“The real hero of the recently released Batman v. Superman film is an often overshadowed character, Bruce Wayne,” says Daniel Menjivar in this week’s Acton Commentary. “Batman’s alter ego, Bruce Wayne is the CEO of Wayne Enterprises and the hero that Gotham, and in the case of this film, Metropolis needs too. Bruce Wayne is, in fact, a capitalist superhero.”

In an opening scene, we find Wayne landing in the city of Metropolis as Superman and General Zod battle in the skies and skyscrapers above him. As citizens flee the ongoing destruction, Bruce Wayne does the opposite, dodging collapsing buildings and abandoned vehicles. We find that his goal is Wayne Tower, and his mission is to oversee the evacuation of his employees. Upon arriving at the tower Bruce immediately begins helping those around him, pulling a man from the rubble and saving a little girl from falling debris. Wayne does not sit back safely from afar and either mourn the loss of human capital or make mental notes to hire more employees. Neither does he do a cost-benefit analysis of trying to save those who work for him: instead he knows the value of human life and risks his own to save it.

The full text of the essay can be found here. Subscribe to the free, weekly Acton News & Commentary and other publications here. And in case you aren’t familiar with the movie Menjivar is referring to, here is the official trailer: