How Old Is Bruce Wayne In The Batman?
"The Batman," starring Robert Pattinson as the iconic Caped Crusader, is finally here. It took a decent amount of time for us to reach this point with production delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the decision from Ben Affleck to drop his pursuit of a solo Batman film focusing on his DCEU iteration of the character. As we know, director Matt Reeves stepped in soon after with his ideas for a Batman movie, and he cast Pattinson in the role of Bruce Wayne. "The Batman" serves as its own fresh new story for Batman and his war on crime.
The film follows Bruce after he has been Batman in Gotham City for about two years, and right around Halloween, a string of strange murders start to occur, all of which are carried out by The Riddler (Paul Dano). Batman and Lt. James Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) start to unravel the case filled with riddles that lead them to cross paths with Oz a.k.a. The Penguin (Colin Farrell) and Carmine Falcone (John Turturro). Bruce also needs assistance from Selina Kyle (Zoë Kravitz), and fans are able to see the beginning of a classic romance from the comics between Batman and Catwoman.
"The Batman" sets itself definitively as the opposite in regard to timing with comparison to Affleck's DCEU Bruce Wayne. For Affleck's Bruce, we meet him for the first time after he had been fighting crime in Gotham City for over 20 years, and therefore, the story of Pattinson's Bruce/Batman would be taking place 18 years before that. So, how old is Bruce Wayne really in "The Batman"?
Bruce Wayne is about 30 in The Batman
According to information provided by director Matt Reeves during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Bruce Wayne was written to be about 30 years old in "The Batman." Reeves specifically wanted this version of the character to not have the origin story, as he felt it was overdone, and he didn't want Batman to be a seasoned superhero this time around. Reeves set out to tell the story of someone who was still sort of figuring out what it meant to be Batman and determining the values he was trying to instill. As it turns out, this is a complete focus of "The Batman." At the beginning of the film, Bruce refers to himself around criminals as "vengeance," something that Selina, Oz, and The Riddler all refer to him as throughout the film, with The Riddler ultimately using it against him near the end. However, through that, Bruce finally realizes that he can affect Gotham as a symbol of hope rather than a symbol of vengeance.
Thirty-year-old Bruce also noticeably is going through constant struggles of balancing his life as a superhero with his public persona. Robert Pattinson noted in a recent interview that he and Reeves wanted to show a Bruce that hadn't quite figured out how to master the playboy facade of Bruce Wayne, and in the film, this is very apparent. Bruce truly only ever leaves the cave to actually be himself beyond Batman in service of his investigation as Batman.
According to the comics, 30 isn't too far off from Batman's early years
Based on information from DC's database, Bruce Wayne began traveling the world training and honing his mind during his college years. This would be anywhere from 19 to 23, with him officially returning to Gotham to complete his mastery over fear at 25. Even if Bruce started becoming Batman immediately that year, which is unlikely given that it took him a little bit to figure out the symbol he'd use — two years later, he'd be 27. It's more likely that if anything, especially based on Batman: Year One or The Zero Year, Bruce started truly being Batman at around 28 or 29 years old.
Of course, Bruce would go on to be Batman until the age where his body simply wouldn't allow it anymore. In fact, "Batman Beyond" has the best story on this, where Bruce knew it was time to stop being Batman when he almost resorted to using a gun, the weapon that killed his parents. Either way, Pattinson's Batman in "The Batman" is surely aged correctly during Year 2, based on the comics. Ben Affleck's Bruce would therefore have been in his mid-40s and Christian Bale in his late 30s/early 40s by the end of "The Dark Knight Rises." Michael Keaton's re-emergence as Batman in "The Flash" and "Batgirl" will definitely be an experienced one, possibly placing Bruce in his 50s.
Fans are hoping to see Robert Pattinson as Batman a few years older in a possible sequel sometime soon, especially given that tease in the prison near the end of the film.