The Batman director Matt Reeves explains the film's new Batsuit and Batmobile designs and the reason behind their "crude" appearances. The solo film for the Dark Knight originally began as an entry in the DC Extended Universe with Ben Affleck co-writing, directing, producing and starring before handing off the former roles to Reeves and later departing entirely for personal reasons. Reeves would ultimately shift the film away from the DCEU and craft a new reboot of the Batman film franchise, shifting towards a younger incarnation of the hero.
The Batman picks up in Bruce Wayne's second year of fighting crime in Gotham City as he uncovers a deep web of corruption with ties back to his family's past. At the same time, Bruce must grapple with tracking down a cryptic serial killer known as The Riddler who is targeting him and other members of Gotham's elite and seemingly knows of his dual identities. Robert Pattinson is donning the cape and cowl for The Batman alongside Zoë Kravitz as Selina Kyle/Catwoman, Paul Dano as The Riddler, Jeffrey Wright as Gotham Police Lieutenant Jim Gordon, Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth and Colin Farrell as Oswald Cobblepot, soon to be known as The Penguin.
With less than a month remaining until the film's release, Reeves spoke with Total Film (via CBR) to discuss The Batman. The director opened up about the changes to both the Batsuit and Batmobile designs, explaining that the "crude" look of both stems from Bruce designing them all himself. See what Reeves said below:
"He’s on this obsessive mission. He’s a rich guy who’s able to use the money to do this stuff, but he’s doing it himself. So I wanted, at a practical level, for you to see the seams in everything that he’s doing. In the suit, you can see the seaming in the cowl. You can see that he’s doing this all himself. You can see that he’s building this car in his garage. You can see the crudeness of it. There had to be a certain unfinished, not polished quality to it. Obviously the car needs to perform, so I thought it should be like a muscle car. And the suit needed to protect him, so that needed to make sure it looked almost tactical, and almost looked like riot gear."
The changes in the Batsuit and Batmobile designs for The Batman has been a point of discussion amongst fans throughout the film's production and marketing. Unlike prior incarnations of the Dark Knight, the new Batsuit is a much sleeker design better fitting that of Pattinson's physique, which he had joked in the lead up to the film's release he had not undertaken extra exercise regimes to bulk up. Though Reeves notes that the Batsuit has seams in it, namely around the cowl, past trailers for The Batman have pointed towards it being one of the more powerful seen on film yet with its seeming invulnerability to bullets.
The Batmobile has similarly received some positive attention from audiences for its muscle car design in The Batman. Given the film is set during Bruce's second year of fighting crime, it makes sense that the reclusive billionaire would still be figuring out the kinks in his own system and tools, which would necessitate a cruder appearance. Only time will tell how much work Pattinson's young hero puts into his new Batsuit and Batmobile designs when The Batman hits theaters on March 4.
Source: Total Film (via CBR)
