Vanilla ISIS said:
The only thing that overpowered about Batman is his intellect.
He's just a human being so he has to figure out a way to beat a superpowered enemy in a way that doesn't involve direct 1 on 1 combat.
If you think about humanity, our entire history is about figuring things out and using our brains to achieve otherwise impossible things such as the ability to fly.
I think that's why the idea of someone like Batman speaks to people.
Batman became the best because of hard work and determination. That's inspiring, unlike someone like Superman who was just born awesome and never had to work for his skills.
My mom doesn't like superheroes because they're overpowered but she likes Batman because he's just a guy who got good.
She also likes him because there's tension when he's fighting. One stray bullet and he's gone.
Superman took a nuke to the face in BvS and was only out for 10 minutes, that's boring.
Wonder Woman got seriously smacked around by Zeus in her movie and didn't even get a scratch, that's boring.
It took 3 movies for Thor to finally get an injury, that's boring.
when Batman takes off his shirt in Justice League and we see all his bruises and scars, when WW has to pop his arm back into place, that's interesting.
Overwhelming strength is boring.
Overcoming weakness is interesting.
This is exactly why I love Superman and hate Batman.
First thing is first. Superman was given abilities. And the world could have been a smoldering ash if he went to the wrong family. He chooses, every day, to be better than the temptations of being a living God where almost an entire Universe can't step to him. When he talks about how he always has to limit himself, I can't imagine anything more limiting.
You want to talk about being the best? Imagine walking around and knowing that if you don't control your sneeze, a city block could disappear, killing thousands. Talk about having to monitor every time you touch someone because if you jerk with your natural muscle spasms, you could make that person into a smear in a second.
Meanwhile, Batman? Batman could put his billions into a task force that Jim Gordon oversees. With Jim's integrity and Bruce's influence and ability to get the Gotham PD trained, he could actually do something real to clean up his city. But no. Batman was hurt, so he has to hurt others to feel whole.
Bruce could do more for Gotham by actually even running for Office and helping Jim remake the police force. For all the fundraising he does in the odd comic or show, there still seems to be a HUGE gap of inequity in Gotham that makes people feel the only way they can survive is crime. But screw solving the socioeconomic reasons of people's motivations. They be bad, punch them lots.
I get why you find him interesting. and I respect that. But I find Batman boring. As I find most villains boring. Because they are commonplace. You get where they are coming from. Batman is about revenge. A typical human reaction. Villains are about selfishness. If superpowers popped up now, I'm sure the world would have way more than its share of villains because selfishness seems to be today's default mindset.
In many ways, Batman was afforded more ability to change the world for the better than Superman is. Superman, while gifted with many abilities, is a glorified Mr. Fix-it. Asteroid here, Natural Disaster there, Space Evil punched, and yeah, that's what he's good for. Now, could he turn a large enough plot of land into a farm to feed all of a country? Yeah. But that would be bad to humans. Because they will get lazy because literal God is here to make it all better.
Meanwhile, as a human, Bruce Wayne can use his influence and wealth to inspire people. To help people work for themselves. While Superman can make almost any place into a farm, he can't teach people to do it like he does. Bruce can help provide training, land, and even resources so people can create whatever they want for themselves. Bruce's abilities can help humans be more self-sufficient. Superman can outright fix all problems so everyone is lazy.
But, with the ability, does Batman do it? No. Because he has to work out his own inner demons and he needs to convince himself that he's the only one who can. He needs that justification because he knows it's a profoundly selfish thing he's doing probably deep in his core, but he can't stop. Is he doing good things? Yes. Obviously. He's saving lives. Is he doing it in an efficient way, a way that helps more people? Absolutely not. He's one person running around trying to put out all Gotham's fires because his house burned down once and he needs all fires to know that he won't cower to them any more!
Instead of, you know... funding multiple kickass Firehouses that could be in more places than he could ever.
Someone who is a God who chooses to hold to his humanity with every fiber of his being is interesting. I don't know how many people today would do that. That's what makes him Extraordinary. Someone who's doing something selfish, albeit laudable and to the benefit of others, but twists the reasoning in his head to think only he can do that is... Damn, just go outside and throw a rock. You'll hit someone who's doing their own version of Batman.
