Both Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are in the process of making major comebacks to the realm of action movies – Affleck, of course, was cast last year as Batman in Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice film, the first of potentially many movies to develop a shared cinematic universe made from DC Comics characters. Meanwhile, Damon is returning to one of his most beloved roles, and possibly the one most people associate him with – that of Jason Bourne, a super-spy amnesiac whose martial arts, gun, and survival skills make him incredibly deadly.

And since both of their movies will be hitting theaters in 2016 (Batman v Superman in March and Bourne 5 in – well, we don’t know that yet), naturally, the question on everybody’s mind is – who would win in a fight, Batman or Jason Bourne?

While promoting their newest season of Project Greenlight to Access Hollywood, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon were posed that very question. And, unsurprisingly, both actors remained loyal to their roles.
Damon’s response?

“Well, first of all, Batman is not real and Jason Bourne is.”

(Psst, Matt – Jason Bourne isn’t real either!)

To which Ben Affleck said:

“If Batman is fighting Superman, I think he’s a little past Jason Bourne.”

And finally, Damon took a playful swipe at Batman v. Superman:

“I don’t understand why Batman and Superman are fighting. I guess I’ll have to see the movie.”

Obviously, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are just kidding around and teasing each other, as good friends are wont to do. Still, the hypothetical match-up – between Bruce Wayne/Batman and Jason Bourne/David Webb – is nonetheless very much worth discussing, in this writer’s opinion.

Without a doubt, Jason Bourne is an undeniable tour de force when it comes to hand-to-hand/gun combat and general spy skills, thanks to training from the military and behavioral modification courtesy of Treadstone. He uses these skills to evade a hundreds of police officers, assassins, spies, government officials, and so on for three (and soon to be four) movies. That’s impressive, almost superhuman.

But from a very young age – for nearly 15 years before he became the Caped Crusader – Batman received training in every form of martial arts, in stunt-driving, in detective work, in man-hunting, in various sciences, as a ninja, and beyond, from the greatest experts in each of those fields. He has honed every one of those skills to nigh-on perfection and transformed himself into a living weapon.

Now, could Bourne give Batman a run for his money in a straight-up fistfight? Perhaps. Batman, of course, isn’t even technically the greatest fighter in DC Comics. Lady Shiva is probably at the top of that list, and Batman is near the top (if not second or third). That said, Batman has beaten Shiva before, and their fights usually end in a stalemate.

That’s because Batman doesn’t just have his fighting skills to depend upon – he’s also one of the greatest strategists in the DCU. He’s always got a plan, he always knows your weakness, and his resourcefulness is unparalleled. That’s basically his superpower.

Then again, that’s the Batman of the comic books. The Batman of the Tim Burton films and Christopher Nolan’s films wasn’t quite the same, so who knows how Ben Affleck’s Batman will be depicted?

(In full disclosure – this article was written by an unabashed Batman fan.)

What say you, Screen Ranters? Who do you think would win in a fight – Batman or Jason Bourne? Drop us a line in the comments.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice hits theaters March 25th, 2016. Bourne 5 is expected to hit theaters sometime in 2016. Perhaps they’ll go head-to-head?