Among the many issues in “Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice” analyzed, examined and argued over by fans was the rather violent take on Batman. In Zack Snyder‘s world, Batman doesn’t just solve mysteries, but deals out justice ruthlessly, including killing those who get in his way. It perhaps works in a universe where Bruce Wayne growls his philosophy that “if we believe there’s even a one-percent chance that he is our enemy, we have to take it as an absolute certainty,” but for many longtime fans, Batman went a touch too far in ‘Dawn Of Justice.’
For his part, Snyder offered an explanation for Batman dealing out death like candy, saying that other films have suggested The Dark Knight has killed, and moreover, in his movie, the character had a way to keep his hands clean.
“I tried to do it by proxy. Shoot the car they’re in, the car blows up or the grenade would go off in the guy’s hand, or when he shoots the tank and the guy pretty much lights the tank [himself]. I perceive it as him not killing directly, but if the bad guy’s are associated with a thing that happens to blow up, he would say that that’s not really my problem,” Snyder explained earlier this year.
For me, that’s some half-baked reasoning, and longtime Batman voice actor Kevin Conroy, who has portrayed the character in countless beloved animated productions, also feels uneasy with The Dark Knight getting blood on his hands, no matter how you do it.
“Personally I love the fact that Batman — in the stories I’ve done, and the way he’s been rendered by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini, the people I’ve worked with most closely — he never kills anybody. He doesn’t cross that line. Batman is not a killer,” he told IGN. “He puts them into Arkham Asylum, which is what is so brilliant about the Arkham Games – someone realized, ‘My god, all these incredible villains are all in the same institution — let’s get a video game in there.’ It’s a brilliant idea. But the fact that Batman never kills anyone — I loved that fact.”
“In the most recent live action movie, that seems to have been a line that was crossed and it’s not one I’m particularly comfortable with,” he added.
Indeed, even Batman punching Harley Quinn square in the face in “Suicide Squad” seemed quite at odds with the character. There is something of a streak of violent vengeance in Batman in the DC Films that perhaps needs some balancing out.
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