DC Comics has made Batman their flagship hero since the Bronze Age, and this has been reflected in the star-studded creative teams who have written for the hero. However, since Crisis On Infinite Earths (Marv Wolfman & George Perez), the DC Universe has experienced a series of reboots, not to mention Elseworlds reimaginings. However, throughout all that time, Batman has remained true to his core.
Since the Bronze Age, Batman has been arguably the most consistent character when it comes to his story, personality, and skills. Always the scheming detective and intelligent tactician, the hero has earned his right to stand alongside his Justice League peers. DC’s reboots are unlikely to ever be at a complete end, but fans can rest easy knowing the Caped Crusader will never be fully rebooted for a number of reasons.
While DC, like Marvel, doesn’t pay much heed to the speculative value of old back issues in stores, they certainly care when it comes to their reprint strategy. Whether through facsimiles or omnibus collections, DC will always want its back catalog to have value for customers.
Classic runs like Dennis O’Neil and Neal Adams’ Batman, The Brave and the Bold, and stories like No Man’s Land and Knightfall are all still sought-after books. Not only would a hard reboot ruin omnibuses but it would also completely divorce comics Batman from his DCAU and movie counterparts.
9 DC Would Retroactively Ruin Creative Careers
The DC Universe, especially when it comes to Batman, has been carefully crafted by hundreds, if not thousands, of creators since it was born in 1938. While there have been some reboots to the DCU, these were handled just well enough not to devalue the creative careers of the many writers and artists who worked on DC.
A full reboot would effectively de-canonize almost 90 years of the works of comic book legends, such as Bill Finger, Dennis O’Neil, and Neal Adams. It’s hard to imagine fans going along with such a dismissal of countless creators and their contributions.
8 Comic Readers Have Had Enough Origins
Despite the frequency with which DC projects like to tell things like the death of Bruce Wayne’s parents and Year One, readers are tired of them. The origins of The Dark Knight are arguably the most well-known of any hero, and rebooted or not, fans are tired of DC going back to the well.
Rebooting Batman right back to a new origin could risk DC not only annoying readers with a new origin but one they deem worse than the current one. Batman fans enjoy the hero’s history, but they don’t like always being taken back to the beginning of his story.
7 Too Many Iconic Stories
In fully rebooting Batman’s history, DC would take away several key flashpoint moments in his history that, assuming they committed to a reboot, they wouldn’t be able to reuse. It’s hard to imagine a Batman series where events like “Knightfall,” “The Court of Owls,” The Man Who Laughs, and “Tower of Babel” never took place.
Batman has been made what he is through these epic stories, and removing all of them from canon would lead to a shallow take on Batman. Superheroes are an ongoing saga, and even the New 52 had the sense to incorporate classic Batman into their world.
6 Too Many Supporting Characters
The world of Batman and his success doesn’t just hinge on the iconic nature of the titular hero but an entire world of Gotham and an equally well-known supporting cast. From Red Hood and Nightwing to Batgirl and Orphan, Gotham City is as much an integral part of Batman’s appeal as the hero himself.
Batman’s allies have all been built up enough that they can carry their own stories and multimedia projects, like Gotham Knights. To completely reboot Batman would mean going back to the drawing board on at least a dozen heroes, not to mention villains and other cast members.
5 Batman Is Too Well Defined
The world around Batman and the hero himself is one of the most well-defined comic book lore in the medium, with a well-known supporting cast, treasured sidekicks, and iconic villains. The hero has been steadily built up through generations of creators like Bill Finger, Dennis O’Neil, Neal Adams, and Frank Miller.
Even Batman’s Elseworlds stories follow a similar understanding of what The Dark Knight is. To reboot the hero and continue on with the classic portrayal of him would simply be redundant, and to radically change him would lose fans. Even the writers who came after the reboot would look to his classic stories for how to write him.
4 Not Wanting To Confuse Things Further
Even for the most committed DC Comics fans, it’s hard to deny things have always been convoluted. While it’s easy to make the mistake of thinking a hard reboot would simplify Batman, this just wouldn’t be the case. A hard reboot would naturally see DC incorporating parts of his classic lore into new stories, leaving people to wonder if it even was a reboot.
On the other hand, DC could do such a hard reboot that the hero’s world and villains become unrecognizable, which would leave just about everyone confused by what was going on. Considering the company’s confusion from soft reboots, it’s unlikely they’d gamble on a complete makeover.
3 DC’s Greatest Friendship
The friendship between Batman and Superman cannot be overstated enough when it comes to the best examples of comradery in comics. History has shown that when writers upset the balance between the two heroes, they disappoint readers almost every single time.
The New 52 reimagined a newly-acquainted Batman and Superman, the latter of whom was much darker than he should have been. The dynamic simply didn’t work as well as it should have. It’s hard to imagine radically altering Batman without having the effect of damaging the Batman/Superman friendship.
2 Fans Would Divest From His Story
Millions of Batman fans have invested heavily in the hero’s story and growth through things like the ongoing Bat/Cat romance, Bruce and Damian, or the rivalry between the hero and Joker. Countless fans would be left to wonder the purpose of sticking with the universe if they’re expected to start at square one.
Elements of Batman’s history have been revised over the years, and even these have shown how hard it is to do without alienating fans. The hero’s story has been more or less consistent over the lifetime of current readers, and DC would risk losing their business by making them feel years of reading his story were for nothing.
1 Batman Is Basically Perfect
It may be arrogant of fans to insist Batman is perfect, but in terms of what he brings to comics, he is. After all, there’s a reason he has more comic book appearances under his belt than any other superhero — not to mention how many of the most successful and iconic DC Comics star Batman.
The enjoyment of Batman is entirely subjective, but in terms of what DC and his fans want him to be, the hero already meets expectations and then some. The dark detective, master tactician, expert fighter, and billionaire genius has very little room left for growth and evolution, at least not without sacrificing what makes him sell comics.