Injustice: Gods Among Us wasn’t the first comic book story where the hero lost their moral compass and became a tyrant, but it’s the most popular. While the NetherRealm Studios video game being fun made it popular, the story is why it's top tier. Seeing what broke Superman and how Wonder Woman became hardened to the world showed how events can break the purest of hearts. However, we can’t forget that Batman played a part in this as well.
When Superman began his road to tyranny, Bruce Wayne could have tried harder to console his friend. Instead, he stayed in his cave and continued to be oblivious to the needs of someone who just named him their unborn kid’s godfather. It’s unclear how much of a difference it would have made, but it would have stopped the hundreds of innocent deaths. This is a point that a Bluesky user made when they asked writer Tom Taylor if Batman was the real villain of Injustice. Taylor's response made a lot of sense.
"Lots of grey in Injustice, by design. No condoning Superman's actions (and the REAL Superman would never react in such a way). Batman wasn't a villain, but he definitely wasn't always in the right. I wrote the two pages you posted here, for instance."Tom Taylor on Blusky
So Bruce wasn’t the villain of Injustice, but as Tom Taylor said, he wasn’t always right. There were multiple moments throughout the series that showed the mistakes he made. Most of them came from him being too stubborn or to see things from someone else’s perspective. For example, Batman certainly should have done a better job with Damian.
When Damian accidentally killed Dick Grayson, Bruce’s response made sense. You can’t knock him for pushing Damian to the side and telling him to get away. His son was dead and his biological kid was responsible. It was an emotional reaction that anyone would have made. That being said, there’s no excuse for Bruce not reaching out after that and showing Damian that he still loved him. The lack of compassion him into the arms of Superman and the Regime.
There’s also a moment when Superman puts his hand out and asks Batman to join him on a mission and Bruce doesn’t accept it. Granted, Supes was about to go and attack Aquaman and Batman didn’t want any part of that. But maybe Bruce being there would have prevented things from escalating. It was a moment that could have used someone logical instead of emotional.
That’s the beauty of Injustice. You’re forced to look at things from multiple angles. Superman shouldn’t have become a despot and Wonder Woman shouldn’t have egged him on. But Batman could have been a better friend. However, The Man of Steel went back to being evil at the end of Injustice 2 despite saving the world with Batman. So maybe there wasn’t anything that could have been done.
Before you say it, yes, a debate can be made that Bruce killing Joker years ago would have worked too. It would have prevented him from going after Lois which led to everything in Injustice. However, doing that could have ruined The Dark Knight’s character. If The Dark Knight killed the Clown Prince of Crime, then why not everyone else? It starts a downward spiral and that may not have stopped leading to comic book fans looking at Batman differently. And if you want a darker Bruce Wayne, you can always look up The Batman Who Laughs.
Do you think Batman was the real villain in Injustice? Was there anything Bruce could have done to stop Superman before things got out of hand? Let us know on the Bam Smack Pow Bluesky, Instagram, and Twitter.