As part of the big Batman 75th anniversary celebration, Warner Bros. and DC Comics have been touring the big screen Batman costumes from Tim Burton’s Batman (1989) worn by Michael Keaton, Joel Schumacher’s Batman Forever (1995) worn by Val Kilmer, Schumacher’s Batman & Robin (1997) worn by George Clooney, Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises (2012) work by Christian Bale, and Zack Snyder’s upcoming Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice worn by Ben Affleck.
Check out the Batman 75th Anniversary Costume Tour on display at New York Comic Con 2014:
Last year various screen worn Superman costumes took to the road for fans to admire to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Man of Steel. You can see them HERE when checked out the exhibit at last year’s New York Comic Con.
It was a cool visual treat to see the costumes. With Michael Keaton’s being the first modern suit for the movies in decades, it looks as hot, stiff and impossible to move in as you can imagine. Minus the nipples and bat symbols on the boots, Clooney’s suit actually doesn’t look as cringe worthy as I remember on screen. Though the suit on tour is the all black version and not the silver accented suit worn later on in Batman & Robin.
Out of the shadows the Nolan films, Bale’s suit look even that much moire like a repurposed military body armor, and the has the least traditional outline of the Batman silhouette. The need for actual neck movement breaks away from tradition to make the suit work in the “real world” setting Nolan wanted, versus the immobile thick rubber one piece cowl that Keaton had to endure for two films.
Only Ben Affleck’s cowl and cloth cape were on display since a detailed full look at the Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice costume has yet to be revealed. Though from what we saw in the first official image, the latest version looks to honor the comic book source material more than the rest have, especially in the vein of The Dark Knight Returns. Though looking at the heights of the costumes in person, you can easily see that Affleck towers over all the previous Batmen (at 6’4″).
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