Too close to the Hero

I would like to take a moment to express my opinion on the modern day fictional heroes and a big mistake many writers have been making in recent years.  When I think of heroes I think of three words.  Larger Than Life.  However I believe a lot of fiction writers are getting away from that concept.  Take the recent Dark Knight trilogy.  Now I love the series.  Don't get me wrong.  Heath Ledger's Joker was unbelievable!  Plus the stories for all three were solid.  The action and momentum never slowed down.  I believe the villains and most characters were written well and given ample time on the screen.  However one character was not treated quite right in my opinion.  That would be the hero- Batman himself.  Notice how the Joker appears out of nowhere and then puts Batman through hell the entire movie up until being shipped off to Arkam Asylum or so we think.  No origin.  No long explanations about who the Joker is or where he really came from.  The snippets he gives of his past are clearly lies, but we are entertained since his lies just come off as funny.  He is the most interesting character of the series because there is an awe of mystery there.  Bane, Two-Face, Catwoman, Raz-al-Ghul and Scarecrow are all solid, but they do not stand a chance against the aura of the maniac in the purple suit.  Now just think if they had done this with Batman.  Skip Batman Begins and go straight into The Dark Knight.  No explanation about our hero or why he does what he does.  Isn't a guy running around dressed like a bat fighting crime interesting enough all on its own?  Just like a guy in clown makeup and a purple suit causing mayhem.  We don't need a reason.  Just give us the show.  I point to The Man with No Name in Clint Eastwood's spaghetti Westerns.  How much do we know about him?  Hell.  We don't even know his name!  But it works.  He strolls into town and we follow the action without bogging this guy down with backstory.  Just let him go and watch the chaos develop!  Then there's the original James Bond series.  We know very little of 007 as well.  And because of this he is far more interesting than even the intriguing series of villains he encounters because a mysterious good guy is always a winner.  Throw him into trouble and watch him take down the bad guys.  Now to me, that is much more appealing than many modern day heroes who might as well be thrown onto the psychiatrist's sofa!  It's like the late great James Gondolfini said while playing Tony Soprano.  "What ever happened to Gary Cooper?"  What indeed, Tony?  What, indeed?