The Great Debate #2: Batman vs Ironman

[Z]

I must be the last person on earth to realize this but, generally speaking, DC and Marvel seem to have a set of twins. Both rich, industrialist types with no real superpowers that fight crime with their self-made gadgets.

So the question now becomes...

Who Would Win In A Fight?

In the right corner, wearing the black trunks, we have the dark knight himself, BATMAN!

http://catallaxyfiles.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/02/batman-color.jpg



In the left corner, wearing the red & yellow trunks, we have what the tin man would look like if he did steroids... IRONMAN!
http://web.mit.edu/dryfoo/www/Write/Pix/ironman74.jpg



Place your bets!

[Z]

True, the suit will be tough to deal with but it's worth noting that Bruce Wayne built the Batman Beyond suit which, in many ways, is very similar to the Iron Man suit (with just less missiles and uberarmor, lol). That in mind, if Batman knew he had to fight Ironman, he might make special preparations.

I think there was a book where he actually fought Superman and, for the fight, I think he built himself a massive suit of armor and actually put up a hell of a fight against Mr. Krypton (I'm not sure, but I think he almost won the fight, even) Hopefully someone can check me on that; it was a pretty popular book.

[DoomKitty]

Iron Man. Come on he's got missiles and can fly. Batman can just..glide. lol

[llama_egg]

But batman is like "hey look guys, an EMP burst out of my belt!". Which would instantly be for the win, unless Iron Man is safe against such things, dunno, never cared much for the man of iron.

If that doesn't work, Mr. Bruce will just use a giant magnet to prevent him from moving. D:

[Z]

Good point, and yeah, I'm not well versed in Ironman lore. Not sure how extensively protected his suit is.

Assuming Batman could get Ironman out of his suit, though, I think Batman definitely has it made hands-down. Tony Stark works out regularly, I'm sure, but Batman has been street fighting with his natural born muscles for his entire career. The guy can fight. I'm sure Stark could put up a good fight but I don't think he could best Wayne.

But thats all assuming Batman could get Ironman out of the suit. If he can't, then I'm just not sure.

[Bloodcinder]

I think there was a book where he actually fought Superman and, for the fight, I think he built himself a massive suit of armor and actually put up a hell of a fight against Mr. Krypton (I'm not sure, but I think he almost won the fight, even) Hopefully someone can check me on that; it was a pretty popular book.
The incident you are citing was in the non-canon Dark Night Returns.

That said... Marvel > DC, so Iron Man wins. Yes, I'm that superficial.

[Seegtease]

That in mind, if Batman knew he had to fight Ironman, he might make special preparations.

You're right. This would make or break the battle. If Batman knew his opponent ahead of time, and prepared tools accordingly, he'd have no trouble with Iron Man.

But if suddenly he were thrown into combat with Iron Man with only his basic tools, he wouldn't stand a chance. And I'm pretty sure running him over with the Batmobile wouldn't even do it. Really, all Iron Man has to do is take Batman and rocket him into space.

[Gio Takahashi]

That would be such an epic fight. Logically Iron Man would probably easily win this, but Batman is quite resourceful, so I think they're quite even.

[Z]

In any case, I know I'd love to see this fight. :D

Here's some more info to go on...

BATMAN
Skills, abilities, and resources

Unlike many superheroes, Batman has no superpowers and instead relies on "his own scientific knowledge, detective skills, and athletic prowess." Batman is physically at the peak of human ability in dozens of areas, notably martial arts, acrobatics, strength, escape artistry, and occasionally, in some media portrayals, torture techniques. Intellectually, he is just as peerless; Batman is one of the world's greatest scientists, engineers, criminologists, and tacticians, as well as a master of disguise, often gathering information under the identity of Matches Malone. He is regarded as one of the DC Universe's greatest detectives. Rather than simply outfighting his opponents, Batman often uses cunning and planning to outwit them. In Grant Morrison's first storyline in JLA, Superman describes Batman as "the most dangerous man on Earth," able to defeat a team of superpowered aliens all by himself in order to rescue his imprisoned teammates.

Costume

Main article: Batsuit

Batman's costume incorporates the imagery of a bat in order to frighten criminals. The details of the Batman costume change repeatedly through various stories and media, but the most distinctive elements remain consistent: a scallop-hem cape, a cowl covering most of the face featuring a pair of batlike ears, and a stylized bat emblem on the chest, plus the ever-present utility belt. The costumes' colors are traditionally thought of as blue and grey, although this colorization arose due to the way comic book art is colored. Batman was conceptualized by Bill Finger and Bob Kane as having a black cape and cowl and grey suit, but conventions in coloring call for black to be highlighted with blue. Batman has been presented as wearing a black cape and cowl, as seen in the Tim Burton Batman movie series, whilst the 1960s television showed Batman in blue and grey, as have prose adventures. This coloring has been claimed by Larry Ford, in Place, Power, Situation, and Spectacle: A Geography of Film, to be a reversion of conventional color-coding symbolism, which sees "bad guys" wearing dark colors. Batman's gloves typically feature three scallops that protrude from the sides. A yellow ellipse around the bat logo on the character's chest was added in 1964, and became the hero's trademark symbol, akin to the red and yellow "S" symbol of Superman. The overall look of the character, particularly the length of the cowl's ears and of the cape, varies greatly depending on the artist. Dennis O'Neil said, "We now say that Batman has two hundred suits hanging in the Batcave so they don't have to look the same . . . Everybody loves to draw Batman, and everybody wants to put their own spin on it."

Equipment
The 1966 television Batmobile was built by George Barris from a Lincoln Futura concept car.
The 1966 television Batmobile was built by George Barris from a Lincoln Futura concept car.

Batman utilizes a large arsenal of specialized gadgets in his war against crime, the designs of which usually share a bat motif. Batman historian Les Daniels credits Gardner Fox with creating the concept of Batman's arsenal with the introduction of the utility belt in Detective Comics #29 (July 1939) and the first bat-themed weapons the batarang and the "Batgyro" in Detective Comics #31 and #32 (September; October, 1939). Batman's primary vehicle is the Batmobile, which is usually depicted as an imposing black car with large tailfins that suggest a bat's wings. Batman's other vehicles include the Batplane (aka the Batwing), Batboat, Bat-Sub, and Batcycle.

In proper practice, the "bat" prefix (as in batmobile or batarang) is rarely used by Batman himself when referring to his equipment, particularly after some portrayals (primarily the 1960s Batman live-action television show and the Super Friends animated series) stretched the practice to campy proportions. The 1960s television series Batman has an arsenal that includes such ridiculous, satirical "bat-" names as the bat-computer, bat-scanner, bat-radar, bat-cuffs, bat-pontoons, bat-drinking water dispenser, bat-camera with polarized bat-filter, bat-shark repellent bat-spray, and bat-rope. The storyline "A Death in the Family" suggests that given Batman's grim nature, he is unlikely to have adopted the "bat" prefix on his own.

Batman keeps most of his field equipment in a utility belt. Over the years it is shown to contain a virtually limitless variety of crime fighting tools. Different versions of the belt have these items stored in either pouches or hard cylinders attached evenly around it.

In some of his early appearances, Batman uses guns (see especially Detective Comics #32, September 1939). However, this soon changed. In Batman #1 Batman is depicted as using a gun, stating "Much as I hate to take human life, I'm afraid this time it's necessary." The editor of Batman at this time, Whitney Ellsworth, found this distasteful and decreed that Batman would no longer be shown using a gun or taking human life. Later Batman editor Julius Schwartz, unaware of this rule, inadvertently allowed Batman to use a gun. "The first story I did, I made two terrible mistakes. One was that the story took place during the day, and the second was that when Batman caught the villain, he pulled a gun on him." Some stories relax this rule, allowing Batman to arm his vehicles for the purpose of disabling other vehicles or removing inanimate obstacles. In two stories, The Dark Knight Returns and The Cult, Batman uses machine guns loaded with rubber bullets rather than live ammunition. In the 1989 Batman film, firearms figure more prominently in the Dark Knight's arsenal; machine guns and grenades are mounted on the Batmobile, and missiles and machine cannons on the Batwing.


IRONMAN


Powers and abilities

Armor

Iron Man possesses powered armor that gives him superhuman strength and durability, flight, and an array of weapons. The armor is invented and (with occasional short-term exceptions,) worn by Stark. Other people who have assumed the Iron Man identity include Stark's long-time partner and best friend James Rhodes; close associates Harold "Happy" Hogan; Eddie March; and, (briefly) Michael O'Brien.

The weapons systems of the suit have changed over the years, but Iron Man's standard offensive weapons have always been the repulsor rays that are fired from the palms of his gauntlets. Other weapons built into various incarnations of the armor include: the uni-beam projector in its chest; pulse bolts (that pick up only kinetic energy along the way; so, the farther they travel, the harder they hit); an electromagnetic pulse generator; and, a defensive energy shield that can be extended up to 360 degrees. Other capabilities include: generating ultra-freon (i.e., a freeze-beam); creating and manipulating magnetic fields; emitting sonic blasts; and, projecting 3-dimensional holograms (to create decoys).

In addition to the general-purpose model he wears, Stark has developed several specialized suits for space travel, deep-sea diving, stealth, and other situations. Stark has modified suits, like the Hulkbuster heavy armor. The Hulkbuster armor is composed of add-ons to his so-called modular armor, designed to enhance its strength and durability enough to rival that of The Incredible Hulk. A later model, designed for use against Thor, is modeled on the Destroyer and uses a mystical powersource. Stark also develops an electronics pack during the Armor Wars that, when attached to armors that use Stark technologies, will burn-out those components -- rendering the suit useless. This pack is ineffective on later models, however.

Powers

For a time, due to an artificial nervous system installed after he suffered extensive damage to his nervous system, Stark had superhumanly acute sensory perceptions as well as extraordinary awareness of the physical processes within his own body. This is no longer a part of the character's powers.

After being critically injured during a battle with the Extremis-enhanced Mallen, Stark injects his nervous system with a modified techno-organic virus (the Extremis process) that not only saves his life, it gives him the ability to store the inner layers of the Iron Man armor in the hollows of his bones as well as control it through direct brain impulses. Stark can control the layer of the armor underneath his skin and make it emerge from numerous exit points around his limbs as a gold-colored neural interface under-sheath. While in this form, Stark has technopathic control of the armor and can suit up at any time, calling the larger components to him. Furthermore, the Extremis process has increased his body's recuperative and healing abilities. He is also able to connect remotely to external communications systems such as satellites, cellular phones, and computers throughout the world. Because the armor's operating system is now directly connected to Stark's nervous system, its response time has been significantly improved.

Skills

Tony Stark is an inventive genius who graduated with advanced degrees in physics and engineering at 21 and further developed his knowledge ranging from Artificial Intelligence to Quantum Mechanics as time progressed.

In addition, Stark possesses great business and political acumen. On multiple occasions he reacquired control of his companies after losing them, and leading corporate takeovers.

Stark received hand to hand combat training from Happy Hogan (a professional Boxer), James Rhodes (a Marine) and Captain America himself.

...yeah, Ironman is way OP :\ However, if Superman would rather give Batman credit as most dangerous man on earth, I think it holds some credibility.

After reading all that, though, I'm wondering if a better fight would be Superman vs Ironman :confused:

[Bloodcinder]

Well, if Superman was to fight a Marvel character it would be Apollo, and if Batman was to fight a Marvel character it would be Midnighter. Apollo and Midnighter were based directly off of Superman and Batman. They're also husbands, and Midnighter is kind of evil.

[deathofcheese]

I think Iron Man would have the best chance. I would assume that Stark had figured out by now that EMP = disaster for him, and hardened his systems against it. Plus, he's not vulnerable to rust (it's not iron) so there goes that weakness. Although Batman might best him in unsuited strength, dexterity and fighting prowess, suited, Batman would stand no chance in a fight.

[Z]

Probably. I think my like for Batman is clouding my judgment. I'd still love to see the fight, though, and for some reason I still think Batman would find a way to pull a win.

They need to come out with The Avengers or Iron Man 2 soon so I can start liking Stark enough not to mind this hypothetical loss on Batman's behalf, lol

[Seegtease]

Z, don't even go down the Superman route. He's way overpowered. Unless Iron Man had access to kryptonite, or a way to deny Superman access to the Sun for an extended period of time, Iron Man would not stand a chance. Superman could just rip his limbs off.

As for Batman, it seems since Ironman himself can use EMP, Batman couldn't go that route. The more I think about it, the more it seems like even a well-planned Batman wouldn't have the tools to take down Ironman.

[Z]

Z, don't even go down the Superman route. He's way overpowered. Unless Iron Man had access to kryptonite, or a way to deny Superman access to the Sun for an extended period of time, Iron Man would not stand a chance. Superman could just rip his limbs off.

While I agree with the limb ripping, I gotta argue against the first part of that quote. Superman is definitely OP but Ironman's current weapons are...

Repulsor rays ,the uni-beam projector in its chest, pulse bolts, an electromagnetic pulse generator, a defensive energy shield, a freeze-beam, magnetic field manipulators, sonic blast emitter and a 3-dimensional hologram projector as well as stealth capabilities

lol. If Lex Luthor can get his hands on anti-superman weapons/kryptonite, I'm thinking it won't be too hard for Tony Stark to, either. That said, I'm thinking Ironman vs Superman might actually be a fairly decent fight, maybe, as long as Ironman keeps his distance a bit *shrugs*

The more I think about it, the more it seems like even a well-planned Batman wouldn't have the tools to take down Ironman.

Yeah :\

[Seegtease]

Well, most of those wouldn't do a thing to Superman. Repulsion rays would just knock Ironman away, rather than Superman.

Like I said, I was only counting the battle if kryptonite or denial of the sun were in play. I'm not sure what other weaknesses he has. If Ironman had access to kryptonite it'd be all over though. He'd just need to launch some into Superman's face. Seriously.

And Batman could do the same to Superman. I think Batman would be more likely to find a weakness to Superman though. He's just like that.