Batman V. Superman: What Made Batman So Cynical?

Why so serious, Batfleck? Everything we’ve seen of Ben Affleck’s stoic Caped Crusader in [...]

By Jamie Lovett - September 7, 2015 10:00 am EDT

BenAffleckBatmanBatmobile — (Photo: Warner Bros.)

Why so serious, Batfleck? Everything we've seen of Ben Affleck's stoic Caped Crusader in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice so far makes Christian Bale's brooding Dark Knight seem like a genuine prankster.

So what made him into the retired recluse we've seen in the trailers? We can't say for certain, but there are certainly a lot rumors that could explain it.

Click through to see what we know so far.

Check out when Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice and other movies are coming out in ComicBook.com's Movie Release Schedule.

The Death Of Robin

robin-will-be-in-batman-v-superman-after-all-501942 — (Photo: Warner Bros.)

The trailer for Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice reveals a Robin suit covered in the Joker's graffiti. This confirms that Affleck's Batman had a least one Boy Wonder as his sidekick, and suggests that young Dick/Jason/Tim/whoever didn't survive the experience.

It's possible that Robin survived the experience and decided to hang up his cape afterwards, but the Joker isn't known for leaving survivors. An even darker fan theory suggests that this Robin actually became the Joker. No matter the specifics, it's enough to justify Bruce being a sad bat.

The Death Of Alfred

sdcc-2015-full-batman-v-superman-trailer-jeremy-irons-as-alfred-pennyworth-502577 — (Photo: Warner Bros.)

An alternate rumor has it that Alfred Pennyworth will die in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Alfred became a father figure to Bruce after the death of his parents, so losing the loyal butler would likely hurt almost as much as losing his parents. With both Robin and Alfred gone, it's easy to understand how Bruce Wayne might feel pretty alone in the world.

The Death of Jim Gordon

Yet another rumor suggests that we won't be seeing Jim Gordon in Batman V. Superman because he's already dead.

Basically what we're getting at here is that, against all odds, the man who goes out in the middle of the night to fight criminals and the insane on a regular basis somehow outlived all of his friends.

Survivor's guilt isn't fun.

Wayne Manor

Wayne Manor is clearly in a bad state in the trailer. One way of interpreting this is as a result of Bruce's depression, but perhaps it's the other way around.

Maybe the Manor was destroyed or damaged during one of Batman's battles, stacking more guilt on Bruce. Or maybe there's a more mundane, but no less unfortunately explanation.

Either way, the place is in a pretty sad state.

Man of Steel

Screen-Shot-2015-07-13-at-12.07.57-PM — (Photo: Warner Bros.)

Aren't we all a little sad about Man of Steel?

But seriously, the trailer made it pretty clear that Bruce Wayne isn't happy about Superman's big debut, and was even present during the destruction.

While these events may have made Batman even more cynical, they do at least seem to have moved him to action.

"How many good guys are left?"

1339323490714169382 — (Photo: Warner Bros.)

Bruce Wayne speaks a line in the trailer that reinforces the theories about Robin and Gordon's death. It's also grave and expansive enough to suggest that there may have been more allies to Batman lost along the way.

The following line, "how many stayed that way," suggests the corruption of at least some of these allies. More evidence for the Robin is Joker theory?

His Parents Are Dead

Yeah, this one probably still stings.