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WORLD’S FINEST . . . FRIENDS? BATMAN, SUPERMAN, AND THE NATURE OF FRIENDSHIP
Daniel P. Malloy
No one would choose to live without friends even if he had all other goods.
—Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics
I teach you not the neighbor, but the friend. The friend should be the festival of the earth to you and an anticipation of the overman.
—Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra
World’s Finest
There is no superhero duo more emblematic of the extremes in comics than Batman and Superman, the world’s finest team. One is the pinnacle of human perfection and will, an ordinary man who made an extraordinary promise the night his parents were murdered before his eyes and who has dedicated every waking moment since to fulfilling it. The other is the last son of a dying race, sent out in an act of desperation, adopted by a childless farm couple, raised as their own with their traditional values. But he was blessed by his alien DNA with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men.
Beyond the differences in their origins and abilities, there are also fundamental differences in their methods. Just compare their costumes: Batman’s dark, cowled figure stands in stark contrast to Superman’s maskless, bright uniform. Superman inspires hope and trust, while Batman relies on fear and superstition. It is extraordinary that such extremes can exist in a single universe, but there is something even more amazing about these two remarkable beings—their friendship.
What makes their friendship especially noteworthy is that Batman and Superman, who agree on very little, disagree even on the nature of friendship itself. At first this may sound strange. Everyone knows what friendship is, right? And everyone agrees about its nature, right? Wrong, on both counts. Philosophers have been debating the nature of friendship since Plato, and they still haven’t been able to agree on it. When you think about it, it’s obvious that there are various degrees and kinds of friendship. You have a certain sort of friendship with the neighbor you say hello to every morning, but the friendship you share with the people you grew up with is different from that, in both degree and kind.
Similarly, with Batman and Superman, each calls the other his friend, but each means something entirely different when he says that. Just consider the other people they associate with. Superman has Lois Lane, both his friend and his wife; his pal Jimmy Olsen; and many of the other heroes in the DC Universe. Batman, on the other hand, has no other friends. To be sure, he has acquaintances and comrades-in-arms—Alfred, Robin, Nightwing, Oracle, Huntress, and so on. The “Bat-Family,” as Batman’s inner circle has been called, is indeed large. But, with the possible exception of Catwoman (whose relationship with Batman is never clear), none of them are friends. They are an odd combination of family members and soldiers in his war, but only Superman is a true friend in Batman’s world.
While Superman and Batman are definitely friends, their friendships with one another have different meanings. Superman’s concept of friendship can be traced to the philosopher Aristotle (384-322 BCE), while Batman’s concept has its origins in a very different philosopher, Nietzsche (1844-1900).
That Superman-What a Guy!
So is Superman a superfriend? It’s easy to see that ol’ Kal-El is quite the friendly guy. In either his street duds or his world-saving red and blues, Superman is the kind of guy you want to have around. He may be a little na?ve and old-fashioned for some, but let’s face it: can you think of anyone better to turn to when you need a helping hand?
How great would it be to have Superman as a friend? Can you think of anyone you’d rather have to help you move? He’d be finished in six seconds, with a coffee break. Or how about a cookout? Heat vision to light the grill, microscopic vision to make sure all the nasty little things in the meat are dead, superbreath to keep the cold drinks cold? He’s a one-man barbecue! And those are just his physical attributes; let’s not forget the personal attributes of Superman. It’s not for nothing that he’s been called the world’s oldest Boy Scout—he’s trustworthy, loyal, helpful, courteous, kind, cheerful, and brave. Sure, he may not be cool, or particularly fun, but he’s reliable and good-natured, and every group of friends needs at least one doormat. It doesn’t hurt to have a superpowered, demigod-like doormat.
So it’s easy to see why anyone would want to have Superman as a friend. But this review of Superman’s personality traits does raise a question—given his overall friendliness and his positive, optimistic attitude toward the world and everyone in it, why does a ray of sunshine like Superman choose to pal around with Batman, the original Captain Bring-Down? Think about it: Batman’s greatest nemesis is the embodiment of levity (a dark and twisted levity, it’s true), the Clown Prince of Crime himself, the Joker. At one point, Superman, with a kryptonite bullet lodged near his heart, asks Batman to do them both a favor and buy a sense of humor.1 The only time Batman has any fun is when he’s hurting people—people who deserve it, that is. This duo is like the captain of the football team hanging out with the creepy Goth kid. So why does Superman count Batman as a friend, never mind a close friend?
On the one hand, we could say that it’s just because of Superman’s general friendliness. This is the kind of guy who would try to make friends with a shark—and probably succeed. But there’s something more going on in his relationship with Batman. Big Blue isn’t just being friendly; he genuinely trusts Batman. He even likes him, proving that he truly is a super man—even Batman’s nearest and dearest don’t particularly like him. But what’s important here is the trust factor. Superman famously can only be harmed by one substance: kryptonite. And he has a small sample of kryptonite shaped as a ring—a ring he entrusted to Batman.
So why is Superman so close to Batman? Why trust him above everyone else? Why not leave the ring with Aquaman? Or Wonder Woman? The answer goes back to Superman’s understanding of friendship, and why he is closer to Batman than anyone else in the superhero community.
Superman the Aristotelian
Philosophically, Superman’s understanding of friendship comes closest to Aristotle’s conception of the highest type of friendship. Friendship plays a key role in Aristotle’s ethical theory.2 Naturally, we have neither the time nor the space to go into all the details of Aristotle’s theory of friendship. Happily, we don’t need to, because the word that is translated as “friendship” from Aristotle’s Greek has a much broader meaning. That word is philia, and it is used by Aristotle to indicate a broader range of relationships than “friendship,” which is why we can focus solely on Aristotle’s highest type of friendship.
In the books of the Nicomachean Ethics that deal with philia, Aristotle discusses virtually every type of human relationship, from familial bonds to the relationship between a buyer and a seller. Most of these relationships obviously have little or nothing to do with “friendship” as we understand the term. Aristotle does, however, discuss at length something akin to the modern understanding of friendship. Bear in mind that Aristotle’s theory is proposed as part of an overall ethical theory. Given that, it should come as no surprise that the highest friendship, and the type most deserving of the name, is the friendship between two good men.
There are a few reasons for this. First, only good people can love each other purely and simply for who they are—for their characters. For this same reason, this type of friendship lasts the longest. A true friend loves the character of his friend—something that changes very little over time. Other friends, friends for pleasure or for utility, are friends only for as long as they can get pleasure or utility from one another. Many of us have experienced these types of friendship—the girl down the block you played with only because she had the coolest toys, the guy in college you talked to only because he had a car, that kind of thing. These friendships, of course, tend to be short-lived. The highest type of friendship not only tends to last longer, it encourages us to be better.
Superman’s friendships tend to be of the highest types. He simply does not have shady friends. Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, Perry White—they’re all good people. And Superman’s superhuman friends are all heroes, and they all look up to him. Superman once confessed to the Flash that he finds all the adulation from younger heroes humbling, and he isn’t sure he can live up to his reputation.3 (Interestingly, later in the same story, Supes goes toe-to-toe with an angel!)
This also applies to Superman’s friendship with Batman. Batman may be dark, and he may employ methods based on fear, but underneath it all, he is a good man in Superman’s mind. Of all of Superman’s friends, Batman is easily the most calculating and ruthless. Should the need arise, he may be the only one willing to use the kryptonite ring against Superman. But when would the need arise? The kryptonite ring is to be used, and has been used, in the eventuality that Superman himself goes rogue. So, in a certain sense, the ring is a testament to this aspect of their friendship—it exists to keep Superman a good person.
But that isn’t enough to explain the close bond between Big Blue and the Dark Knight. For that explanation we must turn to Aristotle, who tells us that your friend is another self. This means, among other things, that you want the same things for your friend that you want for yourself. But it also means that your friend is a kind of mirror. Now, Superman has lots of mirrors in this sense, but none so good as Batman. Why? For all of their differences, Batman and Superman share the same morals, broadly speaking. Also, Batman and Superman are both pinnacles of achievement. Of all the heroes in the DC Universe, Batman is one of the few who weren’t inspired by Superman. As such, he, unlike other superheroes, can stand on equal footing with Superman. Equality, after all, is central to this highest type of friendship. Other heroes are not really equal to Superman. Too many of them follow his lead. Aristotle says that friendship of a type is possible between unequals, but it can never be the highest friendship.
Don’t think so? Let’s suppose you have a rich man and a poor man who share common interests, values, and goals. Can they be friends? Our egalitarian consciences will want to scream “Yes, of course they can.” But they can’t, not really. Their concerns are too different, and the friendship will rapidly deteriorate. The same is true, although in a less dramatic way, in Superman’s relationships with other heroes. He is their hero, and as such, is not allowed to fail. This is dramatized when Superman and Batman reveal their secret identities to fellow members of the Justice League of America—one of them announces that he didn’t think Superman even had another identity!4 After all, how could Superman be just a man?
What Kind of Friend Is Batman-or Bruce Wayne?
So we’ve seen what kind of friend Superman is. What about Batman? In asking this question, we face a problem that we didn’t have to deal with in the discussion of Superman: the question of identity. Because, while there is some distance between the personalities of Superman and Clark Kent, it isn’t much: they have the same values, drives, and so on. The only real difference is that Superman displays more grace and confidence—oh, and superpowers. But between Batman and his alter ego, Bruce Wayne, the differences are pronounced. We won’t go very far into this question of identity, but we should note the differences between the two faces of the Batman, because you might want one of them as a friend and not the other.
Bruce Wayne would make an excellent friend in a number of ways. The man’s got more money than God, throws a great party, loves sharing the wealth, and has connections that world leaders would kill for. Never mind the fact that he’s smooth, sophisticated, and handsome. Who wouldn’t want to count Bruce as a friend? Sure, Superman’s a one-man barbecue—but Bruce can supply the meat and the kinds of guests you wouldn’t mind spending some time with. Of course, you would never be his “close” friend; he’s too flighty for that. But if you’re looking for a friendship of utility or pleasure, you would be hard-pressed to do better than Mr. Wayne.
The Batman, on the other hand, is not nearly so flighty as his alter ego. If you could get close to him, you would find a loyal friend. On the other hand, unlike his alter ego, Batman is not a good friend for pleasure or utility. He’s not exactly a party guy or a people person. How much fun can you have with a guy whose primary activity is brooding and who gives demons nightmares? The only time he smiles is when he’s inflicting pain or planning to inflict pain. And those are just the surface problems! When it comes to the idea of a friendship of utility with the Dark Knight, there is one major drawback: he’s smarter than you, and he has plans of his own. Batman is driven and, in some ways, utterly Machiavellian in his war on crime. He manipulates everyone around him, and no one ever knows exactly what’s going on in his head.
There have been several excellent storylines in recent years exploring this aspect of the Batman. First, in the JLA trade paperback Tower of Babel (2001), it was revealed that Batman has developed plans to neutralize his superpowered teammates in the Justice League. His “friends,” as it were. Would you like a friend secretly scheming to neutralize you? In another storyline, a crossover of the Batman-related comics titled “Bruce Wayne: Fugitive,” Batman abandoned the identity of Bruce Wayne as well as his inner circle, because he felt they had become hindrances to his work.5 Just like that, he turned his back on the closest thing he’s had to a family since his parents were murdered. Finally, in the lead-up to DC’s recent Infinite Crisis storyline, it was revealed that Batman had developed and deployed a satellite, Brother Eye, to spy on all of Earth’s meta-humans, including his fellow heroes.6 In each case, the people who were closest to Batman, who counted him among their friends, discovered that they had been manipulated or betrayed (or both).
Through all of this, however, Batman has continued to count Superman as his friend. For instance, after his countermeasures to the Justice League were stolen and used by Ra’s al Ghul, Batman was voted out of the League—with Superman casting the deciding vote. Batman didn’t mind the other Leaguers voting against him, even Plastic Man (whom Batman brought into the League), but Superman’s vote felt like a betrayal. What does that mean? It certainly means something different and something more than it does in Superman’s case, because Batman does not make friends easily, and he does not trust easily. Like Superman, Batman has a close circle, but they are not his friends. He associates with superheroes, but they are not friends.
Superman’s vote was a betrayal of their friendship, while the votes of Plastic Man, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman were not, because the latter three are not Batman’s friends. Why not? What does Batman share with Superman that he doesn’t with other superheroes? Most important for us, Batman considers Superman his equal. This is key in both Superman’s and Batman’s conceptions of friendship, but they have different ideas of equality. Superman’s notion of equality is something akin to moral equality. All of us, by virtue of being moral agents, are the equal of Superman and, therefore, potential friends. To Batman, on the other hand, being a moral agent does not qualify a person as his equal. If it did, then all the members of his inner circle could be his friends, rather than the bizarre mix of family members and aides-de-camp that they are, as could his fellow Justice Leaguers. Superman is Batman’s friend because Batman sees him as an equal, not in terms of being a moral agent, but in terms of his abilities and character. Superman’s nigh-incalculable power makes him the equal of Batman, with his ingenuity and drive. Equality in Batman’s friendships means an equality of power. In keeping with his aristocratic heritage and upbringing, not all people are created equal in the Batman’s mind.
Batman the Nietzschean
To understand Batman’s friendship with Superman, we have to turn to a different philosopher.7 Nietzsche’s conception of friendship is a bit harder to explain than Aristotle’s, in large part because it has to be pieced together from some passing comments. However, the general connection between Batman and Nietzsche has been made before, that Batman represents the übermensch, or “overman.”8 And there is a connection between the overman and Nietzsche’s concept of friendship. In Thus Spoke Zarathustra Nietzsche writes, “In your friend you shall love the overman as your cause.”9 Interestingly enough, in early translations of Nietzsche, übermensch is often rendered as “superman.” Superman represents to Batman something that humans could be, not in terms of his powers and abilities, obviously, but in terms of his values and virtues. In truth, Superman is something that Batman would like to be, but can’t.
This is not to imply that Batman wants to be Superman—not in every aspect, at least. Batman doesn’t want powers. In fact, during one adventure his consciousness was placed in Superman’s body. He described the experience as exhilarating and dangerous—the temptation, he said, was not to rely on his wits, and to fall back on the sheer power.10 So, unlike everyone else on the planet, Batman doesn’t want Superman’s powers. Instead, Batman would like to mimic his friend in terms of his character. Batman wishes he could be as trusting and optimistic as Superman is. It’s not the “super” bit that Batman wants, but the “man.” For Batman, Superman serves as a living monument of what a man can be.
Think about it like this: Superman is a demigod trying to earn people’s trust. As such, in his dealings with the public, he has to downplay his distance from them. Therefore, he acts like the Boy Scout, and everyone (with a few notable exceptions) loves him. Batman, on the other hand, is an ordinary human trying to do extraordinary things. He has to create a myth around himself that serves as part of his armor. We all know the famous line “Criminals are a superstitious and cowardly lot.” But in order to use that superstition and cowardice against the criminal element, Batman must likewise distance himself from the citizens he protects. It’s not enough for criminals to find Batman mysterious—everyone has to, or the jig is up. Naturally, this creates a lonely, isolated life that is in large part self-imposed.
This monumental appreciation does not go just one way, though. So far, what we have is a kind of familiar hero worship—the kind of relationship that Superman has with most of the other superheroes in the DC Universe. In order for their relationship to be a friendship, in Nietzsche’s sense, there must be reciprocity and equality. For instance, Superman is an ideal for Batman, but at the same time, Batman believes that Superman has a great deal to learn. Why? For all of his powers and virtues, Kal-El is far from perfect—far from being Nietzsche’s übermensch. Big Blue’s powers make him vulnerable—precisely insofar as he believes himself to be invulnerable. He forgets—despite his “death”—that he is still mortal, and also that his rosy image of human beings is entirely inaccurate. It is Batman’s contribution to their friendship to try to teach Superman all of the lessons that his parents’ killer, his years of training, and his complete awareness of his own and others’ vulnerabilities have taught him so harshly. Batman is a hard teacher, as Nightwing, Robin, and Oracle can attest, and he does his best teaching in combat—never is he a friend to Superman as well as when these two come to blows.
When Friends Fall Out: Batman versus Superman
The differences in how these two pillars of the DC Universe approach their friendship become most clear when their friendship is stretched and strained. Fights aren’t pleasant to begin with, and then there’s the added factor of fighting a friend. But as most of us learn sooner or later, we can’t always avoid unpleasant situations. Neither, it seems, can superheroes, because Batman and Superman always find themselves pitted against each other.
It’s a perennial game among geeks of every stripe to ask who would win in a fight between X and Y. What if Spider-Man fought Darth Vader? What if He-Man took on the Hulk? Who would win between Galactus and the Anti-Monitor? One of the oldest of these arguments is what if Batman fought Superman—who would win? The commonsense answer is Superman. Superhuman strength, speed, and senses, flight, heat vision, X-ray vision, and superbreath? No contest, right? Wrong. Batman wins. Hands down. Every time. Why? Because he’s Batman. He’s ruthless, he’s intelligent, and he’s always prepared. Oh, and he has access to kryptonite. Every time Big Blue and the Dark Knight go toe to toe, Batman wins.
In large part, Batman’s string of upsets against Superman is due to the way that the two of them approach the fight and each other. Superman views Batman as a friend in a conventional sense. He trusts Batman and believes (incorrectly) that he would never harm a friend. As Batman himself once described their differences, “Deep down, Clark’s essentially a good person. And deep down, I’m not.”11 Superman approaches confrontations with the Dark Knight with kid gloves. He pulls punches, leaves himself open. He expects Batman to fight honorably, which he does to an extent. More important, Superman understands what he could do to Batman if he wanted to. The power he wields makes it all the more important for him to restrain himself. So even in the heat of battle, he doesn’t use every advantage against Batman. He doesn’t use his speed or ability to fly; he tries not to use his heat vision or his arctic breath. Essentially, Superman wants to come as close to fighting fair as he can.
That’s why he loses—Batman doesn’t fight fair. He’s not in the same fight as Superman. He knows very well that Superman has all the advantages in a fair fight—so why bother fighting fair? In all of their battles, whether in Gotham or Metropolis or the depths of space, Batman uses the environment to his advantage. Sometimes that means using the city’s entire power grid to stun Big Blue, as he did in Hush. (That’s right: to stun him. Absorbing enough electricity to power one New York-sized city won’t hurt Superman, but it will give him pause.) Sometimes that means setting things up well in advance—things like hunter missiles activated by X-ray vision, or charges that will drop ninety tons of rock onto Superman on cue. Any advantage, however small, is worth using.
That also means taking advantage of Superman’s weaknesses. That’s right: weaknesses (plural). The obvious one, and one that Batman always uses, is kryptonite. But Superman has another weakness stemming from the power difference between himself and Batman—or, really, himself and everyone else. In Superman’s mind, he’s so much more powerful than . . . well, almost everybody, that he has to be careful not to cause permanent damage. Batman may be the most dangerous man on the planet, as Supes once called him, but he’s still just flesh and bone, like all the rest. From Batman’s perspective, Superman is cocky and arrogant—and foolishly underestimates his opponent. His reliance on his powers means that he has never learned to think strategically—an art that the Dark Knight had to master long ago.
Perhaps the best way to explain how Batman approaches Superman is by thinking about the term “respect.” Respect has any number of meanings, many of them morally important. For instance, one can speak of the sort of respect that every human being owes every other by virtue of the fact that both are moral agents. Then there are the kinds of respect reserved for friends, for colleagues, and for those whose example one would like to follow. These are all a part of how Batman deals with Big Blue. But another kind of respect also comes into play—the respect that one owes a rival. This is a key difference between Batman and Superman: Supes doesn’t view Batman as a rival, but Batman does. They are in competition, whether actively or not. Thus, when they are pitted against one another, as occasionally happens, Batman is prepared for it.
BSFs: Best Superfriends Forever?
What lessons can we draw from the friendship of Batman and Superman? One that springs to mind, and is perhaps somewhat trite, is that fights do not have to end friendships. But most of us know this by the age of six, so let’s move on to something a bit more important: fundamental disagreements, even about the nature of friendship itself, don’t have to end friendships. Even the inability to understand one another is not an obstacle to friendship. Superman knows that he will never fully understand what drives his darkest friend, just as Batman acknowledges (with some frustration) that he will never get Superman’s apparent naiveté. They know that they view the world, and each other, in incompatible ways, but that does not destroy their friendship—it makes it and them stronger. The differences and misunderstandings between the Caped Crusader and the world’s oldest Boy Scout strengthen their friendship by providing something for them to work through. Certainly this process is aided by the common ground they share: their common goals, and distinct methods, keep the world’s finest friends linked to one another—protecting and correcting each other. These differences, along with their desire and ability to work together in spite of them, make each of our heroes all that much better at what they do.
NOTES
1 Superman/Batman #1 (August 2003).
2 He spends fully a fifth of his Nicomachean Ethics discussing the types and attributes of friendship. Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, trans. Terence Irwin (Indianapolis: Hackett, 1999), 119-153.
3 JLA #7 (July 1997).
4 JLA #48 (January 2001).
5 Bruce Wayne: Fugitive, vols. 1-3 (2002-2003).
6 The OMAC Project (2005).
7 For an excellent analysis of Batman’s relationship from an Aristotelian point of view, and to see why the highest type of friendship is not possible for Batman, see Matt Morris, “Batman and Friends: Aristotle and the Dark Knight’s Inner Circle,” Superheroes and Philosophy, ed. Tom Morris and Matt Morris (Chicago: Open Court Press, 2005) 102-117.
8 C. K. Robertson, “The True übermensch: Batman as Humanistic Myth,” in The Gospel According to Superheroes, ed. B. J. Oropeza (New York: Peter Lang, 2005).
9 Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, trans. Walter Kaufmann (New York: Penguin, 1978), 62.
10 JLA: Foreign Bodies (November 2000).
11 Batman: Hush, vol. 1 (2004).