Two shadowy figures skulking in the night. An explosion. A masked vigilante who sees all. A futuristic car speeding through the darkness. A brief fight. Two criminals left tied up for the police to find. A lightning strike. A heroic figure standing triumphant atop a building. Fade to black.

If you’re a ’90s kid and/or a superhero fan, you are likely very familiar with this sequence and the accompanying song, which played at the start of every episode of Batman: The Animated Series. But have you ever really thought about this beloved intro? Allow me to play devil’s advocate for a moment (or rather, defense attorney).

You see, dear readers, despite the clear implication that the two men who pass by the bank are responsible for its subsequent destruction, what proof do we have that this is so? All we see them do is walk away a few seconds before the explosion. We can’t even be sure they were ever in the bank.

Then we see the two men running away from the explosion, followed immediately by shots of them being pursued by the police and then by Batman. Why? Because they ran from an explosion? Who among us would not run if a building blew up right next to us? And who is to say they even notice the police chasing them? If you were trying to escape a bombed building, how much attention would you be paying to the guys behind you?

It’s also worth noting that the men hold no stolen loot, no equipment they might have used to bomb a building. Again, I ask: why is everyone so quick to assume these men are the perpetrators?

After the two men flee to a rooftop, Batman finally confronts them. Justifiably startled, the men pull out guns and are promptly beaten silly for their trouble.

Now, granted, we don’t know whether they had these weapons legally, but there’s no reason to assume either way. In any case, the fact that they pulled these guns on Batman isn’t necessarily suspicious. Of course, they resorted to weapons! A big, scary, weirdo in a bat costume was coming for them right after they’d narrowly escaped an explosion! Wouldn’t you be a bit jumpy after all that?

Based on what we see in this intro, the only things these two guys are guilty of are looking mildly angry at night and trying to defend themselves against a clear threat to their health. The omnipresent police blimps may give Gotham City the appearance of a police state, but this is still the United States of America! Are we really going to let masked vigilantes run wild and pass summary judgment on citizens based only on their appearance? No way, I say!

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury — uh, that is, faithful Book Riot readers — I rest my case.