I’m a comic book and Star Trek geek at heart, so I often get caught up in the details when it comes to movies. I know there’s been a lot of debate regarding the new Batsuit designed for the upcoming sequel The Dark Knight. Some people like the functional/samurai look of it (including me) while others think the suit from Batman Begins is at least somewhat closer to the concept of the comic books.
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A bunch of images appeared online late today from the movie, originally announced by RopeOfSilicon.com which showed one or two and linked to the Flickr page containing a bunch more. I had a look at them and some were spoilerish. I’m not going to post them because “Rope” has already pulled them down as has JoBlo, so I’m not going to bother since I don’t want to hear from Warner Bros. legal department. 
One thing I noticed was that in at least one image, Batman is still wearing the costume from Begins. The images above showing the two suits are both from The Dark Knight.
This is very good news in my opinion - in every other Batman movie up until Begins a new suit has popped up with no explanation given as to why, say, Batman felt the need for artificial nipples on a costume that is supposed to strike terror into criminals (but I digress…). This means that we get to see the transition from one costume to the next complete with an explanation of why he’s making the change.
So fans of the first costume will at least get to see it on screen again and may even be placated by whatever reason Bruce Wayne gives for updating to a different design.
Cool.
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25 Comments
That’s great news. But this may be nip picky but…
The pick on the left looks like Batman is bloated and over weight and the right one looks like…I can’t even explain, just in that pose he doesn’t look right. But I unno, just me.
2008 is definitely the year when Batman gets one-upped in the superhero duds department…
’nuff said.
Between this, Iron Man and especially Indiana Jones 4… it’s going to be a helluva summer!
Vic
They both look god-awful. Look,as a longtime Batman fan I get tired of them changing the suits and not using the classic batsuit from the comix. I hated the suit from Begins,and I hate the suit from Dark Knight,but I didn’t realize how bad the one from Dark Knight looked until I saw it comared to the one from Begins. It looks so bad that it actually makes the one from Begins look respectful of the comic book. I ain’t gonna be happy with the suit until I see the classic gray and black. The one from Dark Knight looks waaaay to robotic,and not authentic and clothlike enough. And while better than the suit from Dark Knight,the one from Begins looks plastic and bloated (look at that huge neck,people!). Sure,anything beats nipples and crotch/butt pieces,but it’s well over due for someone to break the shabby costume tradition and start reverencing the comix a little more as far as suits go. And as far as this movie franchise goes,it’s by far the best treatment the Caped Crusader has ever been given and the costumes are my only complaints along with the batmobile.That thing is waaaay too big and clunky for someone like Batman to ride around in. That said,I am looking forward to this film and think it might possibly be the best Batman film yet.
Regarding KEL’s comments, how would he expect Batman to realistically take the kind of abuse he does on a nightly basis if he chose to wear the spandex leotards of the comics in lieu of body armor? I for one welcome the more realistic change of attire. If he wore a simple fabric outfit, it lowers the credibility of his survival skills given the outrageous peril he finds himself in routinely.
Obviously you’re not that big a Batman fan,Sir Justin. Batman in the comix takes as much physical abuse,if not more,than he does in the movies and somehow manages just fine. Maybe that’s because his outfit isn’t just “spandex”,it’s also fireproof,shockproof,and bulletproof to a degree,plus it’s easier to move around in than the clunky rubber suits from the movies. And to say the suit from the comix is spandex is debatable. As far as I’m concerned the suit from the comix is just as “realistic”,if not more,than the movies.
Another example is Iron Man. I’m a huge Iron Man fan, but I think the design for the movie armor based on the Granov art will work much better than the “classic” armor would. The classic would look like a red and gold Silver Surfer and just wouldn’t be as believable in a real world environment.
Vic
Ya know it’s funny cuz if Burton would’ve done it right 18 years ago with Batman,we wouldn’t even be having this conversation now. Batman’s just as iconic a hero as Superman and Spider-Man,and you never hear people complaining that their costumes need to be changed for the movies,so why does everyone think Batman’s costume needs to be changed? In regards to the Iron Man movie costume,it looks very similiar to the current armor in the comix,while the batsuit in DK looks nothing like the current batsuit from the comix. I’ve come to like the IM movie armor,to me it looks like a hybrid of the best components of the classic and current armor,look at the uni-beam projector and the helmet and you’ll see what I mean. For the batsuit in Dark Knight they could at least make the chest and leg parts of the suit gray and black in the leotard area. I don’t see how that would take away from the realism of it. And if Batman felt like the dark gray areas on his suit would be too noticeable he could just conceal himself completely in his cape. Maybe we’ll see a suit like that in JLA…….I hope so.
Sorry,I meant to say make the leg and chest areas on the costume gray,and to keep the leotard area on the costume black.
My bad. I make mistakes in my comments a lot.
The new costume for DK is bad…but not as bad as it would be to go to the current or previous comic versions. Batman running around with a yellow utility belt and isigna on his chest?? Two minutes and the film would be over! They should stick with the costume from Batman Begins. The best of all the movie costumes.
The film would only be over for people with no imagination. You obviously know nothing of the Batman comix suit.
Kel- I have probably read more comics than you have and certainly am knowledgeable about Batman. Yes, I’m aware of the slight body armor Batman has in his suit that has developed over the years. Yes, I’m aware of why he said he has a big yellow taget in the middle of his chest (no reason given for the yellow belt, though). Unfortunately, staying the same as the comic doesn’t always do justice on the big screen. Where are you going to find an actor that’s 6′2″ - 6′4″, 230 - 240 lbs, that moves like a gymnist and has the hand speed of Bruce Lee? Although not true to the most popular Batman comics, I thought the first Batman with Keaton was pretty good. (Loved the car!) Who would have thought a small Batman vs. a fat Joker would have worked - but it did. This direction is good because it’s on film. It wouldn’t be good in the comics. Nuff said!
Read more Batman than me? Feh! We’ll have to put that to the test sometime…
The comix batsuit is bullet,shock,and flame proof (to a degree). Staying true to the comix is ALWAYS better than going with a distorted hollywood bigwig’s version. The comix costumes work fine on film,remember Spider-Man? Sure,there are a couple tweaks like the raised webbing,but none that I’ll complain about and none that are radcally different than the character’s comix look (like the movie batsuits). Besides,the black and gray actually makes MORE SENSE than just all black,the black and gray is actually camouflage,much more so than the all black plastic look of the movie suits. People watch movies like Star Wars and don’t look for a reason for why things look/are the way they look/are. They don’t look for reasons why Vader’s saber is red and whys Luke’s is blue,they just accept it for the way it is. People don’t even ask why Spider-Man’s and Superman’s suits are red and blue. So why do people need to know why Batman wears black and gray with a yellow (now brownish) utility belt? Just keep it the way it’s always been,man! The suit doesn’t need to be changed radically for the big screen! It looks fine and has worked fine that way fcr nearly a century.
I too liked the 1989 Batman (even tho I had some probs with it,like almost all movies). It’s my favorite along with Batman Begins. The Keaton car and suit,IMO,was soooo much better than anything since then.
Batman is 6′2″ and ways around 215 lbs.,FYI.
Danny Elfman’s (”elfman”…LOL!) soundtrack was the best Batman theme/soundtrack yet,IMO. That and Shirley Walker’s Batman:the animated series theme are what I consider to be THE definite Batman theme(s). I wish they’d have used one of those themes for BB,even though it was a reboot. You can’t beat those themes,IMO. they’re soooo much better than Hans Zimmerman’s and James Newton Howard’s work on BB,WHICH just sounded too
much like Zimmerman’s work on Pirates of the Carribean and just about every other movie he’s done.
Nice debate, gentleman. I personally dont mind either one of the costumes, as long as the actors do their jobs in conjunction with the director and the script. Yet, in the comics throughout the years, he did have different kind of batsuits that were NOT the standard black and grey tights. For example, and I do realize Brucie was an olderish chap, his suit in Kingdom Come, and even in Batman Beyondcartoon and some of the elseworld books, to an extent. Yet, the one-shot fan film Dead End had Clark Bartram in the standard Alex Grey tights and they made it work nicely. I guess it all lies in the case of perspective.
Nice debate, gentleman. I personally dont mind either one of the costumes, as long as the actors do their jobs in conjunction with the director and the script. Yet, in the comics throughout the years, he did have different kind of batsuits that were NOT the standard black and grey tights. For example, and I do realize Brucie was an olderish chap, his suit in Kingdom Come, and even in Batman Beyondcartoon and some of the elseworld books, to an extent. Yet, the one-shot fan film Dead End had Clark Bartram in the standard Alex Grey tights and they made it work nicely. I guess it all lies in the case of perspective.
Nice debate, gentleman. I personally dont mind either one of the costumes, as long as the actors do their jobs in conjunction with the director and the script. Yet, in the comics throughout the years, he did have different kind of batsuits that were NOT the standard black and grey tights. For example, and I do realize Brucie was an olderish chap, his suit in Kingdom Come, and even in Batman Beyondcartoon and some of the elseworld books, to an extent. Yet, the one-shot fan film Dead End had Clark Bartram in the standard Alex Grey tights and they made it work nicely. I guess it all lies in the case of perspective.
Nice debate, gentleman. I personally dont mind either one of the costumes, as long as the actors do their jobs in conjunction with the director and the script. Yet, in the comics throughout the years, he did have different kind of batsuits that were NOT the standard black and grey tights. For example, and I do realize Brucie was an olderish chap, his suit in Kingdom Come, and even in Batman Beyondcartoon and some of the elseworld books, to an extent. Yet, the one-shot fan film Dead End had Clark Bartram in the standard Alex Grey tights and they made it work nicely. I guess it all lies in the case of perspective.
Nice debate, gentleman. I personally dont mind either one of the costumes, as long as the actors do their jobs in conjunction with the director and the script. Yet, in the comics throughout the years, he did have different kind of batsuits that were NOT the standard black and grey tights. For example, and I do realize Brucie was an olderish chap, his suit in Kingdom Come, and even in Batman Beyondcartoon and some of the elseworld books, to an extent. Yet, the one-shot fan film Dead End had Clark Bartram in the standard Alex Grey tights and they made it work nicely. I guess it all lies in the case of perspective.
Nice debate, gentleman. I personally dont mind either one of the costumes, as long as the actors do their jobs in conjunction with the director and the script. Yet, in the comics throughout the years, he did have different kind of batsuits that were NOT the standard black and grey tights. For example, and I do realize Brucie was an olderish chap, his suit in Kingdom Come, and even in Batman Beyondcartoon and some of the elseworld books, to an extent. Yet, the one-shot fan film Dead End had Clark Bartram in the standard Alex Grey tights and they made it work nicely. I guess it all lies in the case of perspective.
He gets a new cowl because like Alfed said in “Begins” that “there’s a problem with the graphite.” This is when he smashes a cowl with a baseball bat and warns Bruce not to fall on his head. So I guess he gets a new order of cowls and then Fox finds an even cooler ballistic suit.
well..batmans suit was grey in the first part..he spray painted it to black..wearing cloth wud mean he can be shot easily n stabbed..he wudnt have survived scarecrows attack with fire on him in the first installment..’begins’..i think batman has the right to paint his suit..his car is amazing..hes bruce so he can buy any car he wants..its the beginnig of the series..so theres no hurry in seeing when he gets his car in the next few installments..the jokers origin kills half of his character..i think i ll comment on the joker after i watch the movie..its not important to show jokers family background..hes a pshycotic criminal..n i wanna see him turn bad n get to the point..batman will modernize in every part coz like gordon said in the end of part 1 ‘begins’..the villians get more advanced as the good guys get advanced..there wasnt much of a background for the joker in the animations..he is the biggest foe of batman n a true born criminal..he never turned..he was like it always..he breathed n lived it..n the new movie shudnt waste any time on stupid origins..we have seen enough origin making..loook what the prev director joel did with poison ivy n freeze..lol..dont want that happening to the joker..u dont want a slow film..u want joker vs batman..the biggest explosions in batman history..n thats what the trailers tell me..im satisfied with the joker story in it so far
Gentlemen,
I respect your opinions about the origin of the batsuit, and for starters I will bow out when it comes to claiming irrefutable knowledge about the comics. I have been a fan since the Tim Burton kick-off in ’89 and remain primarily interested in the ‘modern’ twist on the franchise. ( Joel S. movies aside).
Like you, I have gathered my own predictions of the reason for the change in batsuit for the Dark Knight. I think I may have some pretty good insight. For starters, Batsy is still sporting the Begins batsuit in the beginning of TDK because the movie literally takes place directly after the end of Begins. I’ll save his reason for the change for last, but the choice in style was directed primarily at his ability to ride the Batpod (batcycle). Like ALL previous batsuits, the Begins suit suffered the ‘restricted flexibility and motion’ problem… hence if someone says, “Hey Batman!” he has to turn his entire body in the direction of the greeter to see who’s talking rather than simply turning his head. Thank God, however, it was cool to see Batman finally able to squat as if ready to pounce on his foe, and create some really neat poster poses. I think for his job requirements it’s FAR more realistic to see him flexible enough to make that happen while hiding in the shadows. But still, no neck turning capabilities in Begins. If you are a motorcycle sport bike rider, you will recognize that the Dark Knight suit was modeled after biker leathers. Starting with his cowl, which is now a separate piece from his neck, enables him to look up and have a not-so limited range of motion while riding. This is the most obvious characteristic to me. It is cut in the back much the same as a motorcycle helmet. The armor on his shoulders, elbows, and knees are VERY similar to the construction of a one-piece sport rider’s suit. Not to mention his gloves have carbon fiber knuckle guards, like every motorcycle rider’s gloves I’ve seen in the past 5 or so years. The Begins suit would be paralyzed in any attempt to ride the Batpod. So the key word here is, “functional”. In my opinion, the clip they quickly show in the 3rd trailer where Batman is standing in a pile of rubble with his head down is the quintessential Batman pose. His pose captures his strength while also reflecting the emotional burden he carries while trying to “bring Gotham back”. It’s truly artistic and shows the depth of his character. Even in triumph there is a strong feeling of defeat.
And lastly… my speculation to his suit switch is that his Begins suit becomes compromised or stolen by the Joker or his goons, in a possible attempt to frame Batman for malicious deeds around Gotham City. I saw some on-set production pictures that would lead me to believe the henchmen dress up in make-shift batsuits and wreak havoc on the city. I can only imagine this is why we see (now LT) Gordon smashing the Batsignal with a fire axe.
“You die as a hero or you live as long as you see yourself become a villain”.
Maybe there’s some truth to that for not only Harvey Dent, but Batman in regards to his role as a crime fighter in Gotham….
We shall see.
there is a reason for this look at its it is respectable and resembles batman
nolan wante dto make these movies as realistic as he can
no body in there right mind will realy go fight crime and people with guns in tighs it is stupid so give the costume a break
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