Is it ILLEGAL to Reveal BATMAN's Secret Identity? 

NerdSync although I love your typical format, this new style was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed it!

I love both formats, the sketch was amazing, and so is the usual format

@Scott Did you play Hugo because you are & sound smart?... or because you have THIN hairlines?

Happy holidays to all of you. This was really enjoyable. I really like how arguments were presented. Keep it up. ✌🏾❤️

NerdSync Yes more sketches and Batman where's the mask to protect the ones he cares about so if he has his identity revealed by some one, they, he, or she will place Batman's allies in danger. Keep his identity secret.

troyoboyo17 coincidence I think not

Scott is a lie, a machination of Hugo Strange.

Be careful. If you undercover a secret identity, you are breaking the law.

Yes I think the similarities are quite...........odd You could even say its kind of...........weird

He should Play him in a movie.

Someone call Warner Brothers. It would be at _least_ as good as Steppenwolf. (The supervillain, not the band.)

@@timothymclean it's impossible to be worse than Steppenwolf

I need that in my life

Gruwidge Beter Bayne is Man-Man

iBluThief oh thank you, that cleared things up abit for me.

Bat-Morales is Peter-Man.

Gruwidge bof

No. Andrew Garfield is Batspider and George Clooney is Spider-Bat.

Rad! They are definitely more work, but I think this one turned out nicely!

NerdSync The work definitely shows. Also, BatAuram is simply wonderful.

Agreed, we need more skits

KidAnarchy 2105 YES

Julien Cattan: I am pretty sure similar rules apply to doctors and priests, but like lethal force laws and citizen arrest laws, they can only violate confidentiality if others would be endangered if they with held the information. But then the reason most villains get out of county jail is that most comic book vigilantes don't follow the citizen arrest laws and combined with damage done to the crime scene before the professionals arrive it is very hard to hold the "bad guys" in custody when they are found beaten and bound, by law they get classified as victims in the real world unless there are other witnesses to what happened willing to make an official statement, or some other evidence that has no signs of tampering. Of course the comic book vigilantes that kill people get classified as either serial killers or terrorists, funny that Frank Castle doesn't seem to care who recognizes him.

Still wouldn't be illegal to disclose because Bat's is engaging in violent and illegal behavior.

I AM Justice lolll

Thanks, man! :)

Hahaha, it was actually an adlib from Ricky that we worked into Dylan's part. But also, HIT THAT NOTIFICATION BELL!

Already have

Jay 2.0 Unfortunately, that means you were predisposed to make a ruling not based entirely on law... which would bar you from jury duty.

DisThoughts He should be granted some sort of immunity really.

Batman _has_ immunity through anonymity. And that's a problem. If Batman answers to nobody but his own conscience, who can stop him if he decides to do something _he_ thinks is right but which is harmful to much of Gotham? For that matter, what happens if he should make a mistake?

Johnathan, well think of secret service agents or undercover police officers. They have a certain amount of legal immunity and are often protected by anonymity, but the difference there is that their actions are ordered and monitored by an agency which takes responsibility, and which ultimately answers to elected officials. There are safeguards in place to prevent secret service agents from abusing their powers and tangible consequences for agents who go rogue. None of that applies to Batman. And I'm not arguing that obeying the law is always the right thing to do. I'm a fan of Gandhi's civil disobedience. But usually if someone does the Right Thing (tm) regardless of any consideration to legality, they also accept the consequences. Imagine if Gandhi instead of protesting English colonialism by making salt openly as himself had started an illegal salt producing and smuggling operation while wearing a mask? It would at the very least alter the moral characteristics of what he was doing. If I saw someone about to die and knew I could help them, I absolutely would without consideration for legality. But I would also have to accept it if my actions came under legal scrutiny after and accept any consequences. It's part of Batman's story that he sees working outside the law as the only option given the corruption in Gotham's politics and police force. And that might be morally justified to an extent. But the flipside of that coin is that as soon as the corruption problem is taken care of, Batman has an obligation to offer his actions up to scrutiny and then, if possible, go legit.

"ho can stop him if he decides to do something he thinks is right but which is harmful to much of Gotham?" The Justice League can. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Vxqq83_okxs.html

Frisko555, yes that's true of some incarnations of Batman, but not all. It works for Justice League Batman but it doesn't work for, for instance, Nolan's Batman. Also while the Justice League could stop Batman if he went on an obvious rampage, it's not as if it's ever been established that he reports to them, so they don't function as an oversight of Batman's work. If he decided to some subtler shady things than going on a rampage, they couldn't stop him, because there's no reason why they would know about it. And it's not like they stop him from violating people's rights. He frequently tortures people when he interrogates them, and doesn't care about people's right to privacy, just to name some examples of what the Justice League really ought to stop him from doing, but don't. You know, things that would get him fired if he were actually a lawfully employed crime fighter.

Yea, Plus the public is disadvantaged by losing the protection that Batman has to offer them when he can operate with impunity thanks to his secret identity being intact.

NerdOutpostAlpha what's stopping him from abusing all the power that he has

I don't know, and that's a good counter-point. My argument is that, based on Batman's history of heroism, it's unlikely that he's going to use his power and influence in a way that harms the public more than it benefits them. It's very likely, on the other hand, that harm will befall Bruce and his loved ones once his identity is revealed.

You could also say that what the people don't know won't hurt them. For all they know batman is just some guy like peter Parker. They don't know that he has all that power in and out of costume so they have nothing to worry about. At least that's how I see it :P

NerdOutpostAlpha hmm he did cause the OMAC crisis but elongatedman's wife was raped. So it comes round to more of a marvel civil war situation. Would the goverment be allowed to control that information? In the animated series amanda waller knows but doesnt reveal it to the public 🤔

If Batman is, indeed, a criminal, then the consequences of him being charged with his crimes shouldn't protect him from being exposed. Imagine if a major public figure - say, Bill Gates - turned out to have been secretly breaking into people's houses for years. That would definitely be something to expose even if it meant major hardship for Microsoft employees. It's only to the extent that Batman's activities are legal, or that exposing his identity leads to extreme consequences (like a reasonable expectation of hundreds of deaths) that his secret identity should be protected.

Honestly, we broke our budget for sure.

NerdSync who’d you get to play Hugo Strange? I’d love to see him on the big screen one day, his acting was on point!

Nah mate, that's clearly Val Kilmer

Change the shape and he'd make a good Spider Jerusalem.

He reminds me of Morpheus from the matrix tbh

wear green make up, long hair wig, he could be chubby Jennifer Walters

White Morpheus.

DENILSON THOMAS. I thought he was Matt Murdock 😂

Thank you!!!

Thank you! Yeah, the plan was to explain somethings, but ultimately leave it open-ended for people to think about.

Thank you, sir!

I'm a fan!

I agree, Scott was great as Hugo Strange.

It's worth it! Maybe!

NerdSync so far so good (:

Big Poe same

Not so random reply.

Waaaaaaa

Ahh dammit, I blew up the universe again.

😄 THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Hey, thanks!

Does Batman really qualify as a protected informant? His means of collecting information is invasive. Most informants (if any) don't obtain the information they provide to the police by illegally wiretapping their sources...

futurestoryteller Well he isn't an informant. It wad just an analogy. I argued he'd be treated like one assuming they offered some kind of legal provision to allow it. And I think that's a reasonable assumption for a world populated by supers. If (big if) he's legally recognized, it would be like doxing any legally protected person (informant, undercover officer, protected witness, etc). But that's totally best case. In real life, you're right. That'd never happen. But also in real life, most of the gang bangers Batman catches would be released and Joker wouldn't go to an asylum (he'd get death). So we have to suspend disbelief.

"That'd never happen. But also in real life, most of the gang bangers Batman catches would be released and Joker wouldn't go to an asylum (he'd get death). So we have to suspend disbelief." We weren't really being asked to suspend disbelief though, as far as viewing Batman comics for entertainment purposes are concerned, we were instead being asked by Nerdsync to judge a hypothetical. If we suspend disbelief far enough into Batman's universe his actions might actually be legally protected, according to some readers of comics in the comments, but doing so actually defeats the purpose of indulging the hypothetical exercise. Also while we're nitpicking, the people Batman catches would not necessarily be released. Admittedly this information is both second hand and pretty vaguely second hand at that, (feel free to take it with a grain of salt.) In a Quora thread a few years back, there were some current and former officers discussing what a poor detective "Dirty" Harry Callahan was. I if I remember correctly, it was within this same thread that they all agreed that the movie's treatment of law enforcement was poorly constructed overall, since even with Callahan's abuse of the suspect the man could have easily been prosecuted - according to them. Although I don't know the specifics, and even _they_ didn't mostly seem to be made up of lawyers. On whether the joker would be killed... well where and how he ends up depends both on what the laws in Gotham's city and state are, and how a jury interprets his behavior.

Always a good time with that guy around!

NerdSync yeah it is!

Mary Jane - What is it that you're talking about?

Sean Baugh Really? I always understood it as the heroes falling under Good Samaritan acts, since few of them actually kill the villains and many of them are too powerful for the cops to take on.

Wesley Molt Yes Really......The "Good Samaritan" laws offer protection to people who give "REASONABLE" assistance to those who are, or who they believe to be injured, ill, in peril, or otherwise incapacitated. Remember....I am using Batman as the example because he is the subject of this video. When Batman/Bruce Wayne created a city wide surveillance system created through high-frequency sonar signals captured from millions of cell phones in "The Dark Knight"... that went beyond the boundaries of "REASONABLE" assistance. If a single individual had that "power" over millions you would definitely want to know who they were. "NUFF SAID"

Extreme measures are required to fight extreme criminals...The whole cell phone thing was to take down a "super criminal" much worse than any terrorist we, as a society, have ever seen... Think of the Las Vegas shootings every day for months on end...

Wesley Molt this statement right here is entirely true; the statement above^👆 was referenced in the Arkham Knight comic series, and your statement is entirely true...

Sean Baugh they already have that power though it's called the United States NSA...

How illegal is Batman? Sure, under our legal system, his actions include a number of crimes, but he's apparently operating in a system where it's legal for Gotham Police to have a bat-signal, and sometimes even a bat-phone, which, at the least, pulls him into a legal grey area. In the wider world of DC Comics, the legal system must allow for masked costumed heroes. Otherwise there's no way that many costumed heroes could continue to operate.

Heck yeah!

WAIT WHAT?!?!?!?!

RamsTheNameCom please tell this to all the batman fanboys that keep saying black panther is a batman ripoff.

RamsTheNameCom Or how Batman employ kids to fight crime which last time i checked was illegal, even resulting in getting one killed, the recruiting Tim Drake who is 9 years old.

+the insurance The Black Panther is actually a ripoff of The Phantom if you think about it. And for anyone who thinks Moon Knight is a ripoff of Batman, Moon Knight actually ripoff Warren Publishing's Vampirella (you need to read Vampirella comics to see the connection).

+RamsTheNameCom Would you mind elaborating on how Moon Knight rips off the Warren era Vampirella? I mean he isn't a vampire or female as I recall, although I really haven't read or even looked at any Moon Knight comics in forever, so I'm no expert. I did however used to read quite a bit of the Warren era Vampirella comics though back in the 1970's.

+cha5 Fine let elaborate (prepare for an essay): Doug Moench (the creator of Moon Knight and writer of the original 1979 to 1984 run of Moon Knight) was a music interviewer article writer for the Chicago paper. His Best Friend, Donald F. Glut told Doug he could make some extra cash on the side writing comics for Warren Publishing. So Doug Moench started out writing Vampirella comics to of which they were very mediocre with the exception of the last two comic he wrote. What changed was he copied the Vampirella formula of writing from his fellow co writers at Warren Publishing. The Formula being described the background settings in great detailed since it was in Black and White among other things (but that is the most obvious one). So here's the connection: 1. Similar cast of characters: Vampirella = Marlene (Moon Knight's Girlfriend): Both are damsels in distress who can take care of themselves in battle. Are often seen naked. Adam Van Helsing = Marc Spector: Both are monster hunters/mercenaries who occasional fight vigilante crime. (Marc Spector hunts werewolves). Penn Dragon = Bernard Crawly: Both are homeless drunks and father figures to the main protagonist (Crawly was a father figure to Marc Spector and Penn Dragon was a father figure for Vampirella). Adam Van Helsing's Father = Frenchie: Both are long time allies to their Monster hunter friend (Frenchie helps Marc Spector hunt werewolves and is his Best Friend while Adam's Father helps him hunt vampires). Pantha = Moon Knight: Both became priests/warriors for an Egyptian god that brought them back to life (Moon Knight was given powers by Khonsu while Pantha was given powers by Ra). Both the cast of Moon Knight and Vampirella hang out at a dinner as a main setting point for them to progress the plot: (Moon Knight plans his vigilante missions in his dinner with his cast of characters while Vampirella and her cast of characters often bump into a new character at her dinner who help progress the plot). 2. Art Style: Doug Moench wanted Moon Knight to be in Black and White, but Marvel said no. So he settle for having Moon Knight's costume be in Black and White though he refers to it as Jet Silver. Of course, the original Vampirella comics were in black and white. 3. Story Telling: Doug Moench wrote a few one off Moon Knight stories that barely focused on Moon Knight, but rather focused on telling a horror story with an original cast of main characters. Vampirella started out as a story teller who presented one off horror stories. There were a few Moon Knight stories Doug wrote that seemed heavily inspired by Vampirella stories. EX: Moon Knight and Frenchie were tracking down a mob boss who is trafficking Cocaine. Frenchie learns his wife was involved and has Flash backs to their life together before since she's been missing from his life for a full decade. His wife is murdered and he only blames himself, Moon Knight gets put under mind control and tries to kill Frenchie but Frenchie snaps him out of it. Frenchie vows vengeance on the mob. Vampirella and Penn Dragon were captured by a mob boss who is trafficking Cocaine. Penn learns his wife, daughter, and son in law were involved. He has flash back to their life together before since he never seen his Wife and daughter since a full 20 years ago. Vampirella gets put under mind control from the cocaine and her hunger pains. Vampirella ends up killing Penn's daughter, son in law, and severally wounded his grandson. Penn Dragon only blames himself. Penn Dragon's wife Vows Vengeance on her families deaths. (there are three more stories that are very similar, but you get the picture). As mentioned before, even though Moon Knight comics were NOT in black and white. Doug Moench still felt the need to describe every single thing in the background settings through narrations just like in Vampirella comics. 4. Misconceptions: Just like how people keep mistakenly call Moon Knight a Batman ripoff, Vampirella was often called a Superman ripoff back in the day. Bonus: (just because I feel like explaining this) Moon Knight was not mentally insane nor had multiple personality disorder until 2006. Moon Knight was just very religious and was in hiding from the CIA and Terrorist. That is why he has the Steven Grant and Jake Lockely disguises since Marc Spector can no longer go out in public as himself.

Not Not Not Scott and that’s why duke doesn’t go by robin, it’s even a joke in the comics

Isn't batman a deputized agent of the law? Or is that only the adam west batman?

In "Mask of the Phantasm" and "Year One" they actually try to shoot and kill his ass a few times. I'm sure it depends on the continuity, but it's worth noting that very few law enforcement agents have the authority to operate anonymously either. The long and the short of it is that a lack of transparency disrupts the process of checks and balances. Batman can act with relative impunity without oversight, and anyone with the means is free to impersonate Batman, making it more difficult to determine which crimes should be attributed to him if and when he breaks the law.

A pubic service

So a masked terrorist who frequently breaks into places, assaults people, destroys public property, obstructs justice, and has even committed at least voluntary manslaughter on occasion, while at the same time being the CEO of a publicly traded company that he no doubt embezzles from and uses his wealth to influence politics should not be a person the public is made aware of because he does his illegal activities while masked and other criminals are "afraid" of him? I am quite certain a lot of criminals are scared of ISIS leaders too. So those who wear masks on video should not be named or have their identities revealed to the general public?

TheHobgoblyn yes, those people that wear masks should not be named or unmasked because the Batman Arkhams Knight comic made this same analogy...

Since Batman is in fact a criminal, revealing his identity is no different than revealing the identity of any other criminal who wears a mask. Batman is a danger. He is insane. A frequent plot point is that Batman is just as insane as the criminals he puts away, and it's absolutely true. I'm surprised the video didn't mention the fact that he trains child soldiers (Robin) and sends them up against crazed killers and literal monsters. How would people react if Gordon hired a child to work as a police officer?I love Batman and all, but if he existed in the real world, I'd want him behind bars.

TJ Playz two point agreed. But there's no such thing as slightly outside the l a w. You're either within the law or you're outside the law. So he supposed to uphold Justice by breaking the law that's very contradictive upon itself. Catwoman breaks in to steal something worth money. Batman breaks in and steals Vital personal Information.

Light Yagami so your answer is because comics.