(Note: this post contains spoilers for the new film, The Batman)
On June 14th, 2013 audiences were introduced to the most recent iteration of the Superman myth. One of that film’s sharpest criticisms centered on the climactic battle scene when the Man of Steel broke the neck of his enemy Zod. Because Superman has historically been associated with truth, justice, and the American way, watching the hero brutally take the life of another was troubling to many people at the time of its release. That same year a book was released called Superboys which recounted the troubled history of the iconic superhero’s creators, Shuster and Siegel. I share that because at a book signing event the author, Brad Ricca, was asked to comment on The Man of Steel’s ending. Although I’m paraphrasing he said, “every generation gets the Superman they deserve, and the Man of Steel is our Superman.”
If Brad Ricca was right, what does the Batman reveal about who we are and what we need in 2022?
We live in a time when we have largely lost trust in our institutions. Whether it’s the church, local and national government, the media, or law enforcement, citizens of the United States have lost faith in long-established forms of authority. In the Batman, the same can be said of the film’s villain, the Riddler. Motivated to expose the lies and corruption which permeate Gotham, the Riddler’s endgame is to exterminate everyone who has participated in the duplicity.
While labeling his methods severe might be an understatement, his impulse to destroy what appears to be unredeemable is one our current culture shares. At least one part of cancel culture is the ability of individuals who’ve experienced a lack of agency to have the power to expose and bring down powerful people who have largely been protected from being held accountable for their actions.
The problem with both the Riddler’s plan and our own inclination to do the same is the absence of a viable plan to move forward. Where do we go when there is no chance for redemption? What do we build when we’ve lost hope? If we destroy long-established systems of authority, we are still left with broken and sinful people erecting new systems run by broken and sinful people.
Enter a young Bruce Wayne in the second year of his experiment as Gotham’s avenger. As the Batman, Wayne patrols the city streets stopping criminals and aiding Commissioner Gordon in solving the more complicated cases being tackled by the Gotham Police Department.
As the embodiment of fear, Batman dwells in the darkness- he is the avenging angel that metes out punishment for evil. While he refuses to use guns in his desire to preserve life, his method of working, while less radical, is of the same kind as the Riddler he is trying to apprehend. While the Riddler seeks to literally destroy corrupt individuals, the Batman is content to simply remove them from operating in the public sphere through imprisonment. For young Bruce Wayne, the fear that he brings when he is in costume serves as a motivator to walk the straight and narrow path, to leave behind criminal acts that will eventually lead one to a confrontation with the Dark Knight.
However, he makes a shocking discovery at the film’s conclusion. In the midst of foiling a terrorist plot, he demands one of the criminals identify himself only to hear him reply, “I am vengeance.” Horrified by the man’s words, Bruce painfully realizes that punishing evil has not yielded the results he most desired. Instead, he has empowered competing visions of what constitutes evil and the best method required to extinguish it. He concludes Gotham is in need of hope, that what the city needs is for light to break into the darkness. Fear and justice apart from the light of hope are not the path forward that leads to flourishing.
Such a powerful gospel truth to be shared in a blockbuster comic book adaptation! The Scriptures reveal a God who is angry at the presence of evil and its destructive power at work in both individuals and creation. God requires every wrong to be punished and every injustice to be rectified. But the beauty of the gospel is that the fear of God brings us both an awareness of our sinfulness and the magnitude of God’s love for us in our sin. The fear of God is how awesome He is in His desire to forgive and to show mercy when neither is warranted.
In the person of Jesus, we see God enfleshed- we see the only perfect human being who demonstrates through every word He speaks and every action he performs that to live in the light of God is the only path to true flourishing. But in His death, Jesus receives the just punishment that we deserve for our sins. Rather than rule over us through fear of punishment, God demonstrates His unending love for us that while we were His enemy, Christ died in our place.
Our hope comes from knowing that in Christ, we are accepted even in our failings, and by knowing this love we are enabled to pursue good. We also live in the hope of knowing that those who don’t see this as good news, those who pursue unjust gain in all its forms, will one day be held to account by God and that every wrong will be made right. This empowers us not to “be vengeance” but to trust that the same God who loved us enough to save us, loves His creation enough to one day make it right again.
Living in this hope, we are both better able to see our own brokenness in our day-to-day actions and decisions, while also being able to extend forgiveness to others, even when they have done wrong. The gospel leads us to pursue reconciliation rather than retribution, being filled with a hope that transcends our current circumstances.
I’m excited to see where Matt Reeves will take the Batman in future installments but for now, the pursuit of hope and the desire for light to break into the darkness are worthwhile messages for our cultural moment.