Since The Batman, starring Robert Pattinson as the Caped Crusader, was released in early March, DC fans haven't been able to stop talking about it. The talks of expanding the universe have been fueled even more after the deleted scene featuring the Joker that just came out.
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Fans also haven't been able to stop comparing the Matt Reeves movie with Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight trilogy, discussing whether Pattinson's take on Batman was just as good as Bale's (or if the movie itself had made some major improvements). While Nolan's adaptation is definitely a favorite among the comic book community and DC fans, there were a few elements in The Batman that did impress viewers immensely.
The Batmobile
Bale's Batman had a Batmobile that was based on the design of a tank and didn't look like an average car at all. On the other hand, Pattinson's Batmobile was a remodeled Dodge Charger. According to Matt Reeves, he chose this Batmobile because he wanted it to look intimidating (via GQ).
Probably the best thing about Bale's Batmobile in The Dark Knight Trilogy is that it can turn into a bike in mere seconds. However, there's no doubt that Pattinson's Batmobile astonished fans when they first saw it as it not only appeared fireproof, but it was well adapted with technology and was quite fast too.
Flying Technique
While Pattinson's Batman was a more realistic flyer, Bale's Batman had a much cooler flying style. When he needs to fly, Pattinson's Batman suit turns into a skydiving suit and it is certainly much more believable. However, it is hard for him to maneuver, making his flying sloppy and resulting in a rough landing.
On the other hand, Bale's Batman had glider-style wings attached to his suit that made him look like a literal bat when he soared in the Hong Kong skyline in The Dark Knight.
Bat Symbol On The Suit
Pattinson's bat symbol on his suit was not only more pronounced than Bale's but it could also be extracted to use as a sort of a sharp weapon, like a Batarang. His character deployed it towards the end of the film to cut a cord.
On the other hand, Bale's bat symbol on his suit only served aesthetic purposes but undoubtedly, it was intricately designed and looked far more stylish than the earlier renditions of the live-action Batman suit.
Gadgets Creator
Lucius Fox is one of the most memorable characters from The Dark Knight Trilogy (and was played by Morgan Freeman). He invented, designed, and created all of the gadgets used by Christian Bale's Batman.
On the other hand, in The Batman movie, Pattinson's Batman created his own gadgets. Considering this is the second year of him being the Batman, this could be a reason that he has fairly less cool high-tech gadgets than Bale's but it would be interesting to see what things he could come up with himself before he ends up recruiting Fox as it could emphasize his intelligence some more.
Mask
Their masks were starkly different. Christian Bale's Batman mask covered most of his face, leaving only his mouth and a bit of chin exposed. On the other hand, Pattinson's mask has almost the entire lower half of his face exposed, leaving his cheeks uncovered along with his mouth and chin.
Bale's mask also had a much sleeker appearance than Pattinson's mask. It looked like it was molded to perfectly fit Bale's face, whereas Pattinson's mask had its stitching visible, seemed to be made out of leather, and had a hand-made appearance.
Social Life
The character of Batman, despite being a billionaire, doesn't really care about socializing. However, Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne made some appearances in social settings, in the first two movies at least, mostly to aid his Batman persona rather than anything else. It also helped him keep his superhero life a secret because no average person in Gotham can connect the dots between him and Batman.
However, Robert Pattinson's Batman was much more of a recluse, so much so, that at the beginning of the film, the audience sees daylight hurting his eyes, signifying that he was hardly ever up and about in the daytime. When he arrives at the mayor's funeral, most of the people there are shocked to have a glimpse of the famous Bruce Wayne and this is the only time in the entire film that he socializes as Bruce Wayne.
Batarang
While both Batman hardly ever used the iconic Batman weapon, the Batarang, the gadgets were starkly different in the films. While in The Dark Knight Trilogy, Batman occasionally uses his sharp metal Batarangs, whereas in Matt Reeves' The Batman, they hardly appear.
Interestingly, Pattinson's Batsuit emblem can be used as a Batarang. It is made of the pieces of the gun that killed his parents, so it holds a lot more meaning. However, it also means that he just has that one Batarang for the time being. Bale's Batman, on the other hand, had a lot of small Batarangs and used them for various purposes.
Fighting Skills
Robert Pattinson's Batman has better fighting skills than Bale's Batman and he looked much more agile while fighting. On the other hand, Bale's Batman was better with his gadgets but was sloppy while fighting.
However, this could be attributed to the fact that the choreography was much better in the Matt Reeves film, which made Pattinson's look faster. The fighting scenes in his film were also shot in a much better way due to the better technology available.
The Batman Voice
Christian Bale is notoriously famous for his Batman voice, which was a lot different than his regular voice. He used a deeper baritone to develop his Batman voice, making it sound gruff and many complain that it made him hard to understand and find it weird.
Pattinson didn't really change his voice for the Batman persona and it isn't much different from his normal speaking voice. All he changed was that he spoke a bit slower and in a more measured way and it is in no way as deep and gravelly as Bale's.
Bruce Wayne Persona
One of the biggest differences between the two portrayals of Batman is in their Bruce Wayne personas. Pattinson's Bruce Wayne and Batman are very much the same and there is hardly any distinction. They both are dark, gloomy, and brooding humans.
Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne, however, is starkly different from his Batman. His Bruce Wayne is charming, wears expensive and tailored suits, hangs around with supermodels, and drives expensive sports cars. Albeit it was a pretense for the world, it was a treat for the fans as they got to see completely different sides of the same person. This is why many prefer the charming Bruce Wayne of Bale over the dark Bruce Wayne of Pattinson.