The Batman will find Bruce Wayne in the second year of his career as Gotham City's Dark Knight. As a result, he isn't the refined Batman we know from the comic books, something that's reflected in his cobbled-together costume and a Batmobile that's more muscle car than sci-fi vehicle.
Talking to Total Film (via CBR), director Matt Reeves explained that the hero is "on [an] obsessive mission" when we find him in The Batman, adding that "He’s a rich guy who’s able to use the money to do this stuff, but he’s doing it himself. So I wanted, at a practical level, for you to see the seams in everything that he’s doing."
"In the suit, you can see the seaming in the cowl. You can see that he’s doing this all himself," the filmmaker continued. "You can see that he’s building this car in his garage. You can see the crudeness of it. There had to be a certain unfinished, not polished quality to it. Obviously the car needs to perform, so I thought it should be like a muscle car. And the suit needed to protect him, so that needed to make sure it looked almost tactical, and almost looked like riot gear."
Despite both the Batsuit and Batmobile being grounded in reality, Reeves acknowledges that because there's "a kind of horror aspect that’s part of [Batman's] intent," it was important that "the Batsuit and the car had to be able to materialize out of the shadows in a way that was provoking a kind of monstrous side...I liked the idea of the car itself as a horror figure, making an animalistic appearance to really scare the hell out of the people Batman is pursuing."
While some fans have expressed concerns over another Batman movie where the approach to the character is very real-world inspired, it's clear Reeves gets the Caped Crusader based on these comments. As time passes, it's possible we'll see Bruce get help from a character like Lucius Fox to enhance his gear and gadgets, but for now, we're excited to see this brutal new take on the vigilante.
The Batman is set to be released in theaters on March 4.
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