Why Is Batman So Bitter In 'Batman v Superman'?

Y’all, it’s tough having the weight of the world on your shoulders. So, can you really blame a man like Bruce Wayne for being a little bit bitter? I mean, the man is responsible for saving all of Gotham City all the time, and it’s not like it’s Pleasantville over there. With seedy characters like Penguin and Two-Face and Catwoman, it’s no wonder that, in the plot of the new Batman v. Superman movie, Bruce Wayne is as bitter as your best friend after too many Tinder dates.

So, when Henry Cavill and Ben Affleck spoke in an interview with Total Film about why Batman is so damn bitter in this new film, it all started to make a lot more sense. Until I heard the plot explained a bit more, I wasn’t entirely sure why, one, Bruce Wayne was so angry in this new film, and two, why he had so much beef with Superman. Couldn’t they just come together and work toward creating a better world? It turns out, that the love fest isn’t so easy to come by, especially since, in the prologue of the new film, it’s revealed that Batman tries to save a number of people inside the Wayne Financial Building, but can’t. The building that he owned and was responsible for collapses killing thousands.

Now, if that’s not enough to mess a guy up for a while, I don’t know what is.

So, it makes sense to me that the Batman in this movie is a much darker character than the one we’ve met before. He’s hurt. He’s holding onto a lot of rage. And he’s incredibly angry that he was unable to save the people inside his building. But, thankfully, Bruce Wayne isn’t alone in his darkest times: Affleck expanded on the plot details and said that the film was not only about the dark place that Batman was in, but “how he got there, and what’s that done to him, and what that’s done to people him like Alfred.” Good ol’ Alfred. At least he’s not entirely alone. He always has Alfred.

I for one am excited to meet this darker version of Batman. Call me twisted, but I like my protagonists like I like my best friends: Flawed and slightly broken. It makes them more relatable, more likable, more imperfectly human. So bring on the darkness, I say. It fits his character perfectly.

Check out the Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justicetrailer, which premiered this past summer at Comic Con, below.

Image: Warner Brother Pictures