The Batsuit Master Thread

[regwec]

Discuss here Batsuits from movie, TV and comicbook; past, present and future.

Let's keep this fine tradition going!

 

[itsthebatman]

I like rubber.
The B89 suit still looks the biz, doesn't it?

 

[Lily Adler]

But TEH PUZZLY I Trust!

 

[bunk]

*subscribed

 

[Godzilla2014]

Count me in!

 

[Saint]

Subscribing action.

 

[GothamAlleys]

I like Keaton's suits most, not only because they are mirror reflections of the 70/80s comic batsuit sans colors which pulled me in visually into Batman fandom, but also just because of simple personal preference. Theyre black as the night with full moon glowing (the yellow emblem) and without any fancy stuff.

Right behind them I would place The Dark Knight suit. Even tho it strays away the most from the comic suit, the design is just really appealing to me

The two suits I absolutely hate are Clooney's dark blue suit and the Batman Begins suit with the GIGANTIC neck

 

[Mister Meddle]

TEH PUFFY

Also subscribed.

 

[Ponyboy]

I just love the mean-ness of the first Keaton suit. I also like certain things about the Batman Returns suit, but I think he lost a little bit of "bulk" and it made him look even smaller than before. Not a huge deal, I still love em both.

As far as Nolan goes... I much prefer Bale's DK costume to the Batman Begins one (especially the cowl)

 

[Boom]

Subscribed.

 

[.:TheDarkKnight]

The Dark Knight/The Dark Knight Rises suit is the best so far, in my opinion.

 

[bunk]

 

[DaRkVeNgeanCe]

Ahh and the inevitable has occured, and here we are!

 

[The Shape]

Great thread. See you guys here often.

 

[Lead Cenobite]

I really don't like the cowl shape and cape connection of the Bale suits, but I guess it's the price of mobility. Personally, I think they should just make the neck portion out of a thinner, more flexible material but make it seamless so that the cowl has the comic-style shape to it.

 

[Saint]

I've always been partial to giving the cape a collar (think of Tim Drake's cape). Basically, imagine the cowl from the the Avengers Captain America costume--the neck of that cowl is made of fabric, while the helmet is sculpted. If you put a collar on the cape, that'll disguise the "thin neck" of the cowl.

Usually I say that I prefer Batman's costume to look as "real" as possible while still being faithful; that is to say, I want it to look classic, but as if it could be real equipment. The best example of that existing right now is the Captain America suit, which I think would make the honest-to-god perfect batsuit.

However, in a different sort of movie (say, a modern equivalent to a Burton film), I think the Man of Steel route would look really cool. Imagine making the same sort of costume, but based on the classic Batman look--or, for example, Batman's look from the Justice league animated series (which I've always loved, especially the cowl). Even an all-black B89-style costume would look fantastic if made with the same material. Even the fake musculature on the Superman suit looks great, and I hate fake musculature.

Anyways, it's about damn time for Batman to look like Batman. Almost every other comic book character on screen has come out more faithful and better looking, and that's a shame.

 

[TerryMcGinnis]

Reporting in.

 

[regwec]

To me, at this stage, I think the colour scheme and outline of the suit is even more important to achieving a decent "translation" of its comic book origins than the materials from which it might be made.

Materials are obviously important, but I think my views on them could be summarized as "rubber or leather look stupid and don't work". Sculpted rubber was somewhat successful in the Burton movies were it was supposed to represent rigid, sculpted plate. In the Nolan movies, it is supposed to represent both rigid armour and flexible fabric simultaneously, with disastrous results: the "rigid" plates buckle, and the "flexible" areas aren't very flexible. Rubber has been surpassed as the material of choice for superhero costumes, and Batman now looks outdated due to its continuing use in TDKR.

But that is not to say that it cannot be useful, when used to form rigid, sculpted areas that are intended to appear as such. Most importantly, the silhouette of the cowl, the way in which the mask clings to the face, and the shape of the neck are probably best realized in sculpted rubber or leather. I think the shape of the ears, head, neck, shoulders and cape are the key to the whole design. Nobody really cares much about what lies beneath (apart from the batsymbol, but that is a new can of worms); the Batman Begins suit with a better cowl and a large, black cape that drapes around the body, would seem like a better interpretation of the costume.

This is a really crude depiction of the essentials of the Batman image, to me:

Obviously, that can be tweaked significantly- I am among the few fans of a blue-and-grey scheme, and I like the oval- but the essential motif is unchanged. Two things are key to getting it right:

1) The silhouette, particularly around the shoulders, the cowl and the flowing cape.

2) Colour blocking. It can be blue and grey or black and grey, or dark grey and light grey; but the contrast it what makes the design effective. Obviously, this is especially true of the chest emblem: there is not point having an emblem that no one can see.

If you fudge the silhouette, or mute the contrast in shade, then the design falls apart. The TDK batsuit is a mess, but people would notice the horrors of the jigsaw legs or the bra much less if the cowl, symbol and cape were of a better cut and silhouette, and contrasted well with the grey body suit. As it stands, the most striking thing about the TDK/R batsuit are its faults, because there is little about it that otherwise attracts the eye. In a perfect world, you would obviously get rid of the ugly and busy geometric migraine anyway.

Here are a string of designs that alter the existing Batsuits only moderately, to much better effect:

(Not my work- does anyone know whose it is?)

They are all successful in increasing the contrast and improving the silhouette.

The next Batsuit must get these fundamentals right before anything else. Then the perfect, pad-and-fabric bodysuit can be designed!

 

[The Shape]

Count me in!

There are those who claim that Batman has never looked like Batman on film before, but to me, even this looks like Batman. It's just one "version" of the character that works in context with this film series.

I'm confident that the next rebooted series will feature a more traditional outfit for the Batman, one that closely echoes his look from the comics.

 

[HUMANIMAL]

(Not my work- does anyone know whose it is?)

mine t:

 

[Boom]

If you are unfamiliar with liquid armor, spider silk, and d3o, I strongly suggest you look into them - as they lay the groundwork for a fabric-based, more faithful-looking suit - while still providing Batman with the sort of protection he would need.
Now, these materials are still in their infancy - and have not been field tested. But so what? These films are all about fantasy and, in a way, heightened realism. Just because they are in the prototype/testing stage in the real world doesn't mean that they can't be proven and functioning technologies in the film's universe.

Spider silk: a tear-resistant fabric with strength and durability surpassing that of kevlar.
Liquid armor: A fluid that hardens upon high-velocity impact. When placed between two layers of fabric (spider silk), it prevents penetration from small-caliber bullets and knives.
d3o: A puddy-like substance that hardens upon high-velocity impact (like liquid armor). This could be used as padding that lines the inside of the suit in vital areas.

Obviously these materials would have to go under a different name, but you get the picture. Then it's just a simple matter of showing Bruce Wayne testing these materials on screen, and that's all there is to it. Once the audience understands the technology, you're good to go. Because contrary to what so many here believe, the general audience is fully willing to suspend their disbeliefs for the sake of being entertained.

Of course, the batsuit wouldn't actually be made of these materials. But then it's just a matter of taking a real-world fabric, and explaining it as something else (Like Nolan's rubber = kevlar plates).

I've fallen in love with the material used for Superman's new costume, so I would use something like as the "spider silk" fabric for the batsuit. I would go even further and have it slightly textured so that it looks more like a second-skin. Since the liquid armor is placed in between two layers, we'd never actually see it, but the audience will know it's there since it was explained. And of course, there would be padding underneath of the suit (to represent the d3o), but it wouldn't be sculpted to look like human musculature.

The result: a simpler, streamlined, organic-looking batsuit.

 

[regwec]

It's funny how undecided the comics seem to be about the level of armour that Batman is supposed to wear. It can stop bullets, and it often looks like segmented metal plate when the fabric exterior is torn. But when Catwoman wants to stroke Bruce's Bat-torso, it all turns straight into cotton.

Which raises the question of quite how armoured he needs to be. Given his aptitude for stealth, misdirection, surprise etc, I feel that Batman's armour should be shown to be his last line of defense. A stray bullet probably won't kill him, but something has gone wrong if he gets shot. I don't want to feel that he could stand in front of a crescent of blazing Uzis and shake it off.

My preference would be for an armoured crown, shoulders, torso and crotch; with padded elbows and knees, and the rest pretty much fabric. The fellow needs to move, after all.

 

[Blue Sugar]

TDK/TDKR is by far my favorite live-action Batsuit so far. But I consider it far from perfect.

The main things I'm missing from it is a more draped and better attached cape, more dynamic color-scheme and a bigger more symbolic chest-symbol.

 

[Soapy]

I've never been 100% in love with the Arkham suit...

...but it hits most of the right notes in what I prefer Batman to look like.

• I like blue and grey. Especially when it's not overly bright and super saturated.

• Nice long, flowing cape.

• A utility belt that looks like you could actually keep stuff in it.

• I prefer the bat symbol sans yellow oval. I've noticed whenever the yellow oval is involved, the actual bat part of the symbol tends to get drastically reduced in size. I like Batman to have a huge ****ing bat stretching across his chest.

• The way the suit is segmented and "bolted" together, you can tell it's armored in some fashion, but the armor doesn't dominate, or distract from, the overall design.

• I know a lot of people dislike them, but I think the gauntlets are kind of cool. It would be nice if they were streamlined just a tad though.

• The cowl is all kinds of awesome. It has a nice "scowl" going, and looks like it's made out of some kind of hard and protective, yet pliable material. I just wish the "ears" were about half their current height.

I'm pretty sure it's the closest anyone has come to presenting my "ideal" version of Batman.

 

[Boom]

It's funny how undecided the comics seem to be about the level of armour that Batman is supposed to wear. It can stop bullets, and it often looks like segmented metal plate when the fabric exterior is torn. But when Catwoman wants to stroke Bruce's Bat-torso, it all turns straight into cotton.

Which raises the question of quite how armoured he needs to be. Given his aptitude for stealth, misdirection, surprise etc, I feel that Batman's armour should be shown to be his last line of defense. A stray bullet probably won't kill him, but something has gone wrong if he gets shot. I don't want to feel that he could stand in front of a crescent of blazing Uzis and shake it off.

My preference would be for an armoured crown, shoulders, torso and crotch; with padded elbows and knees, and the rest pretty much fabric. The fellow needs to move, after all.

I agree with this. And to tell you the truth, having Batman be armored as minimally as possible is not only a testament to his skill and intelligence, but it also adds fuel to criminals' superstitions (something that was ultimately lost in Nolan's films).