With DC’s new collaboration with Webtoon, Batman: Wayne Family Adventures , to say nothing about recent episodes of HBO Max’s Titans , the idea of Batman as a father figure is being explored more. We’ve all heard the jokes about how Bruce Wayne is obsessed with collecting orphans, but what drives him to do this? What kind of a father is Batman, and how has it affected his children?
Bruce Wayne as a Son
Like most of us, Bruce’s understanding of fatherhood comes from the men who brought him up, in this case Thomas Wayne and Alfred Pennyworth. Was Thomas Wayne a good father? It’s hard to say because most of our understanding of him comes from flashbacks of his murder. The remainder of his portrayals come from Bruce’s flashbacks, and the perspective there is limited because Bruce was only eight years old when his father died. (The Thomas Wayne from the Flashpoint universe is a real piece of work, but since he comes from a different reality than our Batman, we can mostly discount him.)
Regardless of how good or bad of a father Thomas was, he was murdered before Bruce ever got a chance to truly know him. Our understanding of our parents evolve over time, with them become more human in our eyes the older we get.
Now imagine if that evolution stopped when we were children. Thomas Wayne died well before Bruce had a chance to get to know his father as a real person. He wasn’t old enough to have an understanding of his father’s dreams, struggles and doubts. Imagine how this shaped Bruce Wayne’s understanding of what it means to be a father.
To read more about our thoughts on Batman and his relationship with Fatherhood, head over to DC Comics!
Do you think Bruce is better as a father or a son? Let us know in the comments!