Occupation: The Batman

Money Worries

I quit my day job recently because I decided I would much rather be Batman instead. Let me clear up that I don’t plan on reviewing movies unless I absolutely have to, so this isn’t going to be a movie review.

 I believe the reason why Batman has become such a popular comic book character, beyond the Dark Knight’s obscure nature and ninja fighting abilities, is simply because he has the ultimate power of them all: Money. Superman has nothing on Batman because the Batman, my friends, is loaded. We become enamored with Bruce Wayne’s ability to buy any gadget he pleases, from grappling hooks to the Batmobile (the ultimate guy toy).  Just take a look at any guy with a remote control and I bet you he already thinks he’s got some kind of super power.

Forbes magazine published  a list of the wealthiest fictional characters and Bruce Wayne placed number eight on the list with an estimated $7 billion. Scrooge McDuck headed the list with about $28 billion and it got me wondering about how unimaginative we are as a society, since Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are both above the $50 billion mark and could easily buy out every fictional character on the list if they chose to do so. Even the Facebook kid could out-Batman Bruce Wayne if he just hit the gym a little. Bruce Wayne is our modern day Edmond Dantès and Batman is his Monte Cristo. So if you happen to have about $7 billion lying around, there’s an idea for an interesting investment opportunity.

The New Batman Franchise

Anybody can make a piece-of-crap Batman movie and still sell tickets like crazy. Ask Joel Schumacher or Tim Burton. Okay okay… everybody’s going to go ahead and defend Jack Nicholson right now but hear me out first.

You can make any movie based on a super hero and still make a fortune. Marvel comics is on X-Men 10 or something along those lines.

So what differentiates the new Batman movies from any other comic book flick? That director Christopher Nolan understands that a character can only be as strong as the forces that oppose him. There can only be a protagonist if there's an antagonist to fight him. This applies to all movies not only those based on comic books and the antagonist is not always a villain. Nolan’s Gotham is bleak, dangerous and has been lost to crime and corruption. And beyond creating a movie much darker and more realistic than any comic book movie seen before, Nolan creates amazing forces of opposition.

In Batman Begins, the movie’s villain is the Scarecrow who, sponsored by Rha’s Al Ghul and aided by a powerful neurotoxin, incarnates fear itself. I believe even FDR would approve.

In The Dark Knight, the Joker (Heath Ledger in his best role) represents chaos. He doesn’t want money, he doesn’t want power, he doesn’t even want to take over the world, he just wants to watch it burn. Batman, who is very human like you or me, must live up to that challenge.

The last movie of this franchise, The Dark Knight Rises will premiere exactly a year from now so we have a long way to go but the first teaser trailer, with some flashes of the villain Bane just came out. Did your inner child just say “hell yeah”? Thought so.