In all of his live action theatrical appearances so far, Batman has been the star of the story. For years, we've watched Bruce Wayne put on the cape and cowl to battle criminals in Gotham City and sometimes beyond. This trend continued in _Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice _earlier this year, but _Suicide Squad_ has a different plan for the Caped Crusader. Because the next DC blockbuster features villains as the main players, according to director David Ayer, this will finally allow moviegoers to truly see Batman as the terrifying force bad guys fear in the night...and in the daytime, let's not kid ourselves.
Much of Batman's role in Suicide Squad is being kept under lock and key, but Ayer told Collider that because the Dark Knight isn't the movie's main character, the audience will see him in the same way that criminals do, making him even more scary. He explained:
All the Batman movies have been from Batman's point of view. He's the good guy. He's the hero of his own movie in all the movies we've seen. If you look at what Bruce Wayne has done in creating the Batman persona, his idea was to terrorize criminals. It's sort of psychological warfare against criminals. This wraith that comes in the night and attacks and pulls criminals from society. For the first time, we're seeing Batman from the point of view of the criminals and he's freaking scary.
Some might disagree with David Ayer about having not seen Batman from the criminals' perspective in other movies. His debut at the docks in Batman Begins certainly fits the criteria, as when he was taking out Carmine Falcone's men, he felt more like a creature than a man. An argument could also be made for him fighting Lex Luthor's goons in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. However, because he's not Suicide Squad's star, his actions this time around will feel more distanced, so when we see him pummeling an evildoer, we won't feel as connected to him in the same way as the previous movies.
All that's been shown of Batman in the Suicide Squad previews so far is his car chase with The Joker and Harley Quinn and the aftermath. At some point during the high speed showdown, the car crashes, and while Joker escapes, Harley is sent flying into a nearby river, leaving it Batman's job to dive in and rescue her. Batman will also cross paths with Deadshot several times, and it's been confirmed that he's the one responsible for all the Squad members being imprisoned. Nevertheless, his presence is still shrouded in mystery.
Because Ben Affleck was in Vancouver during Suicide Squad's principal photography, it's reasonable to assume he'll have some dialogue. Otherwise, they could have just had a stunt double do all the Batman scenes. It was also rumored last year that there will be a scene showing Batman confronting Amanda Waller about the Suicide Squad's existence, which would fall in line with his other interactions with her in previous stories.
You can see Batman in action again when Suicide Squad charges into theaters on August 5.
