10 Reasons Why Batman Is The Most Overrated Character Of All Time

5. The Supporting Cast Is Much Better

Batman Nightwing Robin
DC Comics

This may just be down to the material I've read and seen, but I've always found Batman's supporting cast to be more interesting than the eponymous hero himself. Dick Grayson, Barbara Gordon, Selina Kyle and Damian Wayne all occupy a space in Batman's story, but with the added bonus of having seen them grow over the years.

Audiences were first introduced to Dick Grayson when he was but a small teenager using the mantle of Robin, and then went on to see him grow and mature into Nightwing, proceed to leave Batman's shadow, re-embrace it, and abandon it altogether by becoming an agent for Spyral - a pretty spectacular journey if I do say so myself. This isn't to say that Bruce is devoid of his own compelling traits, because there's a lot to love about the character.

When he's written well you really get a sense for his internal struggle, but the overarching narrative just isn't nearly quite as absorbing as say, Dick's or Barbara's, as we don't witness the same evolution so closely-associated with those characters with him. I'd even go so far as to say that Dick was a Better Batman than Bruce, during the few years he took over the mantle that is. Don't take my word for it though, check out Grant Morrison's Reborn series as well as Scott Snyder's Black Mirror if you're still unconvinced.

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Content Producer/Presenter

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.