There’s been a fair amount of discussion online regarding the newly redesigned batsuit from the Batman Begins sequel: The Dark Knight, so I thought I would put images of the two suits up side by side for comparison.
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There seem to be three schools of thought on this:
1. Folks who are displeased that the batsuit in the movies continues to stay away from the comics’ classic “grey tights” look.
2. People who don’t mind the armored look, but think the execution is too “busy.”
3. People who think the new suit looks great and reflects a real-world concept of a character like Batman.
Personally I fall into category #3, but I can understand the arguments of those in camps #1 and #2 and each one has valid points.
For the “classic” argument you have of course the fact that Batman should look like the Batman that inspired the movies. If it worked in the comics it should be good enough for the movies, and it’s sacrilege to make radical changes to such an iconic costume. There is also the argument that having a non-armored Batman adds to the fear/mystique quality of his reputation among criminals. On the other side one could argue that in the real world setting that Christopher Nolan has created for the film, that wearing nothing more than a thin garment just isn’t realistic or believable for a non-super-powered guy to go around fighting criminals with automatic weapons and psychopaths. The suit from Batman Begins, although rubbery looking, was probably the closest in overall look to the comics version than in any other Batman movie. If you want to talk “criminal intimidation factor”, I think the new suit has it in spades.
The second argument could be debated until the cows come home: Give the assignment with some vague parameters like “armored”, “ninja” or “modern samurai” to 10 costume/VFX designers and you’ll end up with 10 completely different looks for the costume. It just comes down to a subjective choice by the director of what he likes and how it fits into the universe he’s created. I think that while the costume in the first Nolan film was a departure from the previous movies, the design was still heavily influenced by what came before.
The third group says “hey, the costume looks great and realistic.” The chain-mail underneath the armor looks more breathable and flexible, and the more segmented the armored plates are across the costume, the more mobility Batman has when fighting, which to me is extremely important for a character whose main method of combat is hand to hand. This is why I’m also happy to see a cowl that finally allows him to turn his head from side to side. This new costume looks like the first real ground-up redesign of a Batman movie costume and with the exception that it would probably take 3 hours to put on, it’s probably the most realistic design for a guy who might do what Batman does in the real world.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on the above points!
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103 Comments
Have you seen the new bat-pod?Pretty extreme, looks like part of the Tumbler! I like it.
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/?track=leftnav-entertainment
I hate the suit. I really hope that’s not the second suit that he puts on in the middle of the film. I wasn’t expecting to see tights,but I was at least expecting to see the armor gray and black,if not all together a more cloth-like look that could still take a bullet and keep him safe from flames. The cape and cowl are good,even the utility belt looks okay,but the rest of the costume looks horrible-it looks like something Robo-Cop would wear. All I ask is that Batman’s uniform be gray and black with a dark yellow/gold utility belt-I don’t mind if it can stop a bullet and protect him from flames,I just want it to bear SOME resemblence to the comics and be a little easier to move in;more cloth-like. It would be cool if it looked similar to the Superman Return’s Superman suit. While many people didn’t like it I thought it looked good and was kinda glad to see a costume that didn’t look like spandex and reverenced the comics so much-it looked cooler than tights. Maybe if JLA gets made Batman’s costume will look better. Batman is my favorite comic book hero and has been since I was a little boy and it’s sad that they can’t make the costume look better than this.
Great subject and pics, Vic. Totally, I agree with you and the 3rd party. If there were a real Batman, the new suit would work for him best!
Adrian, yes I’ve seen the new Batcycle. I’ve updated my post regarding it with a pic here:
http://screenrant.com/archives/the-batcycle-from-the-dark-kni-784.html
Vic
Kel,
I hear what you’re saying… it’s always the most ardent fans who are the most critical and I’m not saying that’s a BAD thing. For me, I’m just SO relieved at the job they did with the Iron Man armor for the upcoming film.
I do think that for a guy who does all his work at night, a black costume makes more sense so that he can fade into the shadows and again, I don’t have a problem with the look of the design above. I really think that as movies attempt more realistic portrayals of superheroes it causes more compromises to be made on the big screen.
Actually the movie versions of superheroes are starting to influence comic books as well… Look at the “Ultimates” from Marvel: a whole lot of black leather clad superheroes in there. If you really think about it, the more reality they try to inject into the comics the sillier it seems that functioning superheroes would wear brightly colored skin tight costumes and capes.
Vic
Hey Vic,my man,
Who’s your favorite superhero? Mine’s Batman as I mentioned above. Here’s a list of my favorite comic book characters because I have nothing better to do FYI
#1.Batman
#2.Superman
#3.Iron Man & Captain America
#4.the Flash (Barry Allen) and Green Lantern (Hal Jordan)
And now on to my favorite teams:
#1.JLA (Superman,Batman,Flash BA,Green Lantern HJ,and Martian Manhunter)
#2.the classic Avengers (Cap,Iron Man,Thor,Ant-Man,and Wasp)
#3.Fantastic Four
#4.the original X-Men from the 1960’s by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby,you know,the version we’ll never see on the big screen
So Vic,tell me who some of your favorite comic book characters are,I’d like to hear some of them.
One of my favorite story-lines from the comics is “Knightfall”, when Bane breaks Bat-man’s back in a fight. Bruce goes to England for a few months to recover leaving the mantle of the Bat-man to Jean-Paul Valley, a.k.a. Azrael (VERY interesting story here… but don’t want to deter from the main point). Valley has fought beside and trained with Bruce for several months so knows all the ins and outs, and wears the suit. Slowly, he modifes it, until it is SUPERBLY armored and enhanced, barely resembling the original bat-suit and goes back and defeats Bane.
Valley allows one of the major villans to die (don’t remember who) and is slowly going insane (a side affect of his powers as Azrael), and starts to give Bat-man a bad name (ok, worse than usual).
I kinda liked Valley as the bats BECAUSE of the enhanced suit.
For those of you left in suspense, Bruce comes back and Valley refuses to relinquish the title of Bat-man and Bruce has to put his thing down and show him who is boss. Valley sees the error of his way and goes back to being Azrael: Agent of the Bat (working along side Robin and Batgirl on several occasions, although doesn’t get along with Nightwing too much).
I hate the black leather costumes for superheroes.It’s like someone’s homerotic fantasy.
Ewwww.
I also don’t like the Ultimate Marvel universe much. To me many of the great comic book characters they’ve taken and corrupted with the Ultimate U. Thank God most of our iconic characters were created over 40 years ago. The only Ultimate Marvel character I really like at all is Nick Fury.
And the Iron Man movie costume looks great,even though I like the classic Iron Man costume best.
Really Vic.sometimes it’s a good thing to keep things the way they are in the comics,however “unrealistic” it seems,at least a little. Can you imagine an Iron Man costume that looks like black kevlar? Some of us have to remember what it was about superheroes that caught our eye in the first place;for most of us it was an escape from the dog days of summer and the fact that these were adventure stories,science fiction,a hero in a colorful costume righting wrongs in ways that no one else could.It wasn’t realistic and we knew it.But it sounded realistic,like it might be possible and that’s what made them so interesting,that’s why many of us kept buying issue after issue. If you take away the things thst make superheroes fantastic,what do you have left? Nothing more than our predictable reality of realism.
Yeah, Azrael was kind of like The Punisher version of Batman, or “Batman Unleashed.”
Kel, anyone who reads this site regularly knows that Iron Man is my favorite superhero.
Beyond that it really all kind of blurs together. Although I don’t pick up any of the monthly Batman titles, I really like him as a character, especially in the Frank Miller “The Dark Knight Returns” story. When I was a kid I loved The Flash and Spiderman.
You should check out the Iron Man forum here: http://www.advancediron.org/forums/ where we discuss not only Shellhead but also other superheroes.
Vic
Kel, funny you should mention that – one of the things that bugs me about comics these days is that I think they’re getting too “real.” I think comics are for escapism, not to remind me of all the awful stuff going on in the world!
That’s one of the reasons I’m enjoying the new Marvel title “Mighty Avengers”… it’s old school superhero comics, and why I’ve dropped the dark and dreary “New Avengers.”
Vic
As long as there are no bat nipples, I’m cool with it.
And I like what they’ve done with the cowl to make it more articulate. I always hated how Batman used to have to turn his whole torso in order to turn his head. Always reminded me of a cheap action figure that couldn’t turn its head or that maybe Batman was secretly wearing a back brace under the costume. I expect the physical performance will be enhanced by this change.
Yeah,Vic,really. I mean some of them guys today think they’re writing War and peace. So Mighty Avengers is pretty good,eh? I haven’t picked up an Avengers comic in a long time,mostly for the same reason you dropped New Avengers. I’ve currently been reading Paul Dini’s Detective Comics and Geoff John’s Action Comics,they’re both pretty good. I read a lot of other titles too,but those 2 are my favorite currently. I rescently dropped JLA because Brad Meltzer has pretty much turned it to crap.I haven’t really been reading too many Marvel titles lately,but I’ll make an effort to pick up Mighty Avengers because you made it sound pretty good.
P.S. Vic,
I read the sight regularly and knew you liked Iron Man but did not know that he was your favorite character. My bad.
it took me a while to make an opinion about this suit – but now i think i dont like it. i understand that batman would have to have something useable / realistic – i get that he should be able to move his head a little better etc. i think it looks too robotic, like some kinda batman toy like “robo-batman now with kick-action” something like that.
why cant they just leave the old suit from the first movie?
is there a rule that you HAVE to change the suitfor everymovie?
“is there a rule that you HAVE to change the suitfor everymovie?”
LOL, you know it’s funny… there DOES seem to be a rule like that, doesn’t there?
I think people should probably reserve judgement until seeing the suit in action on the big screen. Sometimes these things look better in action and within the context of the movie.
Vic
Correct me if I am wrong, but there are several movies in which the superhero uses the same costume.
Superman 1-4 (I imagine a sequal to Returns will also use the same suit)
X-Men 1-3
Fantastic 4 1-2
Spider-man 1-3 (Yeah, yeah…. the black suit, I know)
Off the top of my head, isn’t bat-man’s the only one that changes in every movie? Did Robin’s even change from Forever to B&R?
Alcadyzaar,
I don’t know about the Superman movies from the 80’s but I’ll bet that if you examine the costumes from the movies you listed there are a bunch of subtle changes to the design. I know they made changes to the Spidey costume in each movie, although they’re not glaringly obvious.
But yeah, they do seem to mess with Batman’s costume the most, don’t they?
Vic
I’d fall into category #2. Always preferred the black suits over the grey tights, and aside from some glaringly notable exceptions (*cough* batnipples *cough*), the movie suits have always been pretty good (I miss the old Keaton-era emblem).
Sure the new one looks functional, and certainly cool in its own way, but it detracts from the sleek silhouette-creating design of previous versions. Plus, it’s kind of a weird contrast having every square inch of him broken up like that, only to have the cowl remain entirely smooth. Makes it feel out-of-place.
Other than that, the better fit makes him seem a helluva lot slimmer, though that may just be the angle of the shot.
I reckon it’s great, but if you think in a logical ‘real world’ manner, maybe the designers should have started with this type of design: a very basic, ‘exposed’ suit that does look more patched together from various sources than the ‘Begins’ version…then through the Applied Sciences Division etc he would have designed a more stylized, streamlined version as his reputation grows. Bale probably just said ’screw that rubber suit, man!’ Who could blame him?
And as for the shooting bat gauntlets etc etc,don’t worry; you guys all know that Nolan will probably produce the best comic book movie yet seen with this one.
I reckon it’s great, but if you think in a logical ‘real world’ manner, maybe the designers should have started with this type of design: a very basic, ‘exposed’ suit that does look more patched together from various sources than the ‘Begins’ version…then through the Applied Sciences Division etc he would have designed a more stylized, streamlined version as his reputation grows. Bale probably just said ’screw that rubber suit, man!’ Who could blame him?
And as for the shooting bat gauntlets etc etc,don’t worry; you guys all know that Nolan will probably produce the best comic book movie yet seen with this one.
I thought two things when I saw the pic;
1. That this design looks more like a samurai suit of armor, which reflects the training that Wayne had with Ducard.
2. I have read that this suit replaces the first halfway through the flick, due to damage maybe?
If the Tumbler buys it as well, this outfit looks more suited to the Batpod, like a motocross set-up. Certainly the separate helmet/cowl leads me in that direction.
I think it would be cool if Bats had a different getup for different environments/activities anyway, so I’m all for it.
GO THE BAT!
Okay, not liking the second suit all that much. If they were going to go with segmented armor, couldn’t they have gone with more of a Batman Returns look? I mean, he looks like RoboCop with a bat fetish. Plus, it gives me bad flashbacks to Batman on Ice, with Arnie and Clooney. Or Laurel and Hardy…whichever.
It looks horrible and I still hope they change it. It doesn’t even have a bat symbol on it fer cry’n out loud!! This new suit will be one of the worst batsuits ever to grace the screen next to the bat-nippled suits from the Shumacher movies.
It DOES have a bat symbol on it, in fact it’s very similar to the one from “Batman Begins” if you look closely.
Vic
“if you look closely.”
…..Yeah,that’s the problem. How close do you want to look for the damn thing?
Wow, I know it’s pretty late to be commenting this post, but I read the site all the time and never commented.
As said by many other people, The Batman is my all-time favourite super hero, and since this post is about his costume, I won’t rant about what they did with The Joker.
Moving on — the more recent posts mentioned his symbol and that is something I really protest against in these new movies. The Batman had the bright yellow on black for the reason that he wanted that to be the only thing people saw. In these new movies, I would never guess he were a “Bat-man” rather than just a guy in leather and a cape. The Batman is there, as said in the first movie, to be a symbol– and they’re just not emphasizing that. The cape and cowl in the new costume is definately more flexible, but if it were as in the comics, that wouldn’t be a problem. The Batman had the huge shoulder-to-shoulder cape to so that his black cape could cover him when he needed to be concealed, that’s how he got away with the grey suit. When he wanted to be seen, he was; when he didn’t, he wasn’t.
Hope my post wasn’t too late,
Reverend
Rev,
Your post isn’t too late and your points are well taken. You should comment more often!
Vic
Hey,that’s right,Reverend! When Bats wants to be seen,he’s seen,when he doesn’t,he’s not. I liked that you mentioned that he conceals himself in his cape if he doesn’t want people seeing his yellow and gray costume,that’s one thing that I think I forgot to mention. LOL
Worst mistake the movies have made is going away from the oval, bat on yellow emblem. Quite frankly, when I think of Superheroes, two things come to mind, Superman’s red and yellow shield and Batman’s yellow shield. I am not even a great Batman fan and it is still the second thing which I think of.
The new bat suit to me seems more practical. If someone decided to be Batman in real life this suit would work. It has increased range of movement for his head, increased plating where it would be needed. Mostly around joints like the shoulders, elbows, knees…etc, and padding in the abdomen and chest. The ridges in the abdomen could allow for airflow so the wearer wouldn’t over heat and still give protection. My gripe on the suit though would be retractable fins…they came in handy when dealing with a sword in the first movie, why keep them hidden. As mentioned in a previous post, Batman is known for having a really long and wide cape.
It’s some of the best camouflage he has and also slows him down when he jumps down from high places lessening the damage to his knees and hips. I agree as far as the symbol, it should be noticeable and easy for all to see and know. Criminals fear the symbol and the general silhouette Batman has when they see him up close and from a far. It’s a big improvement, but they still have a way to go…and as far as the Joker, I wish they would have had Mark Hamill in that role just because he can do the voice better than anyone. Heath Ledger just seems out of place being he’s been in more chick movies than I can count…maybe they can dub his voice with Mark Hamill’s and then it wouldn’t be so bad.
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