How Is Robert Pattinson's Batsuit Different From All Other Movie Versions?
Adam West, Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney, Christian Bale, Ben Affleck, and now Robert Pattinson. All of these actors have brought their own version of the Dark Knight to the big screen and their own version of the Batsuit. The Batsuit is an integral part of nailing the character in a way that fans can accept a translation from comic book to screen. While costume designers get a little bit of creative licensing with their work in other productions, comic book suit adaptations have to walk a thin line between translating the bright colors and impractical suits of the comics to a realistic film version. Sometimes (like "Jessica Jones" and "Luke Cage"), they abandon the suit altogether.
With the release of "The Batman" coming to theaters this week, fans are getting yet another version of the Batsuit to feast their eyes upon. From trailers and dropped images, fans can see that Pattinson's take on Batman won't be different only in portrayal but also in physical appearance. What did costume supervisor Dave Crossman and concept artist Glyn Dillon do differently? Pattinson sat down with Entertainment Weekly and said this about his costume versus the Val Kilmer suit he auditioned with. "I felt very different immediately," Pattinson said. "It really flowed. It was so well-designed, so articulated on all the joints. It was kind of shocking." Here are the biggest differences between the Pattin-suit, and the rest of the Batsuits.
He can move his neck
We all remember watching Michael Keaton turn his entire body 90 degrees to perform the simple task of looking to the left. As cool as the Batsuit always looked, movement was never high on the priority list for the costume designers. On the suit Robert Pattinson wears in "The Batman," a collar can be found at the top of the cape around the neck. While this may look strange to comic book fans, its presence gives Batman protection around his vulnerable neck area while still allowing the freedom of movement he would need.
That isn't where the drive for comfort stopped. Matt Reeves told the story of when he auditioned Pattinson for Batman in an interview with EW. "Part of the tradition is that when you're playing Batman at Warner Bros., you don't just do an audition, you do a screen test, and they need to see you in a Batsuit," he explained. "But they don't make you a Batsuit because that's a very involved process. So what you do is you put on an old Batsuit. You put on the one that fits you, which just so happened to be Kilmer's." The magic of trying on a Batsuit was short-lived as Pattinson struggled with the heat and the lack of movement.
His Batsuit, however, was very different the moment the actor put it on. Pattinson discussed how his comfort in the suit changed some of the combat in the movie. "It kind of backfired on me as well. In the costume fitting, I ended up doing loads of somersaults and stuff, and then they added all those into the fight scenes. You can do like a couple of somersaults in it, but it really gets old pretty quickly," he told EW. It does seem Reeves and his design team ditched the solid rubber of Batman's in the past, adopting something resembling an actual battle suit.
The Batsuit is battle-tested
If there is one thing that most fans can agree on, most Batsuits are beautiful works of art to look at. The hard lines mixed with subtle details bring one of our favorite characters from the page to real life, creating something tangible we can feel. However, a catch-22 of that beauty is the suits' unrealistic condition throughout the films.
Matt Reeves has removed all of the romance of Batman for his film. He endeavored to bring a gritty and authentic character to the screen. Gone is the hero of Gotham, who may or may not team up with others in the future. What Reeves leaves us with is the brutal reality of a broken man fighting for the life of a brutal city every night.
Dave Crossman and Glyn Dillon worked hard to echo that sentiment in the building of the suit. Pattinson described the suit in the interview with EW. "There are little bloodstains on it. There's kind of grazes where it's been hit with bullets and kind of just the wear and tear of someone who's been out fighting every night," Pattinson said. "It felt like a really new thing ... It looks like a soldier's armor in some kind of strange parallel universe where you have to wear little ears on top of your head as well." This gives the viewers an outward impression of the inner turmoil the character faces. He is beaten, broken, and battle-worn, much like his psyche.
It's more tactical and designed for fighting
The essence of Batman's battle strategy is half James Bond gadgetry, half Bruce Lee hand-to-hand combat. His suit in the comics relegates the majority of his gadgets to the utility belt, which always seems to have exactly what he needs at the right time. Robert Pattinson's Batman has a more modular and tactical approach to the suit and, according to him, has gadgets built into it.
"The grapple gun is, I think, in every single Batman movie, but I'm not sure how many times he used them so defensively. It's used as a weapon," the actor said. "And that's quite a lot, which is quite fun. Again, it's very rudimentary. It's kind of based on Travis Bickle, the gun mechanism, which he has in 'Taxi Driver.'" The grapple gun isn't the only gadget built into the suit; there is a very unique aspect to the bat symbol on his chest we can't wait to see on the live screen.
"It's a tool, which he can pop out of the chest plate, which is kind of amazing, incredibly difficult to design as well, and looks great," Pattinson continued. We're hoping this isn't used the same way Superman used his chest symbol in "Superman 2."
One of the more curious details revealed in a trailer can be found in Batman's leg. During a chase scene with Oswald Cobblepot/The Penguin (Colin Farrell), Batman causes Cobblepot to flip his car. As the title comes into focus at the end of the trailer, viewers can see a bulge on Batman's leg. Is it a gas mask, like U.S. soldiers in the field carry? A pouch for more fun gadgets? Either way, this Batsuit is built for function, for battle. Matt Reeves stripped the aesthetics and the romance from the suit, leaving us with an authentic, grounded — and hopefully Bat-nipple-free — version.