The Dark Knight Rises The TDKR Batsuit Discussion Thread

[Savage]

Was there someone really arguing for just tights?

 

[The Red Hood]

^^^Have you read the thread in its entirety?

 

[Savage]

Yes but I believe people still wanted armor of some kind. Just the "tights" covering it. Just so that it doesn't look obviously like armor or SWAT gear.

 

[Paste Pot Pete]

Most of us comic book fans would love it if Batman was wearing the tights in a film. The non-comic book reader would be immediately taken out of the film. It just doesn't make sense, and yes, because of realism. I know that word is overused and sometimes abused (I hope for a more Gothic take in the next series of films) but it applies fully to the suit.

I would bet on my life that 99% of the non-comic reading audience wouldn't give a damn whether Batman wore armor or tights.

Not a damn.

 

[The Red Hood]

I'd love to see not only a movie adaptation of this (maybe with a slightly differently colored belt), but especially a serious comics translation.

Here's my admittedly rough attempt at tweaking the YJ design to match the current comic suit:

 

[Savage]

Yeah, people aren't going to see Batman because he's some new thing. They know who he is. They know what to expect. Any modification is nothing more than a surprise (pleasant or not depending on the person). If Batman was sporting the gray and black again, no-one would really care just like no-one would care if Superman showed up wearing red undies.

Kind of grateful movies like The Phantom or The Shadow aren't being made today. Those guys would be walking tanks.

 

[Nave 'Torment']

I think they're heading in the right direction. It reminds me of the armor that goes underneath the costume in the comics. If they can take that material, that texture underneath it and put it on top and make it tight I think it would look great. It actually looks thick and armored and not cloth. It'd almost look like Batman is wearing chainmail in the modern age.

I thought about that, it's exactly what the entire story about Begins and TDK implies - that these are Batman's EARLY YEARS and he's still trying to work with the rough material before finalising it. That was my first impression with the Tumbler. If that's the case, then there shouldn't be any problem with the designs, at all. But at the same time though, we all want to see Batman look more like he does in the comics. Anyway, this is a very strong post. I'm curious how others on the board will respond to it?

Dead End gets praised because it's a very well done fan film, but only some fans praise it for the costume, and a lot of fans hate the costume and even cite it as a reason why the tights should not be in a movie. I would hardly say the costume was as good as the one in Batman Begins, though, and even if, as some fans believe, they were able to spend the same amount of money on it as the one in Begins, it wouldn't look much different or better than what we saw in Dead End, because at the end of the day it's still gray fabric with the black undies. Some people like the undies, but I'm not one of them, and personally I would like for the movies to avoid using them. Simply put, Batman's costume was not why I thought Dead End was good, and I'd prefer that the movies not go down that road as far as costume design is concerned.

I never said that the Dead End costume made the film good, I'm simply referring to it because I think it was a very good example about how an ordinary-fabric Batman looks like. I think it was very comic-accurate, both in terms of the material being made of fabric instead of rubber, as well as the white lenses for the eyes. It's something we've never seen before done in live-action. If you're a fan of comic-book accuracy, then it's an example that it can be done - that Batman will still evoke BATMAN even with the gray outfit and the undies. Honestly, as a fan of the comics it didn't hamper with the overall story at all, it made it better. And no body said anything about using that exact suit, with better budget it would look better, like some of the Minutemen costumes from Watchmen.

And again, I'm not saying this is the approach Nolan should go with his film, but PERHAPS the next director with another franchise, about a story set in a different era in Batman's career, might want to CONSIDER it.

 

[Mr. Earle]

Was there someone really arguing for just tights?

Yes i think there's one guy who asked for Alex Ross tights.

Yeah, people aren't going to see Batman because he's some new thing. They know who he is. They know what to expect. Any modification is nothing more than a surprise (pleasant or not depending on the person). If Batman was sporting the gray and black again, no-one would really care just like no-one would care if Superman showed up wearing red undies.

Only us fans care about the realism and practicality of wearing boxers on the outside. The general audience would just accept it because that's batman. Now i dont know what they think about the TDK suit, but damn if its not ugly!

 

[Nave 'Torment']

^ I just got traumatized by Spidey's new suit. I would warn everyone here to avoid seeing the behind-the-scene-photos that were taken. But oh well. Makes me think of all the suits that were considered terrible... no... they weren't. Not like this.

 

[Yurka]

Yea spidey with the discolored crotch dry-humping some thor looking hoodlum doesnt make me want to see that film.

 

[Infinity9999x]

^ I just got traumatized by Spidey's new suit. I would warn everyone here to avoid seeing the behind-the-scene-photos that were taken. But oh well. Makes me think of all the suits that were considered terrible... no... they weren't. Not like this.

I really don't think it's that bad. It's not great, and I'm still kind of iffy about it, but I disliked TDK's suit more when I first saw it. And these are behind the scenes shots. People were saying the same thing when we saw behind the scenes shots of TDK's suit too.

In live action I'm sure it'll look better. And really, the Spider-man suit is still closer to the comic book design of Spider-man then TDK's suit was. People are just used to the fact that the Batman movie suits are going to look different then the comics because each movie has had a suit that hasn't been all that comic accurate.

 

[Nave 'Torment']

It's a horrid suit! I disliked the TDK suit too, but it grew on me. I've been pretty upset over all the super-hero live-action costumes that are being released now... Thor, Captain America, X-Men First Class/Magneto, Green Hornet, but Spidey wins gold here. I thought GL looked great in the production stills, but the trailer really put me off. I'm hoping that they perfect the CGI in post because it's still one of the cleverest ideas to overcome discussions like the one we're having right now. Thor and Cap I can actually digest because, in case of the first it reminds me of the chain-mail costume he wore recently, and it still carries the gravitas of Jack Kirby with the overall design. For the second, I'm more than willing to let them take liberties for the WW2 suit/period piece. The over-the-top sets, costumes, vehicles have been promising, if not perfect.

Spidey... I don't know. I just don't. I remember disliking TDK's design but not like this. Raimi's suit had me on the verge of tears...out of adoration. This... this has me crying for death. And don't tell me that it's only behind-the-scenes, because that was the same with Captain America, and The Dark Knight, you can already imagine how they're going to highlight those overly-articulate designs on the screen. It's gaudy. It's a good example of how you can really do a costume wrong. And it's strange because, if you consider that it's "comic accurate", it's horrid. If you look at the details and say that it's "modernized" it's worse than anything we've seen before.

Seriously, the only thing Webb's got going for himself now is that very matured story he's been promising us.

It all makes the faults of Batman's rubber-suit look tame. Well...okay, maybe not all of his rubber-suits (like the ones from the mid-late 90s).

 

[Paste Pot Pete]

What was wrong with the Green Hornet suit? That was pretty perfect.

 

[Alex_Spider]

Just changed the proportions to more realistic and reduced the blue on the suit.

 

[EliteF50]

If you took away the spiky fingers, I think it would look a lot better.

 

[moviedoors]

we all want to see Batman look more like he does in the comics.

Do we now?

 

[Infinity9999x]

It's a horrid suit! I disliked the TDK suit too, but it grew on me. I've been pretty upset over all the super-hero live-action costumes that are being released now... Thor, Captain America, X-Men First Class/Magneto, Green Hornet, but Spidey wins gold here. I thought GL looked great in the production stills, but the trailer really put me off. I'm hoping that they perfect the CGI in post because it's still one of the cleverest ideas to overcome discussions like the one we're having right now. Thor and Cap I can actually digest because, in case of the first it reminds me of the chain-mail costume he wore recently, and it still carries the gravitas of Jack Kirby with the overall design. For the second, I'm more than willing to let them take liberties for the WW2 suit/period piece. The over-the-top sets, costumes, vehicles have been promising, if not perfect.

Spidey... I don't know. I just don't. I remember disliking TDK's design but not like this. Raimi's suit had me on the verge of tears...out of adoration. This... this has me crying for death. And don't tell me that it's only behind-the-scenes, because that was the same with Captain America, and The Dark Knight, you can already imagine how they're going to highlight those overly-articulate designs on the screen. It's gaudy. It's a good example of how you can really do a costume wrong. And it's strange because, if you consider that it's "comic accurate", it's horrid. If you look at the details and say that it's "modernized" it's worse than anything we've seen before.

Seriously, the only thing Webb's got going for himself now is that very matured story he's been promising us.

It all makes the faults of Batman's rubber-suit look tame. Well...okay, maybe not all of his rubber-suits (like the ones from the mid-late 90s).

Honestly, I just don't agree. The suit isn't my cup of tea, but it's really not that bad at all. The basic Spider-man design is intact, with a few deviations. The deviations aren't all that great, at least not in my opinion, because it feels like change for the sake of change, but it's far closer to the comicbook design of Spider-man then any of the movie Batsuits have been.

And really, for people complaining about stills of him obviously in action, that's just ridiculous. It's obviously a fight scene, and I'm viewing it as a good thing, because from the looks of it we're going to get more action sequences like the one form SM1 where he fights the thugs in the rain.

I'm waiting to see the suit in action before I pass my final judgement however. I hated the TDK suit when I saw behind the scenes set pics of it. I was slightly more open to it when I saw an official picture, and I was much more lenient once I saw it in action. So far I've been the same with the Spider-man suit.

 

[Lando81]

How about we all just agree that the TDK suit looks just fine and move on?

 

[JAK®]

How about we all just agree that the TDK suit looks just fine and move on?

No, because it looks awful.

 

[Lando81]

No, because it looks awful.

Except the part where it looks fine. It's armor. It's supposed to be. Get over it.

 

[Travesty]

Except the part where it looks fine. It's armor. It's supposed to be. Get over it.

Then why don't you get over the fact that people think it looks bad?

 

[JAK®]

Except the part where it looks fine. It's armor. It's supposed to be. Get over it.

It being armour has nothing to do with it, I just don't think it looks good.

You must have a high opinion of yourself to just waltz in and declare your opinion is right.

 

[Paste Pot Pete]

Why are you trying to stifle debate? Obviously, many people disagree with you. Either engage them and argue your points, or leave them be.

 

[Lencho01]

Figured I'd bring this one back from the old thread. This is another perfect example of something that could be rendered in the Tron suit materials. Couple of things need to be reworked (neck, bat-thong, and some details are overly stylized), but this suit would fit pretty well in a Nolan movie, I think.

That's similar to what I thought could be done after looking at the Tron: Legacy suits. I haven't seen the film yet. But, I saw this video my Digital Domain. The flip at 3:13 is what got me to even like the suits more...

[YT]uhyScbAZrFs[/YT]

Anyway, it has the look of "protection" for people who care so much about, but a person can still move pretty well in it. As far as people not buying that it can do anything, it's not like the BB and TDK suits were really to do what we're told on screen.

 

[JAK®]

I still think that particular example has excessive detailing but something along those lines would be great.