Taking me back to my ninth grade years (for better or for worse), The Batman (2022) is an unconventional, but exemplary showcase of “The Hero’s Journey”. Coined by American writer and mythologist Joseph Campbell in 1949 after studying ancient myths and modern stories, “The Hero’s Journey” is a way to simplify the journey a typical hero takes throughout the course of a story. It is summed up extremely well in the infographic below.
What flips the paradigm of a traditional “hero’s journey” narrative with The Batman (2022) is that the film is not an origin story for the well known hero. Countless times audiences have been subjected to the murder of Bruce Wayne’s parents in a dark Gotham City alleyway just after the Wayne family enjoyed a night out to the cinema. Personally if I had to see one more version of Martha Wayne’s pearl necklace shattering I would go crazy. The Batman (2022) picks up in what is estimated by director Matt Reeves to be “year two” of the Dark Knight’s crusades through Gotham City; this creates a small problem with the hero’s journey however as we are expected to know the origins of our titular hero. With this post however, I hope to prove that this is a problem that can be simply placed aside as The Batman (2022) — for better or for worse — perfectly follows the Hero’s Journey.
Let’s break it down piece by piece:
(THIS WILL CONTAIN HEAVY SPOILERS FOR THE BATMAN (2022)
I. The World of the Common Day
We start the film with a scene of the Riddler killing the mayor of Gotham City…quite an intense scene to start off a superhero movie with if you ask me. This perfectly sets up, however, the following montage of crime-ridden Gotham City. This cesspool of filth, grime, and criminal activity is our “world of the common day”. Though it may seem like this would be the start of Batman’s tests and trails, this is the common world for Bruce Wayne, who grew up here for years.
II. The Call to Adventure
Circling back to the death of Gotham’s mayor: his murder sets Batman on his chase to catch the Riddler. This can easily be seen as his “call to adventure”. Bruce is called in by the GCPD (well more specifically Jim Gordon, who we’ll talk more about in a bit) to the scene of the crime after Riddler leaves a note addressed to our titular hero. This is Batman’s first encounter with anything related to the Riddler and begins Bruce’s quest to stop the deranged killer.
III. Refusal of the Call
This is where things get a bit hard. Director Matt Reeves seems to simply skip over this step, with Batman taking on the quest to find the Riddler right away.
IV. Meeting with the Mentor
Throughout the film Batman meets with police officer Jim Gordon, who helps our hero in his quest to stop the riddler. There is no one scene that can be pinned down to fill in this step of the hero’s journey, however the repeated meetings and collaborations with Gordon can easily count as our hero “meeting with the mentor”.
V. Crossing the First Threshold
Skipping ahead in the chronology of the movie quite a bit, Bruce Wayne’s “crossing of the first threshold” happens during the funeral for the late Gotham mayor. The Riddler interrupts the public’s mourning by having the Gotham City district attorney crash a car into the procession. With a bomb strapped around his neck, a phone taped to his chest which would not stop receiving calls, and a letter addressed to the hero himself, Batman is called onto the scene. This scene can be interpreted as the “first threshold” since it is Batman’s first personal encounter with the Riddler. Up until this point his communication with the Riddler was quite one-sided, with the Riddler only leaving notes for our titular hero. Communicating directly with the Riddler in this scene sends Batman headfirst into the chase to catch the Riddler, as he himself is now personally tied to the case.
VI. Tests, Allies, and Enemies
Throughout our film we are introduced to Reeve’s take on several classic Batman characters. These range from aides in Batman’s quest to catch the Riddler — such as the aforementioned Jim Gordon, Selena Kyle (better known to most as Catwoman), and Batman’s butler Alfred — to foes trying to impede on Batman’s antics like The Penguin and Carmine Falcone. Batman must face trial after trial with or against this cast of characters throughout The Batman (2022)
VII. Approach to the Inmost Cave
Batman’s “approach to the inmost cave” comes in the form of finally catching The Riddler in a diner. This is where our hero comes to the very edge of his goal, yet also his most dangerous and vulnerable moment. Catching the Riddler represents everything Batman has worked for throughout the movie, yet it seems a bit too easy. Victory is within Bruce’s grasp but he still has to grill the Riddler for the information he needs.
VIII. The Supreme Ordeal
Directly following the inmost cave of catching the Riddler, Batman faces his biggest challenge yet. After grilling the Riddler to not much success, Bruce finally figures out his master plan. As the floodgates in Gotham City all collapse it becomes a race against time for Bruce to finally stop the Riddler and his followers.
IX. Seizing the Prize
This basically happens at the same time as the “supreme ordeal”. Batman’s goal throughout the movie was to catch the Riddler and figure out his goals. He has finally done this. In catching the Riddler, Batman is seemingly at the finish line, gold medal in hand. But this is not the end of his journey in the slightest, however he has now accomplished his great quest.
X. The Road Back
The road back consists of the final fight at the overflown rally. Batman must try to save as many people as he can while fighting off the seemingly endless hordes of the Riddler’s followers. Batman gets beat down time and time again in a very literally lethal road back to “the ordinary world”.
XI. The Resurrection
At the end of his fight, Batman falls from the ceiling of the rally into the waters below. This moment represents Bruce becoming a new man, coming to the realization that he does not need to be “vengeance”…that vengeance is not what people need in order to be saved and protected. They need justice.
XII. Return with the Elixir
Batman’s “elixir” is not a physical object, but rather the realization that simply enacting and embodying vengeance is not what the people need. He rises from the waters below, helping the survivors to safety, monologuing these exact thoughts. He realizes that what the people of Gotham need is not vengeance, but justice.
With all this in mind, it can be seen how The Batman (2022) breaks and utilizes the mold of the hero’s journey to craft an excellent story of the cost of vengeance, and the importance of morals. I am quite vocal about my thoughts on The Batman (2022): it is, in my opinion, the best superhero of the 2000s, and quite possibly of all time.
A vigilante in a crime ridden city faces his most puzzling foe to date after the death of the mayor.
Go check out my letterboxd review of the movie at the link below, and keep updated with new posts here as well.
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