Consider it a moral restriction. Especially considering the sheer amount and variety of colourful psychos taking an interest in terrorising his hometown of Gotham.
In actuality, he's left himself a fair amount of wiggle room. Beating, smashing, pulverising - sweet as! As long as the evil-doer is breathing at the end of the bat-beatdown, then ol' Bats is all good.
Now look at that alien phony, the so called "super man". In his last film, 2013's Man of Steel, he straight-up snapped the neck of his nemesis right in front of some terrified children.
There is nothing super or heroic about that. In fact, I'd say that murdering someone in cold blood is a crime. For accuracy's sake they should really change his name to Crimeman.
The Dark Knight, on the other hand, is nothing but heroic. Think of the dedication, the time, the commitment and the money Bruce Wayne has spent to become Batman.
He's just a regular dude in a badass costume who selflessly gave up any chance of having his own life in order to not just protect the lives of others, but to also protect the city that gave him nothing but hurt, pain and misery.
And that, friends, is the very definition of heroic.
• Karl Puschmann is a Herald entertainment columnist.
Dominic Corry says Superman:
All too easily dismissed as a boy scout, Superman's earnest qualities make him truly the best superhero of them all - and superior in every regard to that grumpy loner, Batman.
Also, he is actually, y'know, super, which feels like a fundamental aspect of being a superhero. Batman is a trustafarian with abandonment issues and a nice car.
Superman is a living god, a pure force for good, and the embodiment of not America, but the idea of America - his is the ultimate immigrant story. And Kal-El from Krypton is the kind of immigrant even Winston Peters would welcome.
Superman's amazing abilities sometimes get him written off as "unrelatable", but he experiences more than his fair share of internal torment and his near-omnipotence can be used as a vehicle for exploring the philosophical extremes of the superhero genre. Which is far more interesting than yet another vigilante tale.
• Read more: Batman V Superman: Mixed reaction to Ben Affleck's 'Batfleck'
Certain comic book storylines have garnered acclaim for how they've addressed the global implications of the presence of someone like Superman, and based on the newly released trailer, that thread will be at the core of Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice.
It's about time. There has always been more to Superman than just raw power, and we're finally going to see that on the big screen.
Lastly, fashion rules be damned, a blue and red costume is simply nicer to look at than a black one. Just sayin'.
• Dominic Corry is a Herald entertainment blogger.
- TimeOut
