WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Deep Water, now available on Hulu.
In the DC Extended Universe, it’s safe to say Ben Affleck’s Batman had a lot of plot armor. It became apparent when he fought Superman, where, even with his robotic suit, he really should have suffered some broken bones. And even when he fought Doomsday and Steppenwolf and his Parademons in Justice League, somehow Bruce Wayne came out unscathed. That’s because, ultimately, he’s just a man in a cape and cowl using gadgets to fight gods, aliens and monsters, meaning he needs all the help he can get. However, come Deep Water, Affleck’s Vic — a disenchanted husband in an open marriage — had a lot more plot armor than the Caped Crusader could ever hope for.
Vic really tried his luck throughout this film, going about silent revenge without getting caught. The only problem with that is that he wasn’t that smart, yet he remained in the clear. The first instance of this occurred when he joked about killing Martin, a man his wife, Melinda (Ana de Armas), had a fling with.
Vic joked about it to Joey to scare him off, and the whole town eventually found out. Yet, no one reported it to the cops, despite Martin going missing. And even when Martin eventually turned up shot to death, the authorities never questioned Vic on it. Vic strangling and drowning another fling, Charlie, in the pool also wasn’t really taken seriously by the authorities. Instead, they went with the story how Charlie passed out and hit his head on the concrete.
It’s just strange the marks of violence weren’t brought into play, and that’s not even mentioning that the coroner’s report never got addressed, nor did any cop connect Martin with Charlie. In fact, despite Don adamant that Vic should be a suspect as he was last in the pool with Charlie, the cops actually dropped interest. They never kept tabs, made follow-ups or tailed anyone, despite the town knowing Charlie was another of Melinda’s boy-toys.
But Vic’s plot armor proved strongest in the finale when he crashed his bike and fell in front of Don’s speeding van at the gorge. Just when it seemed Don would hit Vic, he swerved, missing Vic by inches and plunging off the cliff to his death. This was done so Don would die with the secret of seeing Vic with the body of another fling, Tony, by the river. By the end, it felt like Vic was more capable of finishing his mission than Batman ever was.
See how Vic’s plot armor is stronger than Batman’s in Deep Water, now available on Hulu.
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