The common saying is that Batman can take down anyone with enough prep time since he’s done so in the comics with the help of his vast fortune and his need to be the absolute best at everything he does. To be fair, Batman is a serious individual when it comes to any fight since there’s no telling what he’s prepped for and any opponent he’s facing is at a severe disadvantage unless they’re simply too overwhelming for Batman to handle, even with all of his tricks at hand. Shang-Chi of the MCU would no doubt be one of those since despite not having access to the same materials that Batman does, he’s at the top when it comes to martial arts in the MCU, and it’s believed that Shang-Chi would be the victor between these two for a few reasons. One is that for all his gadgets and tricks, Batman is still a mortal human being and a highly-skilled fighter that’s proficient in numerous fighting styles. He’s taken on fighters like Shang-Chi and won, but it’s easy enough to state that he’s been taken to the limit a few times.
So what kind of fight would this be? Well, the easy thing to say would be that it would depend on who’s writing the story and if they have any bias toward Batman or Shang-Chi to start with since it’s very possible that this could make the decision in a way that’s not exactly fair to either combatant. Some would say that it’s not a fair fight anyway since Shang-Chi doesn’t have nearly the number of tools that Batman normally operates with. This actually wouldn’t be that unfair to be certain, since it means that Batman comes off as the weaker opponent simply because he needs the added hardware to carry the fight in his favor, while Shang-Chi might use common weaponry that both men are capable of wielding, but with a greater amount of skill.
The undeniable truth is that for all of Batman’s martial skills, he relies heavily on his gadgets and his utility belt, as well as his armor. The reason that Shang-Chi comes off as tougher and far more capable of carrying the fight is that he doesn’t rely on as much and uses his own natural tools, meaning his fists, feet, elbows, knees, to subdue his opponents. It might sound like I’m being a purist and think that Batman is a lesser character for his reliance on his tech but in a fight against someone that has the type of martial mastery that Shang-Chi possesses, yeah, Batman comes off as weaker for needing so much extra gear. It wouldn’t be an easy fight to be certain since depending on how it was set up it’s not hard to state that both men would be putting each other through their paces to find out just how skilled they really are and if there were any weaknesses they could exploit in their fighting styles. This is where Shang-Chi might come up just a bit short since Batman is highly adaptable to any given battlefield since he’s always thinking of a way to trip his opponent up and swing the advantage in his direction, as one should be.
But on open ground and going toe to toe, Shang-Chi would take the fight simply because it’s would appear that Batman couldn’t keep up. He’s fought similar opponents in the past and lost, as fans should hopefully remember. The whole legend of Batman and how he can take pretty much anyone is so strong at this time that trying to convince any hardcore Batman fan that the dark knight can and has taken a beating in the past might be considered fighting words since some folks don’t want to admit that any Marvel character could beat Batman. The whole thought process of “because I’m Batman” is a little annoying at times since it’s usually said in jest and to prove the point that Batman is awesome, but it’s also used in denial at times thanks to the inability of some folks to even admit in a friendly debate that Batman could be beaten by another hero. There’s the idea of enjoying your favorite fictional character and then there’s the idea of not knowing when to let something go.
Battles between fictional characters do start up a lot of debates and in some cases a lot of fights that make a lot of us shake our heads even if we happen to be big fans of the comics and the movies. But it’s not hard to understand since when putting an emotional investment into a character one does tend to want to see their legend upheld, not maligned on a constant basis. But sadly, for all Batman fans out there, Shang-Chi would pummel the Batman in this particular case.
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