'Titans' Season 2's Bruce Wayne is the father-figure Batman we need and deserve
Iain Glen's Bruce Wayne in DC Universe's 'Titans' Season 2 has a lot of fans riled up but in all honesty, he's probably the most realistic version of the character we've seen in live-action so far. We've all gotten so used to seeing Batman as a younger man that it can be hard to accept that he can age too but ultimately Bruce Wayne is as human as anyone else and ages just like all of us.
It would have been totally ridiculous if 'Titans' had introduced a younger Batman, even one in his thirties. The show's Dick Grayson (Brenton Thwaites) is in his late twenties and assuming he was adopted at the age of 10, Bruce would have to be in his late forties by the time of the show's events and Glen's version of the character fits that timeline perfectly.
Besides his age, one major criticism that has been leveled against Glen's Bruce is that the entire first season made him out to be some kind of monster while the second season has shown him to be a warm and loving father-figure. Those making this criticism need to remember that we never saw Bruce's side of the story in Season 1 and everything we knew about him came from Dick's warped perspective.
In Season 2, Dick admits that he hated Bruce for a long time and made him out to look like a villain because Dick himself was struggling with his inner darkness and he blamed Bruce for all his problems. That Bruce is actually a loving father shouldn't come as a surprise to any comics fans as he has always been that way in the books.
Sure, his wards are soldiers in his war on crime but that doesn't lessen the love that Bruce has for them. Despite his claims of being a loner, Batman has built quite a large family over the years and he loves each of his Robins dearly, often going out of his way to help them or forgive their mistakes (we're looking at you here, Jason Todd).
After all the times we've seen Batman as a brooding Dark Knight haunting Gotham, 'Titans' has finally given us a version of the character who is as real and as human as possible. Those who can't accept this warm, loving Bruce Wayne have plenty of dark and gritty depictions of the character to choose from. After all, this is not the story of Batman, it's the story of Dick Grayson and for that story to be told properly, this is the Batman we both need and deserve.
'Titans' Season 2 is currently airing on DC Universe. The show's fourth episode 'Aqualad' will be arriving on the service on September 27.