What if the Batman was poor?

[Ironman2978]

This re-telling of the classic character asks the questions: What if Bruce Wayne was poor? How would a normal person rise-up to fight crime in the "real world" Gotham City? Here's a video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOBthvllTYQ

Is anyone thinking sequel?!:)

[Project 22]

This was an idea taken from an Elseworlds...sort of, called Scar of the Bat, where Eliot Ness (seriously), the guy who took down Al Capone was Batman. Thrillkiller was another series that did this, which was way cooler than this film. This honestly seems like nothing too terribly special to me.

It seemed more like a group of people who really didn't want to put any money into costume design, so they tried to make a story around the fact that they couldn't afford to build a Batsuit. It's fine, but honestly nothing special.

[ni8shadow]

I don't think he would be "Batman" as we know him. Batman has many resources that indeed cost a pretty penny and without them he would not have those advantages. I am not sure on the smarts though...did Wayne go to Ivy League schools to get those smarts or was it innate?

[mcgaffer]

I think that he has more human contact and thus retains more empathy. He can't afford to travel around the world and learn from the best martial artists so he becomes the best street fighter in Gotham. He can't afford the big mansion, cave or costumes so he becomes at least moderately known among the people of downtown Gotham. Because he can't isolate himself away he is more likely to be driven mad with the suffering he is surrounded by. It will be a battle not to become a Punisher like being. I can occasionly see him crossing the line violently, but on the up side he will have more contact with people.

[dreyga2000]

In Red Son BAtman was poor... and stole all the crap he needed and the ret he consturcted though they were obviously home made. His base was deep in a sewer. That would be my best guess at what a poor Batman would be like.

[Ironman2978]

Is anyone wonderind characters like Joker, robin, ect. would be potrayed?

[Ironman2978]

Total Reviews:
28
Watch Now
Read Reviews
Write Review
Discuss << LAST FILM SYNOPSIS NEXT FILM >>


A Batman Fan Film that asks the questions: What if Bruce Wayne wasn't rich? What if he had a day job, just like everybody else? And how would a hero rise up to defend the steets of the "real" Gotham City?


FILM INFORMATION

BFF Rating: "M" for MATURE - Contains Action/Violence, Drug References, Adult Language

Written by: Oliver Ferrasci
Directed by: Oliver Ferrasci
Starring: Oliver Ferrasci - Bruce Wayne
Ronald Grenier - Alfred
Thomas Eggerling - Tommy Robinson
Tony Joslin - Tony
Shaun Ryan - Shaun
Iolanthe Denman - Attacked Woman
Matthew Eierman - Young Bruce Wayne
Sina Hanson - Receptionist
Jerold Eggerling - Jerry
C R Fernandez - Gino
Chris Valasco - Chris
Geoff Ball - Social Worker
Johnny Daly - Radio Host
Tanya Shelton - Radio Host
Produced by: Oliver Ferrasci
Run-Time: 16:20 minute(s)
Web-Site: vmix.com

[filthysize]

Remember Frank Miller's "Year One" movie script? Bruce Wayne as a homeless dude taken in by a black car mechanic named Big Al?

[Mia]

I don't think he would be "Batman" as we know him. Batman has many resources that indeed cost a pretty penny and without them he would not have those advantages. I am not sure on the smarts though...did Wayne go to Ivy League schools to get those smarts or was it innate?


His bio (somewhere) says that Bruce is a genius.

I agree and think that he wouldn't be Batman as we know him. But he would still be Batman. But I am not quite so sure. In the books from the 70's it's sort of implied that Bruce is allowed to be Batman because the Gordon allows him to be. If the police really wanted to shut him down they could. This leads me to believe that Bruce would be most inclined to donate money to whichever politician was running for office who was 'Bat friendly'.

I don't think that the money has anything to do with him being Batman. Oh it allows him to have fancy toys and access to state of the art computers and forensics materials. But much of what made him Batman has to do with a will of iron, physical prowess and innate smarts.

Bruce could easily have learned martial arts in different parts of the world by working in countries where he studied martial arts, or working and saving his money.

[Ironman2978]

I was bored and I thought how is characters like Joker, Penguin and Two-face would be potrayed so I read books like Batman:Nine Lives(http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=t&ie=UTF-8&rls=HPID,HPID:2006-36,HPID:en&q=batman+nine+lives), Batman: Gotham by Gaslight, Just Imagine Stan Lee and Joe Kubert Creating Batman, Batman:Gotham Noir, Frank Miller Batman and Sin City stories and watched tim burton and chris nolan batman movies and a fan fiction called Batman reborn(http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1970510/1/Batman_Reborn) here is what i got.


Joker: a serial killer mob boss kind of like Jack the Ripper but only where clown paint and leaves Joker cards. uses a knife to mutilate and kill his victims giving them smiles. a two-bit card dealer who runs an unsuccessful underground gambling racket. A mixture of the Joker in Frank Miller Batman stories(All star Batman and Robin issue 8 and DKR), The Dark Knight, the first two apperences of the joker, Arkham Asylum: A serious place of serious earth and Killing Joke.

I'll come up with more. anyone got their own ideas for characters.

[Enda8011]

I suppose he would have to boost some money from criminals, as the Saint and Oracle did.

Brian Garfield dealt with this in his novel Death Wish and its sequel Death Sentence.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Death_Wish

Moving to Chicago, Benjamin refined his m.o. First, he bought two guns (one a .32, the other a smaller weapon) in Wisconsin (from a man named Truett) using a fake ID; a dead brother-in-law's driver's identifaction. Second, he rented an office, also using his brother-in-law's identification (that of Robert Neuser) to hide his guns in. Third, Benjamin took to wearing a flapped winter hat, goggle-like dark glasses, and a fake moustache to disguise his identity. Fourth, Benjamin would smear his car's plates with dirt and grease to make identifying his plate number harder. (As Benjamin admits to himself later, he should have purchased a second car to use for his attacks.)


Most importantly, Benjamin realized that it would not be feasible to try to patrol the city looking for crimes to stop. Since cities are so huge, and the window of opportunity for crimes to take place during the night is so long, the chances of stumbling upon a crime in progress would be remote. Aside from using himself as bait as he had before, he realized that many criminals, being repeat offenders, frequently have to show up at the courthouse for parole hearings and other matters. So, Benjamin started shadowing the courthouse, finding potential victims there, tailing them until they tried to pull something. (Benjamin also began staking out pawn shops and bars, since many criminals use those as potential sources for victims.) Benjamin's Chicago murders take place within the span of a few weeks in December and January.

He had
to struggle with the issue of basically having a $1.50
vigilante. Having a character who works a 9-5 job
presents some problems, obviously, since you can't
have him suddenly take trips overseas to follow a
case. This is why, as Bob Hughes put it "The first
hero to have such a 9-5 existence probably was Clark
(Superman)Kent. The Shadow, Zorro, the Scarlet
Pimpernel and all those others who went before him
were firmly in the millionaire playboy school. Heck,
even Tarzan was a millionaire playboy". (Actually, the
Green Hornet had regular employment as a newspaper publisher,
but was wealthy.) A character
without metahuman powers who isn't rich has few
resources to fight crime, so it was interesting to see
how Hickman and Garfield came up with their own
version of the secret hideout (in Garfield's novel,
the vigilante, under a fake name, rents an office to
store his guns in durying the day ). I can see that
"White's" funding helps explain where Kersey acquired
his weapons for part IV, otherwise he could not easily
afford them.

http://www.supermanhomepage.com/other/kryptonian-cybernet/kc56.txt

And of course, someone with a 9-5 job cannot go around globe-trotting on a case. Aside from the cost, the time off from work required would get suspicious.

[entity]

If batman still existed without Bruce Waynes fortune, Bruce would probably work with others who had the resources.

[The Batman]

I was thinking the same thing, that he'd search out the people with the resources and the sympathy/willingness too supply him with what he needed for his mission.

Wasn't that the first or second Shadowhawk's deal?

[Wesly]

I would like to see that scenario (though not for very long).

Has there ever been a story where somebody with influence actually stole Bruce Waynes fortune?

I'd assume anything would be done to get that fortune back....as a man with unlimited financial resources fighting crime (instead of living the rich life) is what makes it interesting.

[Jared]

He'd be Rorschach, basically.

[Libaax]

A great idea really. Dont care about the link but the idea of the poor Batman.

Wonder if there is an elseworld story that did a poor Bruce Wayne/Batman well....

[The Batman]

Batman: The Golden Streets of Gotham wasn't bad. It did a poor Batman. I think it came out a few years back.

[The Batman]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v642/GabrielNYC/RedPhantom/BATMAN_THE_GOLDEN_STREETS_OF_GOTHAM.jpg

[Wesly]

It would be much more interesting to see how Bruce would deal with a poor life after being raised as a billionaire.
If someone like say Lex Luthor would've done something that would transfer all of Waynes fortune in a legit way to Luthor (by way of some business loophole).

And Bruce had to do everything he can to get his fortune back (while dealing with a budget-life including a budget-Batman)

[kane]

Bruce is a genius. With his IQ it would not be a problem to get richt. So he would first spend 2 years or so as businessman until his first billion.

[B. Kuwanger]

I think it's funny that Bruce Wayne is rich. Who else in Gotham can afford all that bat flavored high tech crap?

[mr. december]

I think there could defintely be a lower/middle class Batman. He wouldn't have the resources that the traditional Batman has, but his money has nothing to do with his drive, motivation or intelligence. Going to an Ivy League school does not mean you're smart; it means you're rich and have a better chance at getting a good job.

The profession I see a working class Batman in is iron working. I'm good friends with an iron worker, and he works 16-20 hour days (crazy, right?), seven days a week. It involves hard physical labor, good balance, heights in excess of 100 feet, and sharp technical skills.

If you're not sure what an iron worker is, ever see a picture of a bunch of guys sitting on a steel beam like 100 feet off the ground, eating lunch? They're iron workers. Takes balls to do that.

Not to mention overtime, double time, and time and a half. Iron workers don't exactly drive lamborghinis and have man servants, but the ones I know are usually financially secure. A working class Batman would be able to afford rudimentary body armor, like kevlar, and weapons like batons (like Nightwing carries). He'd also have the knowledge and skill to machine his own throwing weapons and such.

http://img235.imageshack.us/img235/6114/batmanlt7.jpg/

And he'd... smoke? Yes.

[The Batman]

I think that, even if somebody was to come after Bruce Wayne's money and get it that it wouldn't mean that Batman was suddenly broke. I mean, he's probably got money stashed away here and there just in the dummy corporations he buys things through without even getting started on the very likely plan he's got to fund Batman should Bruce Wayne somehow go belly up.

[FreeFallin]

i think a poor batman would resamble daredevil a little more

[thor25]

i think a poor batman would resamble daredevil a little more

yeah that's is a very good posibility.

another one is Bruce being a criminal (a bat buglar) like in golden street of gotham or in catwoman guardian of gotham(the premise was good but the develoment totally sucked), sadly this posibility hasn't been fully explored, but I Think under the adecuates circunstancies bruce can be a criminal as well, but not a specially bad one just a smart and succesful with a very special moral code (like catwoman)

[Ironman2978]

remember the Frank Miller and Daren Ankwofsky Batman Year One script where Batman was a Garage Mechanic, or Batman Scar of the Bat where Eliot Ness was Batman or even Batman Nine Lives where Batman villians like Joker or Mister freeze were ordinary thugs or Batman Golden Street of Gotham where Batman was a robin Hood of sorts that where I think where this movie got it's influences

[Ben Reilly#6]

I think it could work, at least in terms of Elseworlds potential. I've always figured if Bruce didn't have the financial backing that has, he'd be a lot closer to Daredevil, or better yet, Wildcat.

As for a day job...you know, I really don't know. Maybe he'd just work for a corporate company instead of owning one. Maybe he would be an iron worker, or a garage mechanic.