>it's always Superman who goes off the deep end and decides humanity needs his firm hand to be its guiding light at the expense of any objection or disagreement>the alien whose major characterization is one of humility to be accepted by a society that could just have easily scorned him for his otherworldiness>and it's Batman who ends up being the voice of reason who realizes that the ability for self-determination trumps the ability to control the populace for their own good, even if it is within their power to>a character who is constantly disappointed by the inability for things to change no matter how much of their life they have thrown at trying to make a differenceWhy does this always feel backwards?
>>154068517Because it’s retarded?
>>154068525Has the reverse ever actually been tried? One where Bruce finally uses his resources to enact a police state and partners with certain supers who take his side as his enforcers and then Superman stands on the outside and opposes him with the supers who only want to return to the status quo of supers acting as the protectors of humanity, not their emperors.I get that making the "mere mortal" Batman the leader of the movement to reestablish free will against a power-mad demi-god Superman with no restraints is a good David vs. Goliath story but why not steer into the characters people know them by for a change?
An evil batman isn't a threat to a justice league without extreme wank. Superman being a white gigachad with god powers makes his susceptibility to corruption natural and his extreme boyscout shit makes him naturally untrustworthy.
>>154068754funny thing is Bruce actually turned Gotham into a police state in Kingdom Come but it's handwaved
>>154068754what is owl man who is a near universally liked character.
People would side with Batman because he's cool and support fascism
>>154068517I feel like angry Batman fanboys would firebomb DC headquarters if they even thought about portraying him as being definitively wrong in what he does.
>>154068838That has never been Owl Man’s schtick.Owl Man’s schtick is he’s corrupt and lets organised crime happen in Gotham and all the Justice League are petty criminals, with Ultraman being the biggest criminal and Owlman is his jealous 2nd banana because he wants to bang evil Wonder Woman.
>>154068517>>154068754There was a reversal in Superman/Batman #53 Mike Green & Johson, but it was while Batman had Superman's powers and Superman was mortal, so weigh how much that counts as a real reversal.
>>154068939It is weird how only Batman is perceived as infallible, despite not really demonstrating any qualities that would suggest he is (he's hyper-intelligent, doesn't mean he can't have a poor perspective of things or is incapable of being ideologically misguided).
>>154068517
>>154069086Wonder Woman looking a lot less sexy.
>>154069040>It is weird how only Batman is perceived as infallible,they've been hanging, why don't you just kill the joker you retard, over his head for decades.
>>154068517>the alien whose major characterization is one of humilityHis major characterisation is policing the dumb weak muggles to do everything only his way for being born better than them, or he’ll punch them with his Silver Spoon powers and throw them in jail forever.And bullying and pushing around his “biggest enemy” for being just a weak human.No shit the guy who is only a “hero” because his powers let him push everyone around and always get his way is easy to imagine as evil.He’s already evil if you disagree with him on anything, like intervening in the Middle East (JLA Superpower, Antaeus), killing irredeemable villains (Manchester Black) or not letting Illegal Immigrants into your country (Russel)Too bad, Superman says you have to do it his way because he’s born with stronger superpowers than you. That’s the definition of corrupt
I theorize the reason for this is that it's easier to portray Superman as taking things personally, since he has formed human bonds and attachments that can be used against him and doing so causes him to become infuriated that this planet he CHOOSES to stay on would mistreat him so. He's more powerful than they are, he just hasn't had a reason to show the world that but if they want to push his buttons he will respond in kind.Meanwhile Batman is seen as detached and impersonal, so getting him riled up enough to actually think of the rest of humanity as aimless ants whose unchecked ambition have resulted in conflict and violence. He already experienced all the loss and depths of humanity as a child, there's nothing left to inspire him to hate the rest of mankind enough to become their oppressor.
It's because an evil Superman is a massive and immediate threat in the way an evil Batman is not. Evil Superman would immediately start smashing up cities, Evil Batman would need to spends months building up forces and plots in secret during which the League would probably notice something is up.
>>154069230it's an alternative story so idk if you need to develop or build up to those things rather than ffwing through as much as needed for the setup. you could also write it from the JL's pov and have readers discover it with them so that it's as much of a surprise to them.
>>154068517>>154069086They also did this already in DC Absolute PowerIt’s just that Batman vs Evil Superman is cool (David vs Goliath, Tactics vs Superpowers)While Superman vs Batman’s Evil Inventions is the default (he’s just every evil scientist at that point)
>>154068517Because Superman just can almost all by himself. Batman can't really. And I think the contrast of the optimist becoming the tyrant is stronger and more done because of it.
>>154069040Shit, if you've ever read Batman comics you'd know that paranoia, control freak tendencies, a superiority complex, and self-absolvement are his most consistently presented character flaws.
>>154068517Because Batman going autoritarian ends in 5 minutes with Superman punching him.
>>154068754There is an elseworld were Batgirl and Supergirl were that happens. They do nothing with it though.
>>154068517It happened in Titans. Batman's a total fuckup in that show. Also, there was an evil Bruce in Supergirl or whatever who murdered Superman. Also, Batman fucks up constantly in the comics. Tower of Babel? His fault. Brother Eye? His fault. Failsafe? His fault. There's not as much novelty in turning him evil because he doesn't even HAVE to turn evil to fuck up on a colossal scale.
>>154068517A batman that is unrestrained is not as scary as a Superman without restraint. It's simple, it's why ever Batman v Superman fight needs 10 billion caveats as two why Superman doesn't just atomize Batman immediately. If Batman was ever a direct threat to the extent he would try to take over the world superman could turn him into mist.
