Bruce Wayne, also known by his superhero vigilante alias Batman, is a fictional character in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU), based on the DC Comics character of the same name. The character was portrayed by Ben Affleck in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad (both 2016), Justice League (2017) and its 2021 director's cut, and The Flash (2023). Fans nicknamed this iteration of the character "Batfleck", a portmanteau of "Batman" and "Affleck". In the films' universe, Bruce had already been active as Batman for twenty years before the emergence of Superman, and despite being initially at odds with him to the point of paranoia and anger, Batman comes to appreciate the former, starting the Justice League in his honor after Superman's sacrifice to stop Doomsday. The Justice League, under Wayne's leadership, fights to prevent Steppenwolf from collecting the three Mother Boxes and destroying Earth alongside his master Darkseid, eventually resurrecting Superman to aid in their collective efforts.

The DCEU marks the fifth time Batman was portrayed in film, but the first to share a film series with other DC superheroes such as Superman and Wonder Woman. Although the announcement of Affleck's casting in Batman v Superman was initially met with intense fan backlash, his performance received positive reviews despite the film's generally unfavorable reception. Affleck was later hired to write, direct, and star in his own standalone Batman film entitled The Batman before stepping down from both roles. The project would be realized as another reboot by Matt Reeves, with Robert Pattinson succeeding Affleck in the role, although Affleck would nonetheless return for The Flash, alongside Michael Keaton as a variant of Affleck's version. By the end of that film, when Barry Allen travels back in time to ensure his father is found innocent of the murder of Barry's mother, Bruce Wayne's appearance is altered and is portrayed by George Clooney.

Fictional character biography

Parents' murder and impact

Bruce Wayne was born on February 19, 1970, to Martha and Thomas Wayne. One day in 1981, after watching Excalibur with his parents, a mugger holds his parents at gunpoint, shooting both dead after a struggle in front of Bruce.

During the funeral, Wayne runs off, only to fall into a dry well, and get attacked by a swarm of bats. This would later inspire him to use that fear to battle the criminal element that took his parents' lives. Years later, Wayne becomes the CEO of his father's company, Wayne Enterprises, while also becoming Batman in the mid-1990s, defending Gotham City from danger.

Early years as Batman

At some point, Wayne recruited Robin who was then killed by Joker, with Wayne later keeping his vandalized suit to commemorate him.

Batman gets into an entanglement with Deadshot after being tipped off by Amanda Waller. While he gets the best of Deadshot, the latter pulls out his rifle and is prepared to kill Batman, but his daughter Zoe gets in the way and persuades her father to surrender. Sometime later, Batman chases down Joker and Quinn, resulting in Quinn's capture and incarceration.

Against Superman

In 2013, Wayne happens to be in Metropolis during the Black Zero event, which results in the destruction of several skyscrapers, including the Wayne Financial Tower, as the Kryptonians throw each other across the city. Enraged at Superman's apparent lack of concern for innocent bystanders, Wayne devotes his life to taking Superman down, deeming him a threat to humanity. Eighteen months later at a gala held by Lex Luthor, Wayne encounters Clark Kent (Superman's secret identity), a young reporter who attempts to question the billionaire's position on Batman, whom he views as a brutal criminal.

Wayne mockingly counters that Superman is dangerous but hypocrites defend him, attempting to brush him off after noticing the mysterious Diana Prince. As he plants a device to steal and decrypt information from Luthor's servers, Prince takes notice and steals the device before Wayne can get back to it, though she returns it to him at a museum gala after he tracks her down, as she is unable to bypass the military-grade encryption on the device. Wayne returns home and falls asleep decrypting the drive. Waking up from a nightmarish dream, he encounters The Flash, who tells him that Lois Lane "is the key" and to "find the others" before vanishing. Looking at Luthor's files, he finds that not only was Luthor after kryptonite, but was also researching metahumans around the world, one of which includes Prince, also known as Wonder Woman.

While attempting to intercept Luthor's men during a kryptonite shipment, Batman is stopped by Superman himself, who gives him a warning while Batman voices his desire to take him down. After seeing the explosion at the U.S. Capitol during Superman's televised public trial, Bruce becomes ever more convinced to take down the Man of Steel. He successfully steals the kryptonite on his second attempt and prepares relentlessly to fight Superman. Luthor eventually blackmails Superman into fighting Batman, finally pitting them against each other in combat. Although Superman has realized the situation and attempts to talk Batman out of it, the latter is ready to fight, subduing Superman with two kryptonite smoke grenades after a lengthy struggle. As Batman prepares to move in for the kill using the spear, Superman pleads with him to "save Martha", causing Batman to pause in confusion. When Lane intervenes and explains that Superman meant his own mother, Batman relents and sets out to rescue Martha Kent, killing mobster Anatoli Knyazev in the process, while Superman regains his strength and confronts Luthor. Luthor executes his backup plan, unleashing a monster genetically engineered from DNA from both Zod's body and his own.

Having heard of the mayhem, Wonder Woman arrives in her armor with her metahuman powers on display, joining forces with Batman and Superman against the creature. Unfortunately, while the monster is mortally impaled, an enraged dying Doomsday manages to impale Superman's chest with his huge arm-protrusion, mortally wounding him as well. Batman and Wonder Woman promptly retrieve Superman's lifeless body, seconds before the arrival of a devastated Lane. Batman confronts Luthor in prison, warning him that he will always be watching. Wayne and Prince attend Kent's funeral, and Bruce later delivers Diana a photograph of her from 1918.

Meeting Amanda Waller

One year later, he meets with Amanda Waller to negotiate about her involvement with the Suicide Squad. In exchange for Wayne protecting her reputation and working to hide her involvement with Task Force X, Waller provides him classified government documents on metahumans such as Arthur Curry and Barry Allen.

Forming the Justice League

Theatrical cut

In 2017, Wayne and Prince follow on their plans to locate more metahumans in the wake of Superman's death. A global threat has arisen with the emergence of the New God Steppenwolf, who has sent his Parademons from Apokolips to plague Gotham. Wayne easily manages to persuade Allen, also known as "The Flash", to join, but faces difficulty in recruiting Curry, also known as "Aquaman", until Steppenwolf attacks Curry's home of Atlantis.

Wayne and Allen join up with Prince and Victor Stone, also known as "Cyborg", as they receive intel from Gotham City Police commissioner James Gordon. The team sets out to an underwater facility between Metropolis and Gotham City in order to rescue Stone's father Silas and other employees of S.T.A.R. Labs, whom Steppenwolf and his forces had kidnapped in an attempt to locate the last Mother Box, one of three devices sought to reshape the world. After the group rescues the employees and seizes the Mother Box to analyze it following a skirmish, Wayne decides to use the device to resurrect Superman after hearing from Stone that Silas had used it to revive him after a horrific accident. Diana and Curry are hesitant about this idea, but Wayne forms a secret contingency plan in case Superman returns as hostile.

After exhuming Kent's body, the team successfully revives Superman using the Mother Box and amniotic fluid in the Kryptonian scout ship that was used to create Doomsday. However, Superman has lost his memory, and he attacks the group after Stone accidentally launches a projectile at him. Superman remembers Batman's aggression towards him, grabbing Batman off the ground and nearly killing him, but Batman enacts his contingency plan: Lois Lane. Superman calms down and leaves with Lane to his family home in Smallville, where he reflects, and his memories slowly come back. In the turmoil, the Mother Box is left unguarded, allowing Steppenwolf to retrieve it with ease.

Without Superman, the five heroes travel to a village in Russia, where Steppenwolf aims to unite the Mother Boxes once again to remake Earth. Batman risks his own life to distract Steppenwolf while the other members separate the Mother Boxes, though the plan is unsuccessful. Superman, having regained his memories, arrives and assists Allen in evacuating the city, as well as Stone, in separating the Mother Boxes. The team defeats Steppenwolf, who, overcome with fear, is attacked by his own Parademons before they all teleport away.

After the battle, Wayne and Prince agree to set up a base of operations for the team, with room for more members, and Bruce begins rebuilding the destroyed Wayne Manor for this purpose. Wayne then makes amends with Kent, buying out the bank trying to foreclose Martha Kent's farm in Smallville and offering Superman the mantle of leadership for the newly minted Justice League.

Director's cut

Wayne is unable to get a military jet for transporting the team to fly until Stone discovers and fixes a software bug in its firmware. During the final battle in Russia, Batman utilizes his weaponry and vehicles to break through the radioactive fortification Steppenwolf builds around the Mother Boxes, single-handedly annihilates much of the Parademon army, and is joined by the rest of the team in fighting their way to the boxes. As Stone, Wonder Woman, Aquaman and later Superman confront Steppenwolf inside the cooling tower and attack the Unity, Batman eliminates the remaining Parademons on the tower, killing one in particular that had shot Allen, giving the latter time to heal and undo the Unity of the boxes by entering the Speed Force and thus indirectly playing a major role in Steppenwolf's defeat.

Sometime after, Wayne and Prince agree to set up a base of operations for the team, with room for more members, and Bruce begins rebuilding the destroyed Wayne Manor for this purpose. Wayne then makes amends with Kent, buying out the bank trying to foreclose Martha Kent's farm in Smallville. After waking up from another nightmare, he is met by Martian Manhunter, who thanks him for forming the Justice League and promises to be in touch to plan for Darkseid's inevitable return.

Helping Flash