BATMAN: UNDER THE RED HOOD (2010): A Kind Batman

In Batman: Under the Red Hood, we meet a version of Batman that has since been forgotten by many a fan. The plot of the animated movie, covering the return of Jason Todd, the second Robin, from the dead under the alias Red Hood, and his plot of revenge on crime, the Joker, and Batman himself has an uncharacteristic… kind Batman. Unlike other depictions where he is cold (the ever present ‘I work alone’ line comes to mind) and distant, here he is rather warm, and even accompanied by allies. Which of course only helps strengthen the intended contrast of his current connections of Nightwing and Alfred versus his lost connection with Jason.

In this movie, Batman is understanding, and patient, even thanking Nightwing for his work after the latter gets an injured foot during their chase scene with Red Hood, and instructs Alfred to take care of him, even rebuking Nightwing when he offers to push himself to keep going. Nightwing comments on this, acting surprised when Batman thanks him. We also get some scenes of Batman flexing his detective side, using minute hints like Red Hood being able to cut the line Batman was using to catch him, midair, before it went slack, with a knife capable of cutting through steel, using it to deduct that not only was Red Hood aptly trained, but had familiarity with their moves. Not only that, but using lip movements from a recording he took, he put the pieces together on Red Hood’s true identity, all while showing plausible detective work that the audience could follow without breaking disbelief, unlike many detective scenes in other shows. Then, his characterization as a Batman that has grown from the loss of his protege and has used it to become kinder to those close to him and not more bitter to the world is only strengthened by the reasoning he gives Jason on why he didn’t kill the Joker as retaliation for murdering Jason: It would be too easy. If he took the easy way out and killed Joker, he would never be able to go back from it. Why, once taken the leap, he would simply not stop, killing any villain that crossed his path. And in a way, isn’t that the easy way out? Erasing a life, instead of the arduous journey that is working on their rehabilitation? Wouldn’t that deny the chance for people like Harley Quinn, or even Jason himself, to be able to abandon a life of crime and be redeemed? It is questions like these posed by the movie, and Batman himself, that solidify this movies’ characterization of him as a fan favorite by many, not to mention the stellar performance of the voice actors and animation.