now that he's gone.
  Bruce: I failed him in life. I won't fail him in death.
  • It's also a major character trait of his in Justice League.
  Bruce: He was more human than I am.
• Badass Boast:
  • "Tell me, do you bleed? You will!"
  • In Zack Snyder's Justice League: "I don't care how many demons he's fought in how many hells. He's never fought us. Not us united."
• Badass Cape: Which imitates bat wings. It is apparently fireproof as shown when Batman saves Martha Kent by making Anatoli Knyazev's flamethrower tank explode, covering her with the cape.
• Badass Normal: He helped in the fight against Doomsday by distracting him with his Batwing and later shooting a kryptonite grenade in the monster's face (weakening him enough that Superman could have an opening to impale him with the kryptonite spear), killed a number of Parademons despite them being able to fly and having grossly superhuman strength, played a vital role in the Justice League's first battles just via the heavy firepower his vehicles brought, and more. Also, he came up with a successful strategy for neutralizing Superman's immense strength (this did require a specialized suit of Powered Armor, but just being able to operate it required Batman to undergo an insane workout regimen) and almost succeded in killing him, but had a change of heart at the last moment.
• Batman Grabs a Gun: He shoots Knyazev's flamethrower with a machine gun in order to save Martha Kent's life. In this case, he's compromising one promise to fulfill another.
• Benevolent Boss: Needless to say, the kind of boss who would drive into a crumbling city in the midst of an Alien Invasion and charge right into a collapsing skyscraper to rescue you is the kind of boss you would want to work for.
• Beware the Superman: His belief in this is his entire motivation in Batman v. Superman, until he sees the error of his ways in the worst way possible.
• Broken Faceplate: Towards the end of the fight with Superman, Batman's helmet gets broken enough to partially expose his face, with the white eyes and voice changer taking noticable damage.
• Bullying a Dragon: In the theatrical cut of Justice League. Coyly asking the secretive Aquaman about Atlantis promptly gets him grabbed and slammed against a wall.
• Calling Card:
  • Whenever he's done at crime scenes, he leaves a Batarang behind to serve as both one of these and a psychological weapon against potential wrongdoers.
  • He also carries Wayne Enterprises business cards just in case.
• The Cameo: He has quite a few in Suicide Squad, since it focuses on some of Gotham City's most notorious criminals, who were arrested by him.
  • He is first seen arresting Deadshot.
  • He then gets into a car chase with the Joker and Harley Quinn before saving Harley from drowning, punching her underwater as she drew a knife and giving her a Kiss of Life before apprehending her.
  • Enchantress' powers make Deadshot hallucinate his fondest dream: seeing Batman dead.
  • As Bruce Wayne, he has a private meeting with Amanda Waller in The Stinger. He agrees to help her to deal with the mess her Task Force X project caused in exchange for information on some meta-humans he needs to form the Justice League. He also makes a point about dissolving the Suicide Squad. Should Waller not abide, his "friends" (the Justice League) will take care of that. Waller also seems to have discovered his secret.
• The Casanova: Bruce has quite a bit of Ship Tease going on with Diana. He once admitted to spending three days with a Bolshoi ballerina and bedding a different woman in one scene. He even admits that getting distracted by pretty women has been a bad habit of his.
• Character Development: In his debut during the events of Batman v Superman, he's seen at his lowest, having abandoned most of his principles with his needless violence and cruelty when it comes to crime-fighting. Come Justice League (both versions), it's clear Superman's sacrifice has turned him back, and he has returned to be the man and hero he likely was before, without losing the edge, supporting and leading the Justice League the best he can. He even showed glimpses of change when arresting Deadshot in Suicide Squad, giving him enough time to say goodbye to his daughter before he was taken in by the police. Albeit, it's not known whether that event was set before or after his vendetta against Superman.
• Charles Atlas Superpower: Batman displays incredible strength and fighting skill, acquired through grueling training. During his rescue of Martha Kent, he is seen pummeling mooks with what some calculations described as twice the strength of a heavyweight boxer. Displayed even moreso in Justice League, where he's able to hold his own against Parademons in hand-to-hand combat.
• Chest Insignia: In Batman v Superman, he has the same large black bat silhouette as in The Dark Knight Returns on his grey suit.
• Collective Identity: As Barry Allen will eventually discover in his own film, this isn't the only Batman or even Bruce Wayne.
• The Comically Serious: He is this in the theatrical version of Justice League.
• Composite Character: At his lowest, Batman is similar to his wards Jason Todd and Damian Wayne. At the start of their respective character arcs, all three believed that criminals had their collective chance and should be punished with death. All three eventually shift away from this mindset and develop compassion due to the influence of their allies. He also has a similar fighting style to the Batman of the Batman: Arkham Series and an affinity for tank-like Batmobiles and brutality of the Batman from Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. Zack Snyder's Justice League also implies he's the one to mutilate Deathstroke's right eye, which was done by Slade's ex-wife Adeline Kane, and gains the enmity from Slade normally reserved for Dick Grayson in other incarnations.
• Comic-Book Movies Don't Use Codenames: In Batman v Superman, he's only referred to as "Batman" once, by Perry White; everyone else just calls him "the Bat" or "the Gotham Bat." Averted in Justice League.
• Contrasting Sequel Main Character: Or in this case, Contrasting Reboot Main Character. The Dark Knight Trilogy portrays Batman as a rookie idealist in a realistic world while DCEU Batman is an angry, seasoned veteran living in a more fantastical world, at least in Batman v Superman. Additionally, compared to the Batman Film Series Batman, both the Bale and Affleck versions' Bruce Wayne persona are more the suave Millionaire Playboy persona of the comics, whereas the Keaton Batman is a reclusive Socially Awkward Hero who had little use of the Bruce Wayne identity outside of a mask.
• Cool Car: Either as Bruce Wayne or as Batman, he's got some awesome cars.
  • His Batmobile, of course.
  • He uses a Jeep Renegade to tear through the disaster-strewn city of Metropolis to get to his Wayne Enterprises building in a desperate attempt to save as many of his employees (and other citizens) as possible whilst angrily observing Superman fighting Zod.
  • The Aston Martin DB Mark III◊ he uses in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. The car used for the film belongs to the director, Zack Snyder.
  • His Mercedes-Benz AMG Vision Gran Turismo◊ in which he takes Barry Allen for a ride in Justice League.
• Cool Garage: The Batcave. It's so cool that the Flash can't help but be in awe when entering it in both cuts of Justice League.
• Cool Shades: The upgraded batsuit he wears during the assault on Steppenwolf's stronghold comes with a set of dark-lensed goggles.
• Covered with Scars: His shirtless scenes in Batman v. Superman show off an impressive collection of scars, accumulated over his decades of crimefighting.
• The Cowl: As the Trope Codifier compared to Superman's Cape, he is a costumed Badass Normal operating mostly by night.
• Crazy-Prepared: One of the main reasons why he can take down a super-being. In his fight with Superman, he has littered the battlefield with traps for the Man of Steel (even if his invulnerability means they serve more as brief distractions) and got his hands on some kryptonite.
• Creepy Good: The first glimpse of Batman in the movie is via Jump Scare and various scenes emphasize how terrifying he is for criminals to fight (and how even the cops are scared of him too).
• Crimefighting with Cash: As per usual, he makes up for his lack of powers with his immense wealth. Lampshaded in this dialogue in Justice League:
  Barry: What are your superpowers, again?
  Bruce: I'm rich.
  • He owns six satellites. Keep in mind the surveillance drones owned by the military cost $12 million each.
• Cunning Linguist: He speaks Russian briefly. Bruce in his playboy guise states that he picked it up from one of his Girl of the Week but since he's pretty clearly in Obfuscating Stupidity mode, he's underselling his language skills. In the Snyder Cut he demonstrates that he knows Icelandic.
• The Cynic: He's become this after twenty years of crimefighting. When Alfred insists his fixation on killing Superman is unfounded and he's not their enemy, Bruce blows it off, saying that just because Superman isn't their enemy now doesn't mean he won't be.
  Bruce: Twenty years in Gotham, Alfred... we've seen what promises are worth. How many good guys are left? How many stayed that way?
• Cynicism Catalyst: The Battle of Metropolis made him wary of Superman. In addition, Robin's death by the hands of the Joker is heavily implied to be one of the major reasons he's so jaded and more brutal.
• Daddy Issues: He comments to Alfred about how he's now older than his father was when he died. He's also briefly taken aback when Superman's almost-last words mirrored what his father said.
• Dark Is Not Evil: He may be vengeance and the night, but he's also an enforcer of justice through and through. His morality takes a beating, however, when he sees many co-workers die during the Battle of Metropolis; ignoring justice for the sake of vengeance. He shakes said vengeance off at the end of his duel against Superman.
• Deadpan Snarker: He's got quite a supply of short quips in the theatrical cut of Justice League.
• Death Glare: He shoots a look of pure primal rage at the sky after rescuing a little girl from the destruction caused by Superman and Zod's fight.
  • A death glare is sculpted into his cowl, making him look extra threatening.
  • At the end of the warehouse fight, he stares down a pinned member of Knyazev's mercenaries (the same one who stabbed him moments prior) for a good 10 seconds before doing something no doubt incredibly painful to him. The guy visibly quakes with fear in response.
  • The ending of Batman v Superman has him confronting Lex Luthor whilst in prison. The first thing Lex sees when he turns around is Batman, eyes locked onto him with rage.
• Death Seeker: Implied to have been as such by Alfred. Later on, Bruce even admits that he feels like he should be the one to take down Superman, because he wants to leave behind a legacy.
  Alfred: Even you got too old to die young, and not for lack of trying.
• Dehumanizing Insult: He throws several of these at Superman during their fight in Dawn of Justice.
  Batman: You're not brave. Men are brave.
  Batman: You were never a god. You were never even a man!
• Dented Iron: It is subtle, yet in his shirtless Training Montage, we see he has all the scars someone would expect from a lifetime of fighting.
  • In the theatrical cut of Justice League, after the group's first fight with Steppenwolf and his Parademon army, Bruce steps away from the group while they are deliberating in the Batcave in order to secretly tend to his wounds, not wanting the collection of nigh-gods and superhumans to see him injured. When Diana enters, she is able to see all of the ridiculous amounts of bruising and internal bleeding that are plainly visible on his body as one would expect from a man trying to keep up with gods and superhumans, and even pops his shoulder back into place for him while asking how long he thinks he can keep it up. Of note, similarly to the Doomsday battle in Batman v Superman, Batman didn't even actually fight Steppenwolf during said encounter and never does throughout the movie, knowing full well that even an extraordinary man such as him could never hope to take him on alone — the Parademons already give him a hard time on their own.
• Depleted Phlebotinum Shells: Uses a grenade launcher loaded with Kryptonite gas canisters to fight Superman and Doomsday.
• Destructive Saviour: He apparently has a reputation for this. After all the property damage caused by the League's first fight with Steppenwolf, Gordon quips that Batman hasn't lost his touch.
• Didn't Think This Through: His plan to fight a Physical God is to use Kryptonite gas to weaken said God enough to fight on the same level as him. Great plan... until it turns out the effects are temporary.
• Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: Even when at the mercy of the Man of Steel after crashing the Batmobile against him, he still has the balls to ask him if he bleeds, and state that he will.
• Doesn't Like Guns: Averted. He actually uses guns a few times against Superman, the first being a trap and some handheld grenade launchers that fire Kryptonite gas.
  • He also uses a thug's M60 to kill Anatoli Knyazev - though not by shooting him.
  • The Bad Future shows he's openly carrying an assault rifle and holstered .45 pistol, and is entirely willing to use them.
  • In both versions of Justice League, he uses plasma weapons that are dropped by downed Parademons including a turret.
• Draw Aggro: Whenever Batman operates in a team, he'll keep the enemy distracted while his superpowered allies prepare their assault.
• The Dreaded: Criminals quake just from the sound of his name, and his murderous intentions even creep Superman out.
• Dreaming of Things to Come: He wakes up from a very scary Darkseid-dominated Bad Future nightmare he has in Batman v. Superman just to see the Flash show up to deliver him an Ominous Message from the Future. That bad future likely could have happened had the events of the film turned out differently.
• Egomaniac Hunter: In one conversation at Wayne Manor, Bruce and Alfred discuss the Wayne ancestors with Bruce noting that his colonial ancestors traded animal skins and pelts with the French, clearly likening his obsession with Superman.
• Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: He may not be a bad guy (though he is definitely a case of Good Is Not Nice), but Bruce clearly has a soft spot for his mother. The sight of a little girl crying over her dead mother was what caused his initial dislike of Superman and is the key factor in stopping him from killing Superman.
• Experienced Protagonist: He started his crime-fighting career a good 20 years before the events of Batman v. Superman, in which he is introduced. From certain dialogue and scenes, we know he already defeated the Penguin, Deadshot, Harley Quinn, Killer Croc, KGBeast, and other members of his rogues gallery, and went through at least one Robin.
• Extreme Mêlée Revenge: According to David Ayer, the reason that the Joker wears a grill is that Batman knocked his original teeth out after the Clown Prince of Crime killed Robin.
• Failure Knight: He sees himself this way because Gotham City is still a Wretched Hive twenty years later.
• Fallen Hero: Through much of the early portions of Batman v. Superman. This is a Batman no longer concerned with those who get in his way and accepts his brutality as necessary (the prequel comics establish he's become more brutal after Bruce Wayne saw the Kryptonians level Metropolis). Essentially he had literally lived long enough to see himself become a villain. Thankfully, events in the film transpire to help bring him back around.
• Fantastic Racism: For most of the movie, he calls Superman "an alien" and basically keeps insulting him in their encounters and refuses to even consider his point of view. It takes the revelation that Superman has a human mother to make him realize that he's just as human as him, if not more as he points out to Alfred in Justice League.
• A Father to His Men: A non-military variety. After one of his Metropolis-based buildings is destroyed, Bruce rushes in to check on the survivors and provide some words of comfort.
• Feeling Their Age: Both physically and metaphorically in Justice League, especially in the theatrical cut. It's clear that we're seeing Batman in what appears to be the later years of his career and, despite his skills and accomplishments, he's still a human among demigods, aliens, and otherwise "gifted" individuals. Over the course of the film, Batman deals with things way above his weight class and suffers severe injuries that do not heal properly, if they heal at all. Not only that, he and Alfred kind of believe the age and legacy of Batman are coming to an end and will soon become irrelevant in a world of actual superhumans. He still supports the League the best he can with his technology and wise leadership. This conversation sums the trope best.
  Diana: You know you can't do this forever.
  Bruce: I can barely do it now.
• Fiction 500: As per usual. At the end of Justice League, when Clark asks how he managed to buy back the Kent Farm, Bruce nonchalantly admits that he bought the bank Martha sold it to.
• Foil:
  • Initially one for Superman. While Superman focuses on saving as many people as possible and only resorts to violence when the need arises, Batman adopts the "scare 'em straight" approach and leaves the rescuing to the police. As a result, Superman is beloved by the masses (though not without his skeptics) while Batman is either feared or remains unknown. Superman will answer for his actions if requested, while Batman either runs or taunts.
  • For Lex Luthor; they're both incredibly wealthy individuals who spend Batman v. Superman seeking to destroy Superman, but everything else about them is as different as night and day. Bruce is a strongly physical combatant, hides his identity behind an intimidating mask, wants to kill Superman out of the misguided belief that it needs to be done, had a good relationship with his devoted father, cares about his employees, and, despite his moral decay, remains a good man at heart, all contrasting Lex's Non-Action Big Bad and Villain with Good Publicity status, desire to ruin Superman out of his own personal views on God, hatred of his abusive father, lack of any shred of concern for his employees (he notably leaves Mercy to die in the Capital bombing), and thorough moral bankruptcy.
• Friend to All Children: He embraces a lost little girl in the wreckage during the Battle of Metropolis, and in the tie-in comics helps one kid escape from hostage-taking thieves while still dressed as Bruce Wayne, and in another, when he finds out that a young girl caught a quick shot of him on her camera, goes and just kindly asks her to erase it. He also wanted to avoid fighting Deadshot in front of his daughter.

G-L

• Gadgeteer Genius: He and Alfred built the Batcave by themselves, and he develops and constructs his own devices.
• Genius Bruiser: A staple of the character. He's both a brilliant fighter as well as a Gadgeteer Genius, the "World's Greatest Detective" and practically without peer when it comes to combat strategy.
• The Ghost: Harley Quinn mentions him twice by his superhero alias in Birds of Prey and even names her hyena pet "Bruce" (without figuring out who "that hunky Wayne guy" really is, of course). He is nowhere to be seen in the film.
• Glowing Mechanical Eyes: His Powered Armor's helmet has Glowing Eyes of Doom, though the lenses are destroyed in the fight against Superman.
• Good Is Not Nice: One of the most violent and aggressive heroes out there and fully willing to preemptively murder Superman because he sees him as a threat.
• Grappling-Hook Pistol: Uses one to reach far distances and heights. He also uses it in combat.
• Great Detective: Hailed as the "World's Greatest Detective" in the DC Universe, and in this particular one, it helps him track down metahumans like Victor Stone and Diana Prince.
• Guile Hero: What makes him capable of going toe-to-toe with a Physical God is outsmarting the guy with traps and special weapons.
• Heel Realization: Upon learning that Superman has a human mother, he has PTSD remembering the death of his parents, and Lois coming to help Superman reminds him of himself when his parents died. Batman ultimately comes to the conclusion that, in spite of his immense powers, Superman is innocent and killing him would make Batman no better than the murderer who killed his parents. This causes the Adopt the Dog Character Development described above.
• Hero Antagonist: To Harley and Deadshot, and to a lesser extent Amanda Waller, in Suicide Squad. He could be seen as this to Superman, but he's much less heroic in that conflict.
• Heroic Build: Easily the most muscular live-action Batman to this day. He is built like a heavyweight Mixed Martial Arts fighter, and his suits and CrossFit-like training emphasize this very much.
• Hero with Bad Publicity: Due to his more brutal methods compared to Superman. In a prequel comic, the news of Supes getting a statue even leads to this dialogue:
  Alfred: Tsk. All your years of service and they've never as much named a street after you.
  Bruce: Good. Some lunatic would take it as a challenge to kill everyone who set foot on it.
• He Who Fights Monsters: Batman's anger against Superman is primarily fueled by witnessing the destruction of the Wayne Enterprises building and the countless deaths of his employees still inside, including the mother of a scared girl who Bruce personally comforts in the aftermath. In the next 18 months, however, the anger within slowly consumes Batman as he becomes more and more obsessed with Superman and his god-like power, growing more violent and unreasonable in the process. When the fight actually comes, Batman is unwilling to listen to Superman's pleas and mercilessly attacks him. After he has Superman at his mercy, Batman mocks how Superman was never really human and prepares to impale him with the Kryptonite spear. It's only when Batman learns that Superman's mother, Martha, is being held hostage by Luthor's thugs at gunpoint does he realize how close he was about to do the very thing he fought against: Harming the innocent.
• Hidden Depths: Surprisingly or unsurprisingly, Bruce is a fan of underground MMA fights, though it's part of his usual corporate-hack shtick. He also knows a great deal about science, talking shop with Cyborg and The Flash (both being genius level intellect who know a lot about biomechanics) and having a "Eureka!" Moment about how the Mother Box tech can be used to revive Superman, which he believes will work immediately based on his educated intuition while Cyborg runs the numbers to confirm that the probability is quite strong.
• Honest Corporate Executive: As the CEO of WayneEnterprises, Bruce is a philanthropist who truly wants to save Gotham. He also gives checks to his employees who were injured during the Superman-Zod fight, and he was there to help. Then in Justice League he buys the bank Martha Kent sold her farm to, just so she could have that farm back.
• Horrifying Hero: Moreso than Christian Bale's version; he is regularly referred to as a "demon", "ghost" or "monster" by those who witness his battles in the shadows, and in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice his malevolent gargoyle-like shadow that loomed over a young police officer terrified him so much he immediately opened fire upon it.
• Humans Are Flawed: Discussed with Diana at the end of Dawn of Justice. Bruce acknowledges that humans are flawed, that they fight, kill, and betray one another, but they're still good and can rebuild and do better.
  Diana: A hundred years ago I walked away from mankind, from a century of horrors... Men made a world where standing together is impossible.
  Bruce: Men are still good: we fight, we kill, we betray one another... But we can rebuild. We can do better. We will. We have to.
• Hunk: Even gets called as such by Harley Quinn.
• Hypocrite:
  • He has disturbingly few qualms about killing criminals when he considers doing so appropriate, when he himself only ever became a hero in the first place to get revenge for his parents being killed by a criminal.
  • At the end of Suicide Squad, he bails out Amanda Waller from facing justice for her incompetence and crimes, and yet gives her a stern warning about using the Suicide Squad again, insisting that the Justice League will stop her. This would have weight if Wayne wasn't just as incompetent as Waller (having been a puppet for Luthor), not to mention that he provides covers from a Corrupt Politician like any two-faced oligarch.
• I Can't Do This by Myself: The events of Batman v Superman make him realize the Earth faces great dangers from other worlds and he can't protect it alone, so he decides to form the Justice League.
• Iconic Sequel Character: Does not appear in the DCEU until its second film entry.
• Ignored Expert: In The Flash, he warns Barry of the catastrophic consequences of time traveling to the past. Barry then ignores his advice when he thinks he discovered a loophole around it and creates a wildly different timeline as a result.
• If You Kill Him, You Will Be Just Like Him!: This version of the character tosses Batman's Thou Shalt Not Kill policy out the window. The fact that he was about to kill Superman, who has a mother he [Superman] deeply cares about, makes him have a Heel Realization about exactly this, and backs away from the amorality as a result. Flashbacks in Suicide Squad show him holding a higher standard when confronting criminals.
• Immune to Bullets: Pistol rounds, at least. That suit of his isn't just for intimidation. He gets shot in the back of the head, twice, at point-blank range... and it does little more than annoy him. Note that in Real Life, even relatively light class III-A body armor is supposed to be proof against just about any pistol round (see the North Hollywood Shootout for what happens when someone makes a full body version of it), so this is par for the course for a Crazy-Prepared and well-equipped vigilante.
• I Shall Taunt You: Threatens to make Superman bleed. He goes further by needling Clark about not being a man at all, and even belittles Superman's Kryptonian parents for making Superman believe he was sent to Earth for a reason.
• It's Personal: Deleted dialogue from Suicide Squad implies that Batman captured Harley and had her sent to Belle Reve specifically to torment Joker as payback for the murder of Robin.
• Jade-Colored Glasses: Initially an idealistic hero, Batman has been worn down by twenty years of crime-fighting, on top of Robin's death and witnessing the destruction caused by Superman and Zod's fight; to this end, he ends up throwing himself into plotting against and killing Superman, believing that ridding the world of a potential alien threat will be the one thing he does that really matters. When Alfred insists his fixation on killing Superman is unfounded and he's not their enemy, Bruce blows it off, saying that just because Superman isn't their enemy now doesn't mean he won't be.
  Bruce: Twenty years in Gotham, Alfred... we've seen what promises are worth. How many good guys are left? How many stayed that way?
• Jaded Washout: He started out as an idealistic superhero but twenty years of crimefighting, the death of Robin and finally witnessing the destruction Superman caused during Zod's invasion has led him to this end. He frequently dismisses his past accomplishments and career as a crimefighter, lamenting that in the end, the old criminals he stopped were just replaced by new criminals, like weeds. For Batman, fighting Superman is a bigger quest and possesses greater meaning than all the supervillains he stopped in his past. This arrogance comes to bite him hard by the end of the film. By the time of Justice League, he has made peace with it, even accepting that he and his career will likely become a footnote in a world of actual super-beings.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: After two decades of fighting crime, Batman has become cynical and apathetic towards the world. He is also viciously speciesist towards Superman during their fight. His heart of gold only gets to shine in the climax, when the Trinity works together to beat Doomsday. After Superman's Heroic Sacrifice, Bruce is forced to admit he misjudged Superman and vows to form the Justice League.
• Jerkass Has a Point: When Diana accuses him of being unable to move on from Superman's death in Justice League (theatrical cut), he makes the harsh but accurate point that Diana shut down for over a century after Steve Trevor's death. He also fairly points out that he's trying to bring back a beacon to the world; Diana herself is a beacon to the world but let her cynicism get the better of her.
• Judge, Jury, and Executioner: He is referred to by a headline with these very words, due to the brutality he showcases against criminals (18 or more criminals being Bat-branded in one month when Clark investigates his case) in Batman v Superman.
• Kick the Dog: In the theatrical cut of Justice League - bringing up Diana's long-dead boyfriend who she is still pining for in conversation as an argument was a real dick move.
• Killing in Self-Defense: This Batman has no qualms against using lethal force; among other things, he's crashed and wrecked vehicles with enemies still inside using the Batmobile, as well as using both its guns and the Batwing's to cause explosions near enemies, usually by blowing up nearby vehicles. He also allows his opponents to be caught in explosions, as by knocking grenades near them, or shooting Knyazev's flamethrower to save Martha Kent. However, he only uses lethal force against criminals, in response to them using it against him first; Zack Snyder even likens Batman's policy in this regard to the difference between manslaughter and murder.
• Kleptomaniac Hero: He breaks into Lexcorp and steals the Kryptonite Lex has procured... so he can use it against Superman himself.
• Knight in Sour Armor: Twenty years of fighting criminals have visibly worn him down. Batman frequently dismisses his past accomplishments and career as a crimefighter, lamenting that in the end the old criminals he stopped were just replaced by new criminals, like weeds. He even throws himself into a fighting Superman, believing that it'll be the one thing he does that truly matters. By the end of the film, however, he's Taken a Level in Idealism.
• Knight Templar: His rigid belief that Superman is a potential enemy leads him to say that if there is a 1% chance of him exterminating humanity then he had to take it as an "absolute certainty". He still shows this in Justice League where he's willing to risk his life, that of his crew, the whole planet for the sake of resurrecting Superman. Believing that they should do it even if there's a "fraction of a chance" it could work, while Diana points out the risk of them creating another Doomsday the way Luthor did, and Flash noting that Superman could come back as a mindless zombie. Bruce claims that scientifically it would work and Cyborg admits that the probability is good, but it was still a huge risk, and a revived Superman was on path to killing the Justice League, Batman, and random bystanders before Lois arrived.
• Lantern Jaw of Justice: Par the norm, even his Batsuits leave open a window to the manly perfection it is.
• Large and in Charge: One of the reasons Ben Affleck was cast is because he's taller than Henry Cavill. Add the Heroic Build and armor, and Batman is as physically imposing as possible, even next to Superman!
• Large Ham: Affleck plays the Dark Knight in the same overtly dramatic manner of Christian Bale, with the voice changer only enhancing the gravitas. He even begins Chewing the Scenery without shame in Batman's breakdown as he hears Superman say "Martha".
• The Leader: Mastermind type. After Superman's death he feels the need to put the League together. In Justice League, he's more self-conscious and self-deprecating admitting to Alfred and Diana, that he doesn't really fit the role, and that Superman and Wonder Woman would be better leaders.
• Leitmotif: First officially revealed as Men Are Still Good. The full version is the main motif in this 14 minute piece starting at the 1 minute mark, the antithesis and a mirror of the Superman theme's hopefulness which starts the piece. It gets a notable softer reprise as "Beautiful Lie" denoting the tragedy in Bruce's life, played during the opening flashback of Bruce's parents being murdered, and when he snaps back to his senses at the end of his fight with Superman.
  • Danny Elfman didn't use the theme at all in the final version of Justice, instead opting to bring back the theme from the first Batman film.
• Lightning Bruiser: For a simple human at least, he is impossibly strong and agile, able to toss grown men like ragdolls. This is despite the fact that he's roughly a decade older than most traditional portrayals of the character.
• Loophole Abuse: After Luthor is declared mentally unfit to stand trial and seemingly faces no consequences for his actions, Batman arranges for him to be transferred to the much less cushy (by comparison) Arkham Asylum, which is still technically a mental treatment facility.

M-R

• Made of Iron: Again, he wouldn't be Batman without being this:
  • He is only irritated by the impact of a point blank bullet on his armored cowl in the warehouse fight in Batman v Superman. Most people would collapse with a concussion, let alone keep fighting non-stop after that
  • In the same fight, he get stabbed in the underarm and is not impeded for more than a few seconds by it.
  • Ditto for Doomsday crashing the Batwing he was riding.
  • Taken to another level in Justice League where he survives blows from parademons, Wonder Woman and even Superman. While he's definitely hurt, and the last two were clearly not using their full power, they weren't going soft on him either, and he comes off with comparatively mild injuries instead of being insta-killed.
• The Mentor: Serves as this to The Flash and to Diana in Justice League:
  • The Flash is a young and inexperienced youth just starting out as a superhero who has mostly used his powers as a Small Steps Hero when his skills are far more useful in the big game. Batman encourages him repeatedly, and gives him advice on how to keep his cool in battle, and maintain focus against really dangerous and terrifying threats.
  • He needles Diana for not really truly pushing her weight and becoming a leader, owing to the latter's natural compassion preventing her from taking on The Chains of Commanding. By the end of the film, Diana takes a role as a unit leader in the fight in Russia, and helps in building the Justice League's headquarters.
• Million to One Chance:
  • What he uses to justify trying to kill Superman. In his words, if there's even a 1% chance that Superman could go rogue, he has to take him down, or there could be an even worse casualty number than the Battle of Metropolis.
  • He pulls it off again in Justice League. Despite the other members of the League warning him that Superman may not want to come back or may not come back with his morals or mind intact, Batman is adamant that if there's even a "fraction of a chance" they can use the Mother Box to bring him Back from the Dead, they have to take it. Batman ultimately proves correct; aside from a bout of Resurrection Sickness, Superman comes back exactly as he was before he died, and proves instrumental in taking out Steppenwolf.
• Momma's Boy: So hung up on his own mother's murder that he personally blamed Superman after finding out that the mother of a little girl was killed. He rescues Martha Kent to prevent Superman from becoming an orphan like him.
• Moral Myopia: At one point he says that killing Superman will be "the most important thing I'll ever do". Alfred takes offense and points out that he saved many people in Gotham from criminals over the last twenty years, but Batman dismisses it saying that anytime he stops crime, newer criminals take their place, whereas saving the world from an alien conqueror will be a definite victory, for himself and the human race. He comes to regret it in the end when he realizes Superman is more moral than he first thought.
• Movie Superheroes Wear Black: Averted. Previous portrayals of Batman gave him black, more armored suits to make the suit look more realistic. The DCEU is the first cinematic live-action franchise to keep the grey elements of the comic suit in.
• Mr. Fanservice: The Ultimate Edition cut shows him naked in the shower. Harley even describes his civilian identity as hunky.
• My Card: He hands out a business card with his name on it when meeting Arthur Curry in Iceland in Zack Snyder's Justice League.
• My God, What Have I Done?: When realizing he was about to kill an innocent man and force of good with his Kryptonite spear.
• My Greatest Failure: Firstly, he is haunted by the death of his parents; even though he was just a child and there was nothing he could have done to prevent it. There is also the death of Robin, whose tattered clothes are preserved in his Batcave. At the end of the film, he also regards Superman's death as another failure. He even lampshades how badly he screwed up.
  Bruce Wayne: I failed him in life. I will not fail him in death.
• My Greatest Second Chance: Forming the Justice League and resurrecting Superman are both actions driven by how guilty he feels in being party to Superman's death.
• Nerves of Steel: Batman is as brave as they come. It's the reason he's able to leap off buildings and battle crazed supervillains every night.
  • Played with a little bit in his interactions with Superman. He puts up an amazingly tough front against someone who could kill him with a light slap, but the signs of fear are still clearly present when they're face to face.
  • The final fight with Doomsday has his body-language visibly quaking in seeing Wonder Woman and Superman fighting the monster, clearly out of his league and barely escaping being crushed by Doomsday.
• Net Gun: He uses a net gun to capture a Parademon at the beginning of Justice League.
• Never Gets Drunk: This version of Bruce is noted for a fondness of wine to the point of Alfred snarking about hoping the next generation of Waynes won't inherit an empty wine cellar, but he's never actually shown drunk or impaired, or in anything other than peak human physical condition.
• Never Hurt an Innocent: His moral code more closely follows this than a standard Thou Shall Not Kill belief system, as he doesn't seem to be concerned with saving criminals from collateral damage like explosions. The horrifying realization that Superman was Raised by Humans and his adoptive mother is being used as a hostage over him is what gets him to realize that Superman is an innocent and not a threat to humanity.
• No Man Should Have This Power: He invokes this trope in an attempt to justify to Alfred his belief that he needs to kill Superman to protect the human race in Batman v Superman.
  Bruce: Jesus, Alfred, count the dead... thousands of people. What's next? Millions? He has the power to wipe out the entire human race, and if we believe there's even a one percent chance that he is our enemy we have to take it as an absolute certainty... and we have to destroy him.
  Alfred: But he is NOT our enemy!
  Bruce Wayne: Not today. Twenty years in Gotham, Alfred; we've seen what promises are worth. How many good guys are left? How many stayed that way?
• Noodle Incident: Batman has some history with Slade Wilson/Deathstroke that has got the latter hungry for vengeance.
• No-Sell: His reaction to Amanda Waller's attempt to intimidate him.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: As part of the whole rich playboy persona. His first reaction on meeting Clark is to wonder aloud if he owns the Daily Planet or if that's "the other guy".
• Obliviously Evil: By confronting Superman, Batman thinks he is saving the world by stopping a potential alien threat. What he is actually doing is attempting to kill a good man trying to make a difference. He only comes to his senses before the climax.
• Oh, Crap!: Supreme Badass Normal that he is, he has quite a few in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, given the beings he's confronting.
  • During the fight against Superman, the kryptonite's effects suddenly wear off, his punches on Superman's face become ineffectual, and he starts backing away.
  • After Doomsday and Superman have been nuked, Doomsday recovers quickly and returns to Earth. Batman sees him loose on an island, with nothing to stop him, and can only say "Oh God..."
  • Probably his biggest one yet: he actually says "Oh, shit!" upon seeing Doomsday shooting his eye beam at him as he's stuck on the ground after the Batwing's crash. Thankfully, Wonder Woman jumps in and blocks the beam with her bracers.
  • A silent one, but you can see it in his body language as he literally freezes in place when Clark notices him and starts to go to him in Zack Snyder's Justice League
  • When Doomsday unleashes his huge energy dome blast, the only thing he can do is running to shelter himself.
  • He does so again but more expressive than verbal as he sees Doomsday charging at him and dodges by a hair's width at the very last second.
• Old Money: The Waynes have been around since at least the 18th century, and they had a manor before it became derelict. While that wealth has been dwarfed by the likes of Lex Luthor, it's still seemingly in good hands with Bruce (ensuring that Bruce has heir is more problematic, much to Alfred's chagrin).
• Older and Wiser: He's been in the crime-fighting game for a while now, and has a considerable amount of experience to show for it.
• One-Man Army: In order to save Martha Kent, he annihilates something like two dozen of Luthor's thugs with frightening ease.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The typically non-lethal Batman is out to kill Superman in his first appearance.
• Out of Focus: Following the events of Justice League, Batman isn’t seen again until The Flash, nearly six years later. During that time, he gets mentioned in SHAZAM! (2019), Birds of Prey (2020) and Peacemaker (2022), but that’s it.
• Overshadowed by Awesome: He gets hit with this in the battle against Doomsday. Both Superman and Wonder Woman give excellent displays of their power and skill against him, and they make it clear that they're trying. Batman, supreme Badass Normal that he is, is still a mere human. He's understandably powerless against the Kryptonian monstrosity, and spends the fight leaping away from Doomsday and dodging his eye beams. It's noticeable because a few minutes before that, he got an impressive scene showing him destroying Lex's hired goons, and he won the fight with Superman (though only because Superman was only trying to disarm Batman while Batman was giving it his all). He does have a crucial part in the battle, however: he fires his very last kryptonite gas grenade to weaken Doomsday just at the right moment, when the monster is immobilized by Wonder Woman's Lasso of Truth, and just in time for Superman to charge and impale him with the kryptonite spear.
• Parental Abandonment: His parents were murdered when he was a child.
• Pay Evil unto Evil:
  • The "Bat-Brand" is far more brutal than anything Batman typically does to criminals (and it's a fairly recent punishment within the context of Batman v. Superman: Dawn Of Justice), but it's reserved for the absolute worst of the worst. The only two individuals that bear the mark are a serial rapist and a human trafficker. Luthor nearly gets one, too.
  • In the extended edition of Batman v. Superman, Batman had Luthor being transferred to Arkham Asylum after it became clear that Luthor is invoking the Insanity Defense to avoid facing trial for his crimes.
• Perma-Stubble: Sports this in Batman v Superman, but appears to be clean-shaven in Justice League.
• Properly Paranoid: Averted. He claims to be this regarding Superman in Batman v Superman, but Alfred sees right through it and says Bruce is only displacing his anger at his inability of saving Gotham onto Superman. This attitude comes back to bite him in the behind in the climax.
• Rage Breaking Point: In Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, he is bottling up some anger issues, which are most apparently seen when he first announces his intent to destroy Superman to Alfred.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: While Bats is aware of the good that Superman does, he wonders if he'll "stay that way". Subverted in the movie, as he believes it's all an act and goes ahead and fashions a Kryptonite spear and fully intends to kill him, likening his chase to a hunt.
• Relative Button: When his parents were murdered before Bruce's young eyes, his father's last word was "Martha". Ever since then the sound of his own mother's name has become a trigger for Bruce, seen in two instances; The first is when he dreams of visiting his parents' tombs and the dream suddenly turns into a nightmare when he focuses on his mother's name, the second is when he hears Superman say it.
• The Resenter: Initially towards Superman. In the relatively short time since his debut, Superman has made a genuine difference in making the world a safer place to live, while Batman has made zero progress in saving Gotham City from crime. The moment he sees a way to get rid of Superman, he takes it without thinking about the consequences.
• Restored My Faith in Humanity: In an unusual manner, Superman did this during the Zod Invasion. Batman had become bitter and disillusioned about fighting crime over 20 years but suddenly seeing a new alien threat (in his eyes) makes him believe that he's the only one who can potentially save the world from Superman. He even tells Alfred that he considers it his most important act in life. By the end of Batman v Superman, he transfers this to the Justice League so as to protect the world from a great threat and honor Superman.
• Ret-Gone: The Flash has him be replaced by a Batman with the face of Michael Keaton due to the Flash's changes to the timeline. Even after he seemingly puts things back to normal, a different Bruce Wayne with the face of George Clooney exists, meaning the Ben Affleck version has been erased from existence.

S-Z

• Save the Villain: He saves Harley Quinn from drowning in Suicide Squad before arresting her.
• Science Hero: He relies largely on technology and his intellect to make up for his lack of superpowers.
• Second Episode Introduction: Introduced to the DCEU in its second film entry.
• Secret Identity: Contrasting with the brooding Batman, his public persona is an easily-distracted skirt-chaser who can't remember which newspapers he owns. That said, within his own company he's respected by and friendly with his employees, even those operating in a neighbouring city and much like the DC Animated Universe Bruce Wayne, he still seems to make an effort to stay on top of his companies doings.
• Shadow Archetype: To Superman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. For much of the film, he serves as kind of a cautionary tale for what Superman could become if he ever lost his faith. The first time Superman killed someone, he expressed deep remorse, while Batman grew addicted to it, struggling to break out of his murderous tendencies even when he was trying to redeem himself.
• Sharp-Dressed Man: Being a rich and influential businessman, Bruce has a lot of snappy suits to fit the image.
• Ship Tease: Gets a lot of this with Diana Prince / Wonder Woman come the events of both Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League, with both of them acting like each other's emotional support for much of their respective scenes together. Cranked up in Zack Snyder's Justice League, with them having many more moments together where it shows just how much they care for and look after each other, to the point where they're easily the two closest together in the League. Bats even takes his energy absorbing gauntlet idea from her and Diana jokingly suggests that Alfred make him a lasso in black next.
• Shooting Superman: When Batman Grabs a Gun, he stationed them in four turrets just to do it for him.
• Shoot the Dog: Literally, he's quite willing to open fire on criminals if innocent lives are at stake. He deliberately blows up Anatoly Kyazev by shooting the gas tank of his flamethrower to save Martha Kent.
• Shrouded in Myth: Some people doubt he even exists. Cyborg was one of them, until the day he was compelled to join the Justice League.
• Slasher Smile: Gives Superman one right before the big fight because he believes he has cornered his "prey".
• Sociopathic Hero: He gives off this vibe in the middle part of Batman v Superman, where his obsession with taking down Superman creeps Alfred out. At one point, Batman likens himself to his hunter ancestors and sees himself as Hunting the Most Dangerous Game. It's implied that part of the reason he wants to take on Superman is the ego-stroking in taking down a Kryptonian superbeing. Likewise, whereas even Frank Miller's Batman never intends or even expects to kill Superman, this one enters battle fully prepared to do it or die trying.
• Something Person: Batman.
• Superhero: Trope Codifier for all Badass Normal superheroes and protector of Gotham City, long before Superman made his first appearance.
• Superheroes Wear Capes: A long black cape, patterned after bat wings. It's also fireproof.
• Suppressed Rage: Played for Drama. Batman harbors resentment and cynicism after 20+ years of fighting criminals and having nothing to show for it. Some characters in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice comment on the fact Batman is more violent than usual and his conflict with Superman only makes it worse, something Lex exploits to his advantage. For all his talk about saving the world from a potential dictator, it's clear Batman just sees Superman as a convenient target for his own shortcomings.
• Tall, Dark, and Handsome: Comes with the package when you're being played by Ben Affleck (6'4).
• Tall, Dark, and Snarky: Given, since Batman is known for being a Deadpan Snarker.
• Team Dad: To Barry, Arthur and Victor. Barry's the meek one who needs to socialise, Arthur's the delinquent who needs guidance and Victor's the physically deformed one who needs acceptance.
• The Team Benefactor: He supports the Justice League with his tech and refurbishes his ancestral home as the League's HQ.
• The Team Normal: The only non-superpowered member of the Justice League. He's just superbly trained and has enough money and tech to make up for his lack of superpowers.
• Terror Hero: The most brutal Batman ever put to film in that perspective. He scares criminals beyond measure and doesn't pull his punches. This is shown when he shackles a thug to a wall, takes his shirt, and brands the bat symbol into his chest. A cop who sees him for the first time nearly shoots him point-blank because he's that scared of him.
• Thou Shalt Not Kill:
  • Decidedly not the case for Superman, whom he was inches away from killing. What Measure Is A Nonhuman was a heavy factor, as well as mistakenly assuming that Superman lead the other Kryptonian invaders to Earth when in reality Superman never even knew they were still out there.
  • As for common criminals, he doesn't actively try to kill them, but he simply doesn't have any qualms about using lethal force if the situation calls for it^note Most of the criminals who died on his watch in Batman v Superman were of sound mind, so his no-kill policy might still be reserved for mentally ill criminals like Two-Face. Zack Snyder himself likened Batman's policy to the difference between manslaughter and murder.
  • Promotional materials for Dawn of Justice however, claim that Batman isn't a killer, and a few choice lines of dialogue in the film itself imply his more brutal approach is a new development, implying he used to hold to this like his comic counterpart, but the Battle of Metropolis and the destruction he witnessed soured him and caused him to not hold the same regard for life he once did. Flashback scenes in Suicide Squad support this, as he notably avoids using lethal force, even against The Joker (who previously had murdered Robin).
  • In Peacemaker it's mentioned that Batman's list of recurring enemies is an indicator that he does value the lives of criminals, or at the very least has changed since his first encounter with Superman. In the Ultimate cut of Batman v Superman Batman mentions a few of his "friends" are holed up in Arkham Asylum, so it can be assumed he does in fact go easy on mentally ill criminals like Riddler and Mad Hatter, both of whom tend to be characterized as lesser threats than the Joker.
• Through the Eyes of Madness: Hearing Superman say "save Martha", made Batman flashback to the death of his mother, Martha. Worth noting is that between his dependence on alcohol and his erratic sleep patterns, his grip on reality wasn't very strong and he'd earlier had a nightmare about a bat-monster bursting from his mother's grave, so it wouldn't be beyond him to believe that his mother might still be alive.
• Took a Level in Cynic: After the death of Robin, he became increasingly cynical seeing how Gotham evolved, along with his increasingly brutal vigilantism.
• Took a Level in Idealism: After learning to understand Superman, Batman comes to the conclusion that in spite of every tragedy he's been through, people are still good. This inspires him to team up with Wonder Woman to find the Justice League to protect the Earth as Superman is not there anymore, and recruits several metahumans in its ranks. He even tells Alfred that he's operating on faith rather than cold logic like before.
• Took a Level in Kindness: In Justice League, and it's much more apparent in Zack Snyder's Justice League, Bruce is much less abrasive than in Batman v Superman, actively seeking out new allies. His social skills still leave something to be desired, but he's at least making the effort. One noteworthy example is when he stops to help a soldier onto his feet after running afoul of a crazed revived Superman.
• Touched by Vorlons: After his encounter with Knightmare Flash, Bruce seemingly gained the ability to see into the future via dreams. Even after befriending Superman he still has visions of him eventually turning on humanity.
• Tranquil Fury: "Tranquil" might be pushing it, but his relatively calm demeanor doesn't hide how absolutely livid he is when confronting Luthor after discovering he was an Unwitting Pawn in Luthor's plan to kill Superman.
• Tricked-Out Gloves: In Zack Snyder's Justice League, Alfred upgrades his gauntlets with energy-damping material in a similar vein to Wonder Woman's vambraces. This comes in handy to block energy blasts from the Parademons' guns and later, a heat vision blast from the recently resurrected Superman for a brief time.
• Truer to the Text: Due to his Character Development after Superman's self-sacrifice in Batman v Superman, he is far more merciful to his (human) enemies in Suicide Squad and both versions of Justice League than he is in the comics.
• Two First Names: Per the DC Comics norm.
• Uncertain Doom: By the end of The Flash, George Clooney's Bruce Wayne appears to be the main Batman of Barry's Close-Enough Timeline, leaving this incarnation's fate uncertain.
• Underestimating Badassery: He's frequently on the receiving end of this. When he threatened to make Superman bleed, Superman just shrugged it off. It wasn't until he got hit with a kryptonite gas canister that it even occurred to him that Batman could actually make good on his threat. Amanda Waller thinks his secret identity is all the leverage she needs on him. She's wrong.
• Unlimited Wardrobe: Across his appearances and promos, DCEU Batman has more costume changes than Schumacher!Bats did^note In Forever and Batman and Robin, Batman has four costume changes, whereas Nolan!Bats had two over three movies and Tim Burton's had two costumes for his two films.. There's the basic gray and black ensemble, the Armored Suit he wears in the fight with Superman, the Longcoat look in the Knightmare. As per the promos of Justice League, he'll wear his normal suit, a reverse colour scheme of his normal suit (gray insignia and black suit and cape), and another armoured suit with goggles.
• Unscrupulous Hero: This version of Batman is incredibly more ruthless, cynical and willing to do morally questionable things even more than his other live-action versions but ultimately fights the good fight all the same.
• Unwitting Pawn: He's played by Lex Luthor, who came closer than anyone else in making Batman kill an innocent.
• Utility Belt: His suit◊ is equipped with an utility belt.
• Villain Killer: Alongside the other members of the Trinity. He has an established history of killing criminals of varying levels of power. On-screen, he kills Lex Luthor's second-in-command Anatoli Knyazev and is critical to killing Doomsday. In Zack Snyder's Justice League, he's the Token Human, and thus lacks any meaningful powers useful against Steppenwolf. He makes up for it by wiping out the entire army of Parademons mostly off-camera, allowing the rest of the League to focus on their individual missions within the final battle.
• Villain Protagonist: Batman gets the bulk of focus in Dawn of Justice, and he is not the idealistic, morally strong superhero we normally see in comic books. After twenty years of crimefighting, this Batman has become a jaded cynic who brands bat symbols onto the worst criminals, is wholly apathetic that said brands are a death sentence in prison, has broken his one rule, and was completely prepared to murder an innocent man over his own prejudices, making him no better than Joe Chill. When Alfred confronts Bruce over his aggressive new tactics at the beginning of the movie, Bruce dismisses his criticisms by pointing out that they're criminals anyway so it doesn't matter what they do to other criminals. Eventually subverted, when Superman helps Batman realize how much of a monster he has become by begging him to save a loved one's life with (what could have been) his last breath.
• Villainous Valor: Trying to kill Superman was a low point for him morally, but one must admire the courage of an ordinary man willing to attempt to take down a Physical God using a weakness which (in this version of the DC Universe) had never been tested.
• Vocal Evolution: His upgraded voice modulator in Justice League sounds more robotic than human than it did in Batman v Superman. In Zack Snyder’s Justice League, it’s reversed: his voice is still artificially deepened, but sounds more “human” while still having a slight robotic tinge to it.
• Weak, but Skilled: In comparison to Superman, he is definitely weak. Even with Powered Armor, he's no match for a fully-powered Superman, but he's still a Badass Normal with twenty years of crimefighting experience under his belt; when Superman is weakened by Kryptonite, he's no match at all for Batman until it wears off. This continues into Justice League, where he's able to take on Parademons in a straight fight and win.
• Wealthy Philanthropist: He donates a lot to charity causes and public projects in Gotham City, even though he's become extremely jaded by the increase of crimes in twenty years.
• What Measure Is a Non-Human?: He doesn't have any objections toward trying to kill Superman until he recognizes that Superman is indeed human, so to speak, instead of an "alien".
• Who Watches the Watchmen?: The quote appears in an article critical of Batman branding criminals, to which the Gotham police are turning a blind eye. The Latin version of quote is seen graffitied in the abandoned building where he battles Superman.
• Would Hit a Girl: Punches Harley Quinn underwater to knock her unconscious. To be fair, she was still up to attack him even underwater after surviving the car's crash.
• Wrestler in All of Us: Only in Batman v. Superman, he hits a mook with a Rock Bottom and carries Superman around in a Canadian backbreaker rack.
• Zorro Mark: In Batman v Superman, he brands his symbol into the skin of human trafficker Cesar Santos as a Mark of Shame. He also nearly does this to Lex Luthor at the end, but he changes his mind and instead decides to punch a bat-shaped hole in the wall behind him.

Alternate Versions and Multiversal Variants

"Knightmare" Batman

"Knightmare" Batman

"I've been dead inside a long time."

Affiliation: Justice League, The Insurgency

Appearances: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice | Zack Snyder's Justice League

"You know, it's funny that you would talk about the people who died in my arms, because when I held Harley Quinn and she was bleeding and dying, she begged me with her last breath that when I killed you - and make no mistake, I will fucking kill you - that I'd do it slow. I'm gonna honor that promise."

In the nightmarish alternate future Bruce witnesses in his dreams, he has become the leader of the Insurgency, a human resistance group fighting against Superman's Reign of Terror and Darkseid. He also found himself having to team up with some of his most notorious foes that survived the apocalypse.

See also the DCEU Alternate Timelines page for more on the Knightmare future.

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• Badass in Distress: He gets captured by Superman's army in Batman v Superman, and finds himself at the mercy of the Man of Steel, who has become a ruthless tyrant ruling the Earth.
• Badass Longcoat: Wears a trenchcoat over his suit.
• Big "NO!": Lets one out as Superman's soldiers start gunning down his men.
• Break Out the Museum Piece: Batman's resorted to using the same suit he wore during his first encounter with Superman, despite retiring it by the time the Justice League was formed. It still has the battle damage obtained from when he rescued Martha Kent from Lex Luthor's mercenaries.
• Character Death: In at least one possible outcome of the Bad Future, Superman kills Bruce by ripping his heart out of his chest (Batman v Superman). Another later vision shows Superman holding Batman's cowl over the ruins of the Justice League's headquarters.
• Composite Character: His role in the Knightmare is similar to that of the Batman from the Injustice franchise, but his appearance and lack of scruples are similar to the future version of Damian Wayne.
• Empty Shell: He states that he's been "dead inside" for a long time to the Joker.
• Enemy Mine: Batman is now desperate enough that he teams up with Deathstroke and even accepts a (grudging) truce with the Joker.
• Future Badass: Granted he's already a badass in the main timeline, but this alternate version of him is gun-toting and wears a Badass Longcoat.
• Heartbroken Badass: Bruce was already a pretty broken person, but in the Knightmare future, he's lost several of his fellow Justice League teammates and knows that this hellish future came about because he failed Superman and Lois.
• I Gave My Word: He promised Harley Quinn as she bled to death in his arms that he would kill the Joker slowly and painfully, a vow he intends to make good on when the time comes.
• In Spite of a Nail: He's the only alternate version of Batman to be played by Ben Affleck.
• It's All My Fault: It turns out the Knightmare came about because Bruce let Lois die, pushing Superman over the Despair Event Horizon and leaving him vulnerable to being corrupted by the Anti-Life Equation.
• Lured into a Trap: He and his men are betrayed by Truck, who they trusted to find and smuggle some Kryptonite. Truck sold them out to Superman's forces and a massacre ensued.
• Must Make Amends: His whole goal is to Set Right What Once Went Wrong and undo Darkseid's victory. Although Barry went back too soon, it's implied that has ensued and the Bad Future may be averted.
• Pistol-Whipping: He bashes several of Superman's soldiers with an assault rifle before being subdued.
• Precision F-Strike: In Zack Snyder's Justice League, he directly tells the Joker that eventually, "I will fucking kill you". It marks the first time in a live-action film that Batman uses the F-word.
• Rebel Leader: He became a leader of La Résistance.
• Shabby Heroes, Well-Dressed Villains: Batman's suit has fallen into disrepair and he's patched it up with combat gear. Meanwhile the now-brainwashed Superman still wears his untarnished Kryptonian suit.
• Superhero Packing Heat: He didn't seem to have an issue using guns in the past, but average handheld guns weren't part of his standard loadout. Now he primarily uses guns.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: He grudgingly teams up with the Joker, who takes advantage of this moment to rub Batman's failures in his face.
• Thou Shalt Not Kill: Thoroughly averted. He guns down troopers of Superman's Regime and snaps one of their necks, and tells the Joker that he plans to kill him for Harley's sake. Since the future lies in ruins, Batman clearly has no need for a code of honour.
• Tranquil Fury: Tells the Joker that he's going to fucking kill him without raising his voice above a whisper.
  • "Be very careful with the next thing you say...That's not very careful."

Alternate Batman

Bruce Wayne / Batman

"I'm going down. But I'm not going alone!"

^{Click here to see Bruce Wayne} "You wanna get nuts? Let's get nuts."

Affiliation: Justice League

Portrayed By: Michael Keaton

Voiced By: Bernard Lanneau (European French)

Appearances: The Flash

"When I lost my parents, I was, uh... that pain made me who I am. I'm not sure I know who I am without it, actually. I spent a lifetime trying to right the wrongs of the past. As if putting on a cape and fighting crime would bring my parents back. You actually did it."

A older version of Bruce Wayne in an Alternate Timeline created by the Flash preventing his mother's death. He bears a resemblance to the Bruce Wayne of Batman (1989) and Batman Returns, set on Earth-789 according to the DC Comics multiverse and Earth-89 in the Arrowverse's multiverse.

See also Tim Burton's Batman for more information on the Batman he resembles.

See also the DCEU Alternate Timelines page for more information on the Alternate History.

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• Aborted Arc: He was planned to appear in the Batgirl movie, having apparently replaced the Batman in the DCEU, but the film was scrapped before it could be completed.
• Achilles in His Tent: Initially refuses to help Barry find Superman's whereabouts. It takes a talk from Barry to motivate him to put on the Batsuit again and help them, and when that's done he's persuaded to help the heroes fight off the Kryptonian invaders.
• Actually, I Am Him: Bruce responds to Barry I's question about how they're looking for Bruce Wayne, and who he is, as "the guy who lives here". He only gives his name after his statement is met by a blank response by both Barrys.
• Adaptational Badass: Keaton's Batman in his original appearance, while still an impressive hero, was never portrayed as a nigh-unbeatable fighter. In The Flash he fights exactly like Affleck's Batman, able to move faster and take down more enemies with more ease than he originally could in Batman and Returns.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: This version of Batman is clearly based on Flashpoint Batman, although the latter is Thomas Wayne, the father of Bruce Wayne. Compared to the comics' Flashpoint Thomas Wayne, this film's alternate Bruce Wayne is less overtly murderous and brutal towards his opponents. On the other hand, it is partly because this version has retired and most of his brutality presumably happened offscreen years ago.
• Alternate Self: An version of Bruce who is about twenty years older and has retired from being a crime fighter after eliminating crime in Gotham.
• Alternate Universe Reed Richards Is Awesome: Unlike his main timeline counterpart who spent around two decades fighting crime in Gotham with little success, Bruce was able to truly save Gotham and make it a safer place to live.
• Ambiguous Situation: It's unclear whether he's meant to truly be the same version of Batman who appeared in the 1989 film and Returns, let alone in other media using the setting. Crisis on Infinite Earths (2019) would establish both the DCEU and the Burton/Keaton films to be in separate realities in context of the Arrowverse, the Flash movie itself ignores the Arrowverse entirely, and DC Comics itself puts the movies plus its own comic spinoff Batman '89 as part of its own multiverse, in the same reality as the Christopher Reeve Superman movies which appear as a different reality in The Flash. If the version in the Flash movie is not the same, it's also unclear how much he differs from the original version in the Burton/Keaton movies.
• And Then What?: This Batman has managed to succeed in nearly ending crime in Gotham to the point of making it a safer place to live in, but afterward, he has no idea of what to do with his life after spending so much time as Batman to the point that he mostly stake his entire life as his alter-ego.
• Back for the Dead: This Batman is last seen dying while trying to stop General Zod's invasion after being transferred somehow to Barry's reality. It's implied to be all undone once Barry undoes his original alteration to his past and presumably restores both their home worlds or timelines to normal, but then Barry's reality is not left unscathed at the end, so who knows what changes this Batman will encounter.
• Badass Cape: Has one that functions similar to Affleck's Batman, and he's capable of blocking a hail of bullets fired from assault rifles wielded by the Siberian Guards.
• Badass Normal: This version/variant of Keaton's Batman is able to do things the version in the 89/Returns continuity would blush at, including engaging an entire group of Siberian prison guards at once, attempting to take on a shielded Kryptonian vessel with nothing more than missiles, and fighting Nam-Ek (a giant Kryptonian) with nothing more than his reflexes and a handful of bombs. The latter gets him killed, though he is momentarily able to stun Nam-Ek.
• Beard of Sorrow: After Gotham's crime rate is brought down to a manageable level combined with Alfred's death, Bruce lets his hair and beard grow out to show how depressed he's become.
• Boring, but Practical: His approach to crime fighting is this. While he has many gadgets and equipment like his main timeline counterpart, this version of Bruce applies more mundane methods that both versions of Barry are surprised and a little disappointed by as opposed to something like the exciting high-speed chases his original self did.
• Broad Strokes: He's essentially the same version of the character Keaton played in Batman (1989) and Batman Returns. However, it's unclear whether or not he's truly supposed to be the same version from those films.
• The Bus Came Back: After the Lighter and Softer tone of the then-upcoming Batman Forever script led to Keaton jumping ship from the role, his iteration of Batman returns in The Flash (2023).^note The Keaton version was also intended to appear in 2022's Batgirl, but the film was shelved indefinitely during the post-production phase by Warner Bros..
• Composite Character: He takes the place of his father, who in the Flashpoint comic became Batman. As a possible Mythology Gag, one of his suits has underarm holsters as Flashpoint-Batman did.
• Cool Old Guy: Michael Keaton portrays a Bruce Wayne who’s around 70, but comes out of retirement when Zod attacks Earth. Age has not diminished his skills one bit.
• Deadpan Snarker: His Dull Surprise reaction to Barry's exposition:
  Bruce: "Superman?". That might be a little on the nose.
  Barry: You call yourself "Batman".
  Bruce: Yeah, I don't call myself "Super Batman".
• Fighter, Mage, Thief: Prior to rescuing Kara, he serves as the Fighter to Barry's Thief and Alternate Barry's Mage since he's the only one with years of training and fighting experience and capable of going toe-to-toe against a squadron of Siberian guards and decisively win while doing most of the heavy lifting in the prison escape. During the battle against the Kryptonian army, however, he serves as the Thief as he's the only one of Barry's "Justice League" to lack superpowers and is forced to keep his distance and provide cover fire, is only able to destroy two Kryptonian gunships through evasive maneuvers, and knocked out Nam-Ek briefly before getting killed by a Cape Snag.
• Fragile Speedster: While normally a Lightning Bruiser against other humans, he's this when going up against any of the Kryptonians during their invasion of Earth, especially Nam-Ek (a giant by Kryptonian standards). All it took was a single, lucky Cape Snag by Nam-Ek and being slammed against the ground to kill him, although his Batsuit, Charles Atlas Superpower, and determination allow him to last for a couple of moments before dying in Barry's arms.
• Inexplicably Awesome: Bruce is knowledgeable enough about time travel and the Multiverse to deduce that the Flash changing the past caused a tangent universe that absorbed his own. During the climax of The Flash, his theory is proven correct as excessive time travel causes various Elseworlds to converge. How he managed to figure this out is never made clear.
• In Spite of a Nail: Despite his physical differences, he still became Batman in his timeline and Barry notes that he also had an Alfred like his version of Bruce.
• Let's Get Dangerous!: As with his Earth-89 self, Bruce, using it as a call to battle, utters "You wanna get nuts? Let's get nuts."
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: This Batman actually succeeded in his war on crime. Gotham City is now the safest city in the USA, allowing Bruce to hang up the cape.
• Old Superhero: He's around 70 years old, but comes out of retirement to help fight against Zod and still fights like a much younger man.
• Powered Armor: Batman's armored suit was built to enhance his strength (which is useful when Superman is depowered by the Kryptonite gas) and - more importantly - protect him against Superman's blows and in case Batman gets thrown around and crashes through walls, especially when Superman isn't depowered. Being an above-average human going up against a kryptonian, the suit is damaged irreparably before the fight concludes, but it does protect Batman from harm nonetheless.
• Retired Badass: He retired from being Batman, but he's introduced fighting against the two versions of Barry which proves he still has what it takes. His reasons for retiring weren't due to fatigue or injuries, but because Gotham's crime rate had plummeted to the point where it didn't need a Batman. It is ambiguous how long he's been retired when he first appears, as he says he's spent his lifetime fighting crime to deal with his loss.
• Senseless Sacrifice: Justified in that in both of his on-screen deaths during the Kryptonian Invasion, he was using outdated gear and doesn't have any weapons that could kill them. It also doesn't help that he's trying to punch above his weight class.
  • When his Batwing gets damaged to the point that the ejection seat malfunctions, he decides to fly straight into one of the Kryptonian ships to at least give the others a fighting chance. Unfortunately, the ship is able to No-Sell the impact due to its force field, and even without it, the stronger metal can withstand it.
  • Despite being able to hold his own against Nam-Ek for a brief while before dying when getting slammed to the ground by the latter, he was able to kill him by planting a bomb behind his head... only later to reveal that it just momentarily knocked Nam-Ek out.
• Shrouded in Myth: He's the only superhero from Barry's original timeline that anyone recognizes in the changed one. The alternate Barry and his friends grew up hearing about him, despite living in a different city, to the point that alternate Barry can be considered a Promoted Fanboy after becoming a superhero too.
• Stealth Hi/Bye: Over 20 years later, he manages to ambush two versions of Barry Allen at once.
• The Team Normal: Deconstructed. When Batman is recruited by the Flash to be part of his new hero team, he's the only one who isn't an alien or metahuman. However, by the time they go up against a literal army of Kryptonians that were born and trained to be soldiers, he could only keep his distance while providing cover fire in his Batwing and attempting to engage Nam-Ek in close combat resulted in his second death.
• Underwear of Power: Many of the Batsuits hidden around his manor has this.
• Victory Is Boring: This Batman is forced to retire after making Gotham one of the safest cities in America but instead of celebrating or even settling down with the likes of Vicki Vale or Selina Kyle, Bruce becomes a lonely hermit who can't keep his house or even his ownself tidy and is still in grief with the death of his Alfred. He sees being Batman as a big part of his life and without the cowl, he doesn't know what to do anymore. While he doesn't immediately jump to the call of battle, it takes some coaxing from Barry to get him to wear to cowl again.
• Vocal Evolution: His voice is quite gravelly thanks to old age. Ironic considering the multitude of rebooted Batmen in the 21st century all went out of their way to sound like he does.

Elseworld Batman

Elseworld Batman

"Only the Joker would think of that."

Portrayed By: Adam West (archive audio)

Appearances: Batman | Batman: The Movie | Legends of the Superheroes | Batman '66 | Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders | Batman vs. Two-Face | The Flash

A Batman from a Lighter and Softer world who appears during the Chronobowl crisis. His world is designated Earth-66 in the greater Arrowverse.

See Batman (1966): Heroes for more information on this variant.

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• Alternate Self: A version of Batman who was an active crime fighter in The '60s.
• The Cameo: He gets the briefest glimpse during the crossover sequence. Unlike the Superman variants, he at least gets to speak (via archive audio from the 1960s series).
• Cheap Costume: Hopefully this Batman is a lot more agile than the others, because the materials used for his outfit are highly unlikely to do much against gunfire.
• Lighter and Softer: His Batsuit is a lighter shade of grey with a bright yellow utility belt.
• Vocal Dissonance: Despite being fairly unimpressive in terms of build and costume, this Batman's voice is deep enough to suggest he's no slouch at what he does.

Alternate Bruce Wayne (Spoilers)

Bruce Wayne

"Hey Barry."

Portrayed By: George Clooney

Appearances: The Flash

"What's wrong with you?"

A second alternate version of Bruce Wayne created when Flash tried to return the timeline to normal. He bears a resemblance to the Bruce Wayne of Batman & Robin, itself designated as Earth-97 in the Arrowverse's multiverse.

See also Joel Schumacher's Batman for more information on the Batman he resembles.

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• Alternate Self: Another version of Bruce Wayne, though unlike the initial Alternate Batman he seems to have lived a similar life to his original timeline self.
• Ambiguous Situation:
  • It's unclear whether he's meant to truly be the same version of Batman who appeared in Batman & Robin, and also, be the same as the one who was retroactively included in the wider Arrowverse to represent that film.
  • Given his advanced age you've got to wonder if he's even still Batman in the present day. He let his facial hair grow out which would put his secret identity at risk, so the possibility is on the table.
• Blue Is Heroic: He wears a blue suit when he greets Barry outside the courthouse.
• Broad Strokes: He's essentially the same version of the character that Clooney played in Batman & Robin, leaving aside the splitting of hairs over details.
• The Cameo: George Clooney makes an uncredited cameo at the end of The Flash as a Mythology Gag to following Michael Keaton's act back in the 90s.
• In Spite of a Nail: Despite his physical differences, he still became Batman, joined the Justice League and became good friends with Barry Allen like his original timeline self.
• Silver Fox: Bruce is well over 50 - possibly even 60 - but he's undeniably slick. His tailored suit shows that he's in terrific shape.

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"Don't let your tragedy define you."