8 Ways That Ben Affleck’s Batman Is Different Than Christian Bale’s

5) He’s Prideful And Self-Involved

As much as Bale’s Batman was prone to moments of self-absorption, he was overall a relatively selfless hero, even ultimately offering himself up as a sacrifice at the close of The Dark Knight Rises.

Affleck’s Batman, however, is arguably out mainly for himself and his ego. Wayne takes on Superman largely because of how Metropolis’ hero makes him feel – small, threatened, a man in thrall to a god – and ignores in the process any of the good the Man of Steel does. Bruce fails to even recognize the hypocrisy of his quest: he’s a vigilante that answers to no one, too blinded by his own self-involvement to see his latest enemy is basically the same.

At the end of Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, Bruce does come round to the idea of working alongside Superman, but only because he in a moment of vulnerability reminds Bruce of himself. When Bruce discovers his and Clark Kent’s mothers share a first name, he finds himself empathizing. Bruce then spares Superman, but it takes him seeing himself in Clark Kent for him to feel anything for his extraterrestrial foe at all. It’s almost sociopathic how little the Batfleck can relate to people.