Originally published November 2, 2017. Updated December 18, 2019.
One of Batman’s flagship qualities is that he does not take a life. In any altercation, Bruce Wayne/ Batman will attempt to save a foe by any means necessary, preferring to use intellect, and skill over lethal force.
Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice drummed up a lot of controversy over its interpretation of Batman. In the film, The Dark Knight kills more than his fair share of thugs, and many felt that was taking things too far (though it can definitely be argued that it made sense for this iteration of Bruce Wayne).
So, why is it so important for Batman to spare lives? Well, who better to explain than the definitive Batman himself: Kevin Conroy. Sitting down with Den of Geek, the best Bat-Voice in the business shared his opinion on Batman’s no-kill rule:
“I personally don’t think Batman kills, and I love that about him. That was something they established early on and it ended up benefiting them so enormously because years later they realized, ‘Wait a minute, we have this rogues gallery of crazy villains and they’re all in Arkham Asylum. Let’s get em! Let’s get them out of there and let’s open it up.’ And then you had the whole Arkham series of games that they were able to do out of that. If he’d killed any of those people, they wouldn’t have been available, you know what I mean? I love the fact that he doesn’t kill.”
Never taking a life has always been one of the main factors in what makes Batman so impressive. It’s what separates the vigilante from his rogues. Also, if you were turned off by Ben Affleck’s Batman in Batman v. Superman, don’t worry, as the actor promises a “more traditional Batman” in Justice League.
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