What Kind Of Car Is The Batman's Batmobile?
When thinking about Batman and his world, a few things may come to mind: his sidekick Robin, the Batcave, his butler Alfred, maybe even a foe or two, like The Joker or The Riddler. Of course, you'll probably also immediately conjure up a vision of the Batmobile, too. In his line of work, Batman needs to get around Gotham City as quickly as possible and the Batmobile is an essential tool in making sure he gets to the scene of the crime before anything too dire happens. The Batmobile is a key piece of Batman iconography, his own special and unique vehicle that is (usually) instantly recognizable. The Batmobile first made its appearance in DC Comics' "Detective Comics" #27 in May 1939 (per Old News Club). It was the go-to vehicle for both Bruce Wayne by day and Batman by night. Initially depicted as red in color, the iconic car has changed in many ways over time.
In "Batman" and "Batman Returns," Michael Keaton's Batman drives a Batmobile built on the frame of a Chevrolet Impala and sporting custom design elements. As a result, the car looked like it was ripped from a comic book page with its yellow headlights and bat wings on the rear. Following that, Val Kilmer's Batman in "Batman Forever" also got a Batmobile using parts from Chevrolet (via Old News Club). However, this Batmobile looked much different, with intricate details on the body and a large bat wing on top of the car.
The list goes on and on where different models of the superhero's car are concerned, but the one on everyone's mind right now is the new Batmobile in Matt Reeves' "The Batman." What kind of car does Robert Pattinson's Batman drive around? Here are the details.
The Batman's Batmobile is a modified Dodge Charger
Director Matt Reeves and production designer James Chinlund sat down with GQ ahead of the release of "The Batman" to discuss the Batmobile driven by Robert Pattinson's Batman. In the interview, both Reeves stated that he wanted the new Batmobile to "look somehow retro and familiar, like a Dodge Charger or Challenger," and Chinlund later confirmed a portion of a '69 Dodge Charger was involved in crafting the vehicle. "We chopped the roof off a '69 Dodge Charger," he said when asked about the epic vehicle. The car in its entirety is not a Dodge Charger, but that is the base of the superhero's ride.
As pointed out by MotorBiscuit, "The Batman" has a prequel novel where Bruce Wayne drives a 1968-1970 Dodge Charger as a teenager in street races. However, once the young Wayne begins fighting crime as Batman, he modifies and edits the car to fit his crime-fighting needs. These modifications are shown on the big screen and are described by Motor Biscuit: "This Batmobile features huge tires, lifted suspension, a rear-mounted V10 engine, and swooping fender flares." The new Batmobile has some serious kick to it having a Ford Triton V10 as a rear engine. The horsepower of this engine is around 362 at 4,750 RPM (via Ford Authority).
Furthermore, one of the Batmobiles used in the movie had a Tesla drivetrain. MotorBiscuit details that there were four stunt cars built for "The Batman." The first three have the specifications above, but the fourth one was electric using a drivetrain from Tesla. In a YouTube video, a crew member at a screening of "The Batman" said that this was "so it was quiet: they could use it on stage, they could use it for night work."
Matt Reeves says the Batmobile is made to intimidate
Matt Reeves told GQ that his intention with the new Batmobile was for the car to be intimidating, comparing it to a horror movie creature. He explained, "The purpose of the car, for me, was to be like a creature in a horror film. It's meant to intimidate." He further explained that he believes "car culture is an important part of who and what Batman is," so he had a very specific vision of what he wanted his Batman and Batmobile to be like.
The director spoke about his Batman, as you'd expect any typical car guy working in his garage to speak. He shared with GQ, "[The Batmobile] had to be entirely bespoke and hand-built by Bruce, piece by piece. It's a vehicle designed to ram through things, so the body built itself around that idea. That's why the rear is open, and the engine is exposed."
To help this vision come alive, he enlisted digital artist Ash Thorp. As seen on the artist's Instagram, he is no stranger to both digitally illustrating cars and real car builds. In an Instagram post, Thorp shared the final designs that he sent off to Warner Bros. Thorp details that there was a slight change in the bumper from his design to the actual car in the film. He also talks about his logic on the car's design, writing, "A theme I tried to push through on almost the entire project mimicking the inner workings of Bruce himself (the vehicle is him and he is the vehicle, thematically)." All in all, the new Batmobile is seriously cool and a beast of a vehicle. Robert Pattinson's Bruce Wayne drives around the tricked-out muscle car in many action-packed scenes of "The Batman."