What comic book fan out there hasn't ever contemplated being Batman at some point in their life? Between the base and equipment, his expert fighting moves, and the incredibly cool car, the hero has a lot of things that have earned him love and adoration from fans worldwide.

But the a notable Batman writer is stepping in with his thoughts, and it's sparking an interesting conversation about the Dark Knight's billionaire status.

James Tynion IV Reminds Fans Batman Wasn't Always Extremely Rich

Batman Shouldn't Be Part of the Most Corrupt Systems

Per hit Batman where it hurt and stole the Wayne Family fortune. Though Bruce lost nearly everything and spent the next few years without his family's immense wealth, he still operated as the Caped Crusader, albeit on a budget. Tynion spoke out about his decision to strip Batman of his billionaire status and reflected on the character's financial history.

...in the earliest Batman stories, he wasn’t one of the world’s richest people.

Tynion pointed out that his story directly confronted the shifting attitudes towards the extremely wealthy and pointed out that in the earliest Batman stories, he wasn’t one of the world’s richest people. He did it that he wanted to knock Bruce down “a few pegs”, but not so much that he couldn’t do his job as Batman. Instead, Batman had to work within more constraining limits and not be able to “buy six satellites and build a rocketship tomorrow”.

Tynion had more to say about the particularly hard needle it is to thread with Batman, saying that he is a billionaire, but the only one who is actually fighting the injustices of the upper elite. Tynion reaffirmed this saying that “Batman was also always against a corrupt system”, even in the old stories where his actions were solely limited to he tried to root out local corruption. Tynion also made a point to note that even if Batman comes from the upper elite, he’s always going to be fighting against them and never truly a part of them.

DC Is Aware of How Society Feels About Billionaires and Has Tried Reworking Batman

At Least It Gave Us Absolute Batman

I will say you'd have to be willfully ignorant to not see how angry people are at the ultra-wealthy right now. Many are struggling while the rich only seem to get richer, especially as legislation to rein billionaires in seems like a pipe dream at best. And as it often does, we're starting to see this anger reflected in the art we consume, in movies, television shows, and even comics. So it was only a matter of time before DC Comics decided to see how it could make its most iconic character work in this rapidly-changing culture.

Around the time that anti-billionaire attitudes started becoming more popular, "Joker War" was published, and it removed Batman's status as one of the DC Universe's wealthiest people. We got to see a slightly more scaled-down version of the Dark Knight, who left his lofty Wayne Manor for a brownstone in the heart of Gotham. That being said, it wasn't long before Bruce regained money thanks to his alter-ego, Zur-En-Arrh, who amassed several billion dollars and hid it in secret s. So Batman is a billionaire once again, but not exactly the richest person on Earth.

Batman became a billionaire once more in Batman #149 (2024)!

I was kind of disappointed that DC went back on such a big shake-up, especially since it only lasted a few years and it never really seemed to inconvenience Batman. However, the publisher did recently introduce a new Dark Knight in Absolute Batman, and the biggest selling point was that this Bruce wasn’t rich by any means. I was skeptical, but Absolute Batman has been a fun read, and it’s everything a Batman story should be, even if Bruce doesn’t have a ludicrous amount of money to his name.

Batman Can Change with the Times as Long as Fans are Open-Minded

A New Status Quo Can Work As Long As DC Sticks With It

I know most fans don't like the idea of changing aspects of Batman. For many, he's an untouchable pillar and, believe me, I don't think changes should be arbitrarily made to him either. But the truth of the matter is that the way people are feeling about the uber-elite isn't going away any time soon. More people than ever are aware of wealth disparity and oligarchy and the idea of a 'good billionaire' is one that's becoming increasingly hard to imagine, even for a fictional superhero universe.

...the truth of the matter is that the way people are feeling about the uber-elite isn't going away any time soon.

Now do I think that Batman should have no money at all? Of course not. Having money is an intrinsic part of his character as it allowed him to travel the world and develop the gear he needed to wage his war on crime. And as James Tynion IV said, Batman wasn't always one of the richest people on the planet, he just had a lot of disposable cash. And while I like what DC has done with Absolute Batman, I by no means think that it needs to be the standard for every Batman.

James Tynion IV probably had it right when he had the Joker steal Batman's fortune. He made it so that Bruce was no longer a part of the upper crust, but had just enough to get by and keep his crusade going. It's a novel idea and one that could have really worked had DC stuck with it and not had Bruce bailed out by making him rich again down the line. Batman doesn't need to be a billionaire, but it doesn't hurt for him to have the funds he needs in order to stay on as the Dark Knight.

Removing Batman's Billionaire Status is For the Best

One Small Change Can Keep the Dark Knight Relevant

Batman's been around for nearly a century, so it's no shock that one part of him has simply fallen out of favor in the real world. But that doesn't mean the character needs to be completely overhauled, just modified to better reflect what the culture is like now. Batman can still have millions, even hundreds of millions to his name, and most will probably not bat an eye. But given how society's views on wealth in this world are changing fast, it's probably a good idea to leave Batman's billionaire status behind for good.

Source: Popverse