Batman: Mask of the Phantasm will play in Cinemark theatres, and fans can enjoy many of the times the Caped Crusader should have died only to be saved by plot armor.
Plot armor is triggered when something happens to the hero that leaves him vulnerable and easy to kill, and all of a sudden deus ex machina takes effect. While it happens in the most hated movies of the franchise, it actually happens a surprising amount in the most treasured Batman films, and it stands out a lot worse in those releases.
Getting Stabbed By Talia In The Dark Knight Rises
Though it's the epic conclusion to one of the greatest movie trilogies ever, there are still a lot of The Dark Knight Rises' plotholes come tons of fights that should have been Batman's last.
One of the biggest examples comes near the end of the movie, as Talia al Ghul straight-up stabs the Caped Crusador in the one place of his suit where armor doesn't protect him. The stab kept Batman virtually paralyzed just long enough for Talia to explain her plan to him and the audience. However, though he wasn't protected by literal armor, he was protected by plot armor, as Batman swiftly jumped into the Batmobile to chase Talia and stop the bomb.
The Remote-Controlled Batmobile In Batman Returns
Though the Penguin wasn't much of a powerful threat in The Batman, the character came so close to killing the masked vigilante so many times in Batman Returns. The closest he came was when he was able to hack into the Batmobile and operate it with a remote control.
Penguin had Batman speeding around Gotham and could have driven him into any one of Gotham's brick buildings or even into the river where he would have drowned, but Batman conveniently managed to by the Penguin's hacking system at the last minute. Even then, he was speeding into a wall with a tiny gap that only a motorbike could fit through, but Batman, of course, hits a button that turns the vehicle into the Batbike.
Gil Coulson's Bomb In The Batman
When Gil Coulson was left alone with a bomb strapped around his neck, waiting for the bomb squad to investigate, Batman inexplicably took it upon himself to walk straight up to the district attorney without knowing that it was safe. The bomb went off when Batman was standing within just a few feet of Gil, which flew him back and knocked him out.
But the Caped Crusader wakes up just a little while later perfectly fine in the police station. The vigilante's armor in The Batman might be the best yet, but it surely can't withstand a bomb like that in such a close vicinity. Not only that, but it was pretty convenient that nobody took off his mask while he was ed out and being transported to the station, too.
The Back-Breaking Scene In The Dark Knight Rises
The back-breaking scene is part of why Batman & Robin turned the villain into a goofy two-bit henchman.
However, when the epic moment does come, which sees Bane drop Batman onto his knee and break his back, that should have been lights out for the bat. He's then sent to jail where he recovers pretty easily. In fairness, he is given time to heal in the prison, but it's still a relatively short time, which especially doesn't make any sense, given that healthcare in the prison is all but non-existent.
Riddler And Two-Face Blowing Up Wayne Manor In Batman Forever
Batman Forever is so campy, so goofy, and so not bothered about continuity, plotholes, or anything that might make viewers raise an eyebrow. The best example of that is when Riddler and Two-Face break into Wayne Manor after finding out that Batman is really Bruce Wayne. The two villains vandalize the place and bomb the Batcave with explosive green bats, naturally.
When Bruce tries to escape, he's wounded and gets knocked out after falling down the stairs. Two-Face holds a gun to Bruce's head, but Riddler tells him to stop. His reasoning is, "If you kill him, he won't learn nothing," and they then inexplicably laugh hysterically. This is one of the more classic examples of plot armor, where the villain lets the protagonist go to teach him a lesson rather than wiping out the competition right at their feet.
Batman In Space In Batman & Robin
When fighting Mr. Freeze in a rocket ship in Batman & Robin, the supervillain freezes Batman's hands to the rocket. And right after telling him to "stay cool," Freeze jumps out of the rocket, leaving him to die in space. However, now inside the rocket after climbing up the side of it in space, Robin comes to the rescue.
All of a sudden, Robin pulls out a heat gun from his utility belt, which is extremely convenient considering that the superheroes didn't even know who Mr. Freeze was until after they jumped into their vehicles that night. It's just one of many ridiculous moments in the 1997 movie, but the campiness is part of what makes Batman & Robin so underrated.
Wayne Manor Getting Torched In Batman Begins
Wayne Manor has had a tough ride in the movies, as not only did the Riddler torch it in Batman Forever, but Ra's al Ghul torched the whole place in Batman Begins, too. Because it became something of a mantra in the movie, everyone re that Bruce got knocked out by a burning plank because he never learned to "mind his surroundings."
Bruce was left to die, but in the form of Alfred the butler, deus ex machina came into play. As great and well-written as the dark and gritty reboot is, this scene feels like it didn't change from the first draft compared to the rest of the film, especially as there's no way Alfred could have lifted such a heavy object and carried Bruce out of there.
The Shark Spray In Batman 1966
Though not many of the younger fans would have seen the goofy 1996 Batman movie starring Adam West, it's so much fun, and it's the plotholes that make it so entertaining. Batman should have died several times over in the film, sometimes several times over in just one scene. The most iconic sequence in the movie is when Batman is hanging from a helicopter and fighting a shark.
Out of nowhere, Robin hands him some "Shark repellent Bat-Spray." In that respect, maybe the heat laser in Batman & Robin (and many other things from the film like the rubber lips) was a homage to the ridiculousness of the original West series and movie. The shark is literally biting at Batman, and if this was Jaws, Bruce would have ended up like Quint.
Fighting Riddler's Minions In The Batman
Though The Batman is an incredible slow-burning detective thriller that's more similar in tone to Se7en than any other Batman movie, it is still a Batman movie, and it needs to have an epic final showdown. In the film's final act, Batman fights a group of Riddler copycats with rifles, and though his armor is better than its ever been, he almost doesn't survive a shot from such close range.
After falling so many stories throughout the scene, getting smashed on metal rails, and finally getting shot, that should have been the end of this short-lived version of the character. However, prepared for the situation, Batman injected himself with Venom, the same serum that Bane uses, which gave him enough adrenaline to get up before one of the henchmen finished the job.
The Blast Radius In The Dark Knight Rises
The blast radius at the end of The Dark Knight Rises has been questioned and debated to no end by fans. Batman was flying out of Gotham with the bomb, which had a blast radius of six miles, meaning that he needed to be six miles away from Gotham. He only had a few seconds to do it, so that meant that he had to be flying 1000s of miles per hour.
And if that isn't enough of a plothole, Batman himself survived the blast even though he was just a few meters from the bomb. As it was the epic end of the trilogy, it was hardly as if Bruce even needed to survive for the plot to continue, and he could very easily have been killed off, which might actually have been a more impactful finale.
