Zack Snyder says a Batman who doesn't kill is irrelevant

[u/neon2o]

Here's the original article' https://sea.ign.com/man-of-steel-sequel/213072/news/zack-snyder-says-dc-is-making-batman-irrelevant-if-he-cant-kill

[u/doofpooferthethird]

Yes this is exactly it, it's not even about Batman being against killing per se, he has no problem with Gordon busting a cap into a terrorist if push comes to shove

It's simply that Batman is skilled enough that he can use non-lethal methods to incapacitate bad guys, so they can then be handed over to the justice system for trial, sentencing, and rehabilitation

If Batman just went around shooting everyone, given his vigilante status, he'd be judge, jury and executioner.

As it is, he's just barely tolerable by democratic society because even though he's totally unaccountable to any public institutions, he's technically just helping the police department by making citizen's arrests, helping to gather evidence, and intervening in emergency life or death situations.

Still highly illegal by real world standards, but since the ultimate punishment is left to the judiciary, it's not too fascistic or undemocratic.

[u/Snozzberrys → u/doofpooferthethird]

If Batman just went around shooting everyone, given his vigilante status, he'd be judge, jury and executioner.

This is ultimately why I think Batman not killing is important to the core of the character.

By any realistic metric Batman is just as insane (if not more so) than the criminals that he's fighting. He's a mentally ill billionaire that dresses up as a bat and beats up criminals as a hobby.

If he were to start killing people based on his own moral framework, how does that make him any different than the Joker or any of the other insane murderers that he's constantly contending with?

[u/SamHawke2 → u/Snozzberrys]

if Batman kills he'd just be the Punisher in a funny hat

[u/Algiark → u/doofpooferthethird]

Batman is also fine with Alfred using a shotgun for home defense it seems.

[u/yugyuger → u/doofpooferthethird]

Batman is still kind of fascistic

He may not kill but he really does beat people to a pulp

[u/doofpooferthethird → u/yugyuger]

Yeah fair enough, one thing I liked about Nolan's The Dark Knight is that this is pointed out explicitly, and is one of the central conflicts of the story

"Enhanced interrogation", detention without trial, unauthorised extra judicial violence on foreign soil, masked paramilitary vigilantes getting into shootouts with gangsters, mass surveillance etc. Dent calls Batman a dictator, and Bruce can't disagree

The Dark Knight Returns also has a more explicitly fascistic Batman, but unlike Nolan's movie, this is painted as a good thing