DC/ Brucie in The Batman

 originally posted on tumblr, Aug 20th 2025 

for the Reeves Batman series, we CANNOT have the playboy Brucie persona because we do not need it, and I'll tell you why: people love a pathetic man.

i will now ramble about it

after the flooding, Batman may have become the dark horse antihero of Gotham, but when Bruce Wayne steps up into the public light, he becomes almost like Gotham's mascot. Batman was present for a good few days furing the immediate response to the flood, but afterwards he vanished for a good few days and honestly, nobody begrudged him for that. dude had been lifting debris and injured people with a fractured sternum for days on end after all.

first real press appearance he makes as Bruce, he looks like a mess. dark circles, pale skin, swaying from exhaustion and looking ready to vomit just from being upright. yet the reporters are relentless, asking about his parents, his debt to the city, the skeletons in his family's many closets. it's a total mess, and public perception of him is awful at first, reasonably so.

but then he keeps showing up, and keeps putting his actions - and money - where his mouth is, and perception is mixed. it doesnt help when he seems less than lukewarm to the Batman when asked about him. then the call happens.

Reál is running everywhere all the time, haggard but undaunted in the face of this crisis, and her and Bruce become closer as he steps up to the needs of the city. close enough to have him on call, and a lucky podcaster gets a semi-informal call between them. he sounds so distraught at being in some online thing on the spot, you can almost hear him flusteredly hiding his face in his hands about it. at one point he just goes "oh no, its fine, its... whatever, yeah, I'll cope." in the weakest, most downcast tone known to man.

it becomes an instant meme online. people picking his most pathetic wet cat looking candids snapped by civilians with the quote on it. gotham folks caption it on everything, from mild inconveniences to, well, their entire homes being lost to flood damage or workplaces being closed down in the wake of the Falcone investigation.

the fun dies the moment some smartass captions it on the photos from the Wayne Tower attack, and then on the Riddler video screenshots regarding the Waynes, but the shift is irreversible.

people are now making "bugs when you lift a rock" and "failwife compilation" memes about him, there are "Bruce Wayne being a dork in front of the press for X minutes" edits flooding social media. the more awkward and fumbling he looks, the more folks seem to appreciate him.

"okay so he wasn't a drug addict narcissist, he's just a loser" posts but in the most appreciative tone. not even the expected "gentle reminder that all billionaires suck" replies can counter the relatability of the guy. reporters from out of town get lambasted when they ask questions a bit too harshly, cus hey! that's our princess only we get to push him around!

some skeptics wonder if it's even some PR stunt to fix his image in the wake of the Riddler attacks, but no. dude is just has that socially awkward loser rizz.