The Oncoming Toxicity of Batman
Batman is a naturally darker character in DCs pantheon, an opposite to their favorite Superman who reigned over the imaginations of kids minds. At some point, during the late 80s, these two characters switched popularity, and inevitably changed the way people viewed these characters in what I'd now call a toxic situation. This situation, like many fandoms today, have people who love the character so much that they take sides. Their Batman movie is the best of all time, their Batman show can't be touched, etc. Through these squabbles fans are dividing their community and pushing away fellow Batman fans, even though they celebrate Batman in different ways.
As a comic fan one of the most exciting parts of going through decades of history is to see how other people interpret these iconic characters. DC didn't have a tight hold on their continuity; multiple origin stories, multiples of the same character, contradictions. DCs riddled with these problems when they started combining universes, and to clean up this continuity mess they made the event Crisis on Infinite Earths. They condensed their universe into one timeline, remade definitive origins, built their characters back up, and made sure to separate the in-continuity stories and those that weren't. For the stories that weren't in continuity DC created the Elseworlds label where you'd see alternate stories of Superman growing up in the Soviet Union, or Batman becoming an actual vampire. For me, and as a comic fan, it allowed the character to live on in radically different interpretations while respecting the main continuity of their lives. That's how I see every movie and animated show of Batman, as an adaptation, and I don't think the majority of fans understand this concept.
Batman, like in the comics, has changed dramatically since his screen debut. Depending on who you talk to you'll get radically different answers to "What is the definitive Batman?" The three answers you'll most likely get are Adam West, Tim Burton, and Christopher Nolan. Each of these interpretations are wildly different than the last, and yet fans try and categorize the definitive Batman movie like they've proclaimed with Batman The Animated Series and my question is why. Why does Batman fandom need a definitive version of this character outside of the comics?
As mentioned briefly, the majority of the fandom will proclaim Batman The Animated Series to be the end-all-be-all animated series of Batman, even going so far as saying it's DCs best animated anything. Now as a fan I too have an opinion, and it is not that. While Batman TAS is done well, and paved the way for Nolan's Batman to exist, I do not believe it's as impenetrable of a series as fans make it out to be. In fact I find both it's sequels, Batman Beyond and Justice League, to be far superior not only in crafting a great, nigh perfect, show but also exploring Batman as a character. The solo Batman series was very heavy, taking the style of Tim Burton yet making it more mature. When I rewatched the first season I found many of the episodes to be slow and boring. For me it picks up later on, and as a whole it's a great show, but I don't think it warrants the blinding faith fans have erected this series to be on the proverbial pedestal. I found Justice League, and it's sequel Unlimited, to be far more impressive as a show because it had to juggle the entire DC universe. There are so many fantastic episodes that will make you emotional, and it also has my all time favorite Batman episode that connected Batman TAS to Justice League to Batman Beyond titled Epilogue. The whole episode is an ode to Batman as you watch him deal with a super villain who is about to die. It's heartbreaking, and it gives you the core concept of Batman in the most beautiful way.
Like Batman TAS, the movie fandom of Batman acts the same way towards Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy. It erased the fantastical elements of the Batmen previously, and paved the way for fanboys to proclaim "I can be Batman," "He's relatable because I can be him if I want" and "The Darkest Knight is the best ever!" when it made the character hyper-realized. Now, it's okay to have a favorite movie for Batman, a favorite series, etc. But I find it troubling when the majority of Batman fandom proclaims Nolan the savior of Batman, which is kind of true in the live action version, and only he can understand how to make a Batman movie. For me, while I enjoy these movies, his interpretation does not tell me that this is Batman. It's an interpretation, but I always found his trilogy to be perfect for Bruce Wayne, and fumbling when it's Batman. Even the fans who love his work will say the best of his movies is The Dark Knight, it's sequel was a mess, and Batman Begins was alright. And even then the fans will say that the best part of The Dark Knight is Joker, not Batman, and will cite this movie as THE definitive version of Batman.
This kind of thought process isn't healthy. There is a difference between favorite and definitive, and the fans who have a definitive take on Batman will either ignore, trash, judge, or proclaim "Well this isn't _____ so it's not good," when faced with a new and different interpretation of their supposedly favorite character. When Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice came out there was a split, as always, in the Batman fanbase. On one side there were a lot of people open to the idea of Ben Affleck's Batman being darker, maybe a bit unhinged after decades of crime fighting, and used a voice modulator. On the other hand fans did not like the darker take and were not okay with the liberties Batman had taken in the film while also annoyingly adding that Nolan's Batman is better...sigh.
The same thing happens in the animated world of Batman. Batman TAS and Nolan's The Dark Knight are essentially hailed as classics, and naturally are what fans compare when a new Batman adaptation comes out. In the animated world Batman has had numerous adaptations after the animated series; The Batman, Batman The Brave and the Bold, Beware the Batman. Each were different interpretations, each were good and brought something new to the table, and yet if I brought them up in conversation I'd learn that a lot of Batman fans don't even bother with them thinking they're only for kids. Now that's also an animation bias that is still a hurdle today, but I always found it strange that fans of the animated series wouldn't even try the other shows because it wasn't anything like what they've come to love. Batman The Brave and the Bold is amazing, it takes more of an Adam West approach, but it pairs Batman up with different characters from DC and pits them in hilarious, yet completely in character, situations. My favorite is whenever Captain Marvel (Shazam) shows up.
Unlike the Star Wars fandom as of late I don't believe Batman fans have gotten so bad that you should avoid them, but when I offered that the fandom has become toxic it was towards the passive aggressive, and sometimes not so passive, ways they'd make other fans feel for liking something that they did not find as definitive. Batman hasn't always been the uber dark character that emo teens can dedicate screamo bands to. He's had a long history and has been through many phases where he was campy, realistic, dark, funny, but for some reason there's a section of fandom that won't accept his other incarnations. Not only does this feel uninviting, but they're also missing out on some great Batman content. So I hope in the near future, maybe when Matt Reeves' film comes out, we'll be far enough away from Nolan's interpretation that live action fans can appreciate other interpretations for what they are. As for the animated world, I believe the people who claim Batman TAS as Jesus haven't seen a lot of Batman animation and still hold the animation for kids bias, they were most likely college kids who watched the animated series as cartoons were fazing out for them, which is a whole other problem. So whether you like all the interpretations, or maybe just one, or you have a favorite, please be open minded and don't tarnish a good character by keeping him from growing in new directions.
