10 Grim Realities Of Superhero Origins

10. Batman Wouldn't Exist

The origin story: A trip to the cinema ended in tragedy for the billionaire Wayne family, as parents Thomas and Martha were gunned down during a botched mugging behind the theatre. Their son Bruce survived, but was orphaned, and traumatised by the sight of his mum and dad being killed right in front of him. Said trauma inspired a lifelong passion for justice and a desire to clean up the crime-filled streets of Gotham City - so he took his considerable inheritance and travelled the world, learning everything he would need to in order to achieve his task. He trained his body, his mind, and his spirit, before returning home and adopting the alter ego of Batman, masked vigilante and protector of Gotham, ensuring that nobody suffers the same tragedy as he did.

The grim reality: So for the most part there's no crazy science or anything on show in Batman's origin (but boy will we be diving headfirst into some of that in a moment) - people definitely get killed during robberies, it's pretty traumatising to be orphaned but especially when it happens before your very eyes, and a rich dude would probably be able to amass all the wonderful toys that the Dark Knight has.

Not that he would, though. Why would your first thought upon being orphaned to train up and become a masked vigilante? Because you're crazy. Which Bruce Wayne undoubtedly would be, without therapy, which means that if Batma did become a reality it wouldn't last long. Not only would he not be able to physically keep it up for more than a couple of years, but his descent into psychosis would end with him either being incarcerated or, well, worse.