The DCEU seems on track to make Batman/Bruce Wayne its version of the MCU's Iron Man/Tony Stark, and fully doing so would be a mistake. It seems quaint to think about now, but back in 2008, many thought the fledgling Marvel Studios was making a mistake by kicking off their planned movie universe with an Iron Man solo movie. Iron Man had never been Marvel's most popular hero, and was hardly someone that most non-comic readers would've been too familiar with in general.

Iron Man/Tony Stark was certainly much more well-known before his movie debut than say, the Guardians of the Galaxy, but his movie being a blockbuster was hardly seen as a sure bet. That went double due to the casting of Robert Downey Jr as Tony, who turned out to be perfect for the role in hindsight, but was still not far removed from the days where addiction problems and troubles with the law were overshadowing his considerable acting abilities.

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Of course, all worked out in the end, and Iron Man is today a bonafide superhero superstar. In that regard, it makes sense that the DCEU might want to take cues from how Tony was used in the MCU, but it would be better not to go down that path, especially with Batman.

The DCEU Must Avoid Making Batman Its MCU Iron Man Clone

Batman Ben Affleck The Flash Movie

The comparisons between Batman/Bruce Wayne and Iron Man/Tony Stark are obvious, and are nothing new overall. Both are billionaire tycoons without superpowers that use their genius and resources to design a suit and gadgets with which to fight crime. That said, the DCEU needs to be more than just the MCU lite, as DC fans deserve something both unique and great in its own way. Ben Affleck's Batman already has kind of an Iron Man/Spider-Man MCU dynamic with The Flash after Justice League, and that will only increase when Barry Allen dons a new upgraded suit designed by Bruce Wayne in The Flash's upcoming solo movie.

Unfortunately, as much fun and sometimes touching as the interactions between Iron Man and Spider-Man were, they also resulted in Spider-Man effectively playing second fiddle to Iron Man in both of his MCU solo films so far, which is especially bad since Iron Man wasn't even alive in Spider-Man: Far From Home. The last thing The Flash needs is to become Batman's "junior" superhero in a manner similar to Tony Stark and Peter Parker, and the DCEU does not need Batman filling that role for any other Justice League members either. It's a reductive move to make, and while it may be too late to change Batman designing Flash's new suit, The Flash's movie needs to be about him, and not either Batman that's currently set to take part.

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