Legacy characters have long been a point of contention in the comics, and when it comes to Batman, the debate only gets bigger.
Bruce Wayne is and always shall be, to many, the definitive Dark Knight. Despite the fact that other characters have inhabited the role from time to time (including Azrael, Dick Grayson and Terry McGinnis), the thought of anyone other than Wayne inhabiting the part is downright unpalatable to many Bat-fans, and while it's true that Bruce is the most iconic character to have donned the cape and cowl of the Caped Crusader, the mantle doesn't belong to him alone.
It belongs to Gotham (or in Grant Morrison's Batman INC., even the world), and it's an aspect reflected by those who've taken on the role when he's been otherwise deposed. Of all the characters to have succeeded him, however, Terry McGinnis and Dick Grayson are undoubtedly the best; the former the Batman of the Future, and the latter the first Robin and eventual Nightwing of the Bat-family.
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.
