The Three Streams of Vengeance and Vigilantism in The Batman
In Batman’s revealing scene of the movie The Batman, Batman beats a thug into a pulp and says, “I’m Vengeance.” The thugs who didn’t recognize Batman by eyesight recognized him through this iconic line. But Batman is not the only one who is “vengeance” in this movie; Catwoman and Riddler are also “vengeance.”
Catwoman’s vengeance is very simple and understandable, whereas Riddler’s vengeance is complex and perplexing. If we follow the prequel book “Before the Batman,” we can see that Riddler hates those who are unimaginably affluent yet do risky things just for the thrill, and because of that, poor people get hurt. Riddler started to study these wealthy people of Gotham and found out that they’re actually filthy. After having several bad days, inspired by Batman, he became a “vigilante.” His vengeance is to cleanse Gotham of these corrupt wealthy people. However, this vigilante doesn’t care what happens to the city after he has killed all the reprobate.
Both Catwoman and Riddler got the wrong idea of vengeance from Batman. The vigilante Catwoman, who sometimes helps helpless girls, went to Batman to murder Kenzie and Falcone. She thought Batman would be happy to help. Riddler thought he was an accomplice to Batman by killing the corrupt. But Batman’s mission was never about vague vengeance really, it was something greater. Now, what makes Batman better than the other two vigilantes?
Catwoman’s vengeance is simply a personal vendetta. She doesn’t care what happens to the city; she only wants her surrounding to be alright. Riddler has more than one part of villainy. Destroying innocent people’s lives with the flood? Making more orphans? He will call them collateral damage. But his blind spot is to try and kill Bruce Wayne, to defame the Wayne family. In the case of everyone else, he thoroughly researched and was right to find them corrupt. However, in the case of the Waynes, since he hated them from his childhood, he was seeking an opportunity to jump on them. So he didn’t go deep enough in that case. He chose desire over righteousness; that is why the Riddler failed to unmask the truth. This is similar to Batman’s choice in the movie The Dark Knight. On the other hand, Batman wants to clean the city in the most righteous way possible, using the law. He has a definitive goal and doesn’t jump on anything that he can conjure.
At the end of the movie, it becomes clear that what Batman does isn’t actually vengeance; it’s justice. Batman used the word “vengeance” out of rage, but he had control over it; unlike Catwoman, who tried to kill Kenzie and his biological father Falcone, Batman never tried to kill anyone. Rather he saved villains from death and handed them to the law. Furthermore, the word vengeance incites fear into the enemy, which is one of Batman’s goals. However, this symbolism turned out to be a dangerous Inspiration, which helped create the likes of Riddler.
At the movie’s very end, Batman jumped into water, as if baptized from vengeance to justice. At the beginning of the film, a civilian doesn’t trust Batman and begs Batman not to hurt him. In the end, a civilian holds on to Batman, trusting him the most, unwilling to let go. Batman transitions from vengeance to justice. Hopefully, this new symbolism will motivate people to do good; help new heroes to arise instead of villains. A Robin, maybe?
Originally written on June 10, 2022
