Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice proved that, out of all the live-action Batman iterations introduced before The Batman, Ben Affleck's Bruce Wayne is definitely the most intelligent. One of the qualities that allow Batman to stand shoulder to shoulder with the world's finest heroes is that he's almost superhumanly smart. Coupled with his obsessive determination to fight crime, Bruce Wayne's genius-level intellect allows him to master countless skills that would take any ordinary human decades to learn. Comic books tend to exaggerate, of course, but there's no doubt that the World's Greatest Detective needs to be depicted as the smartest person in the room every time he's translated to the big or the small screen.

All previous live-action Batmen have focused on a specific part of the character's lore. The '60s Batman TV series, Tim Burton's Batman movies, Joel Schumacher's Batman & Robin and Batman Forever, and Gotham devoted a lot of their focus to the eternal conflict between Batman and his iconic villains, while Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight trilogy zeroed in on Batman's psyche. These various unique takes on the Caped Crusader couldn't be more different from each other, but all of them have been known to continually and consistently still leave some crucial qualities of the hero behind — namely, his brains.

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Though Bruce Wayne's attempt to steal Lex Luthor's intel in Batman Superman: Dawn of Justice teased his skills as a full-on spy, the limited appearances of Ben Affleck's Batman unfortunately kept fans from seeing him use his detective abilities in all their glory. However, his intellect is reflected in the little details. Ben Affleck's Batman has been the most seasoned of the live-action Batmen so far. Yet, he's the only one to use a non-armored Batsuit, even after more than 20 years' worth of vigilantism. This Bruce Wayne found a way to make his Batsuit light, flexible, semi-knife proof, bulletproof, and waterproof. He can glide, swim, and take down multiple enemies simultaneously, and he does it in the most acrobatic way possible. His voice changer is also seamless, and his cape serves as a glider without the need for bulky mechanisms.

Ben Affleck's Batman in Dawn of Justice

As if it weren't enough, Ben Affleck's Batman managed to create an anti-Superman suit and train his body to peak performance in record time, and he still had time to figure out the Justice League’s secret identities, all while maintaining his Bruce Wayne persona for more than 20 years. Beyond Batman v SupermanBatman's minor appearance in David Ayer's Suicide Squad and his leadership role in the Knightmare future of Zack Snyder's Justice League suggest that he kept tabs on his villains for well over two decades. This also does not mention how he used his strategic mind and leadership skills to both threaten Amanda Waller with shutting down Task Force X and lead a ragtag team of heroes and former villains into the heart of Darkseid's dystopia, despite having all the odds completely stacked against himand his team

What consolidates Ben Affleck's Batman as the most intelligent iteration of the Dark Knight is that, just like the rest of live-action Batmen, this Bruce Wayne is still a human being with no superpowers. He just used his brains to go from being an infamous vigilante to a legendary superhero in a universe filled to the brim with godlike metahumans, and he proved himself a worthy leader of the Justice League as soon as he was introduced in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. One can only imagine what he could have achieved had he had more time to work alongside other DC geniuses like Cyborg, Martian Manhunter, and Barbara Gordon.

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