One of these days, I probably really should get around to playing the Batman : Arkham City video game. Of course that means buying a video game system of some sort and that will inevitably lead to getting more games and more games means less time for things like movies and comics. It could even mean less time with my wife, at which point I know I’d be well and truly beyond all help. So I think I’ll refrain.
But still — a fair amount of what we’ve been discussing in this little (okay, not so little) Bat-thread of mine seems to revolve around ideas presented in this Arkham City game, and it’s rather flabbergasting that I’m freely swiping so many concepts for my imaginary new Bat-movie-trilogy from something I really have no first-hand experience with — but hey, that’s the way it goes sometimes, I guess. All of which brings us to the above-reproduced CG menu from the game.
How does that follow, you ask? Well, we’re at the point in our first Bat-flick where, having hinted at aspects of the costume in silhouette-fashion, and having given the new Batmobile it’s so-called “full reveal,” it’s time for Batman to arrive at the Gotham City docks and crash the little party Lucchesi and his men are holding there, so now seems like as good a time as any to show the Bat-costume in all its glory, hence the picture at the top of the post — which also comes, no surprise, from Arkham City. Apparently you can actually pick which of the various Bat-suits used over the years you want your Batman character to wear in the game, and that pic represents the menu of options that you as a player have to choose from.
Let me start by saying that none of them are exactly perfect for what I have in mind for Batman’s look in this new trilogy, but one of them sure comes damn close, in my opinion. Keep in mind, we’ve already shown that this particular iteration of the Batman is wearing his Kevlar-armor bodysuit underneath his costume, so the suit serve as his armor in and of itself as it has in the Christopher Nolan and, to a lesser extent, Tim Burton Bat-films. So that rules out, going from left to right, option three and six as pictured. So — it’s survey time! In the next, shall we say, 24 hours, should you feel so inclined, please chime in here and let me know the following :
*Which of the remaining options you would choose for Batman to wear in the new hypothetical trilogy;
*And which one you think I have picked out.
If nobody responds — it is the weekend after all — I’ll just chime in tomorrow night with my own choice, as well as detailing the small change or two (or three) I’d make to get things exactly as I picture them. Any and all opinions are welcome, of course, but in the end, as they say, there can be only one, and being the dictator of this thread means I’ll have the final say, but if you can lay out a solid argument in favor of your selection, it may just be enough to get me to change my mind!
Until tomorrow night, then!
Through the Shattered Lens 
Reblogged this on Trash Film Guru and commented:
My series on relaunching the “Batman” movie franchise for Through The Shattered Lens website continues with Part 17 !
LikeLike
I actually like the Batman Beyond suit. It would go towards a new vision for the character and at the same time it would still be able to look like it can protect Wayne using some sort of Kevlar-weaved material in the suit. I also like that bright red bat symbol on the chest.
LikeLike
I agree, it’s a pretty cool suit, but I don’t think the “suits” at DC and Warner Brothers would ever go for quite such an extreme redesign for th Batman movies. Why, there’s not even a cape, is there?
LikeLike
The cape extends when Batman is in flight, but I wish it were bigger. It’s pretty much just the wings. It’s actually the best costume in the game, though. Personally, I’d love to see Batman with a cape like Spawn’s, but that would be overdoing it. 🙂
LikeLike
Yeah, that would be a bit much — isn’t Spawn’s cape a living being in its own right?
LikeLike
Yeah, I think it is. 🙂 Maybe Batman doesn’t need all that, bur for one shot that would be interesting. Kind of like Jim Lee’s drawings of him.
LikeLike
To be honest, I don’t know much about the whole history of Batman and his costumes but if I was in charge of the costumes for this movie, I would definitely go for the first one, with that splash of red. 🙂
LikeLike
That seems to be the most popular choice of the bunch, and while I like it a lot, it’s a bit more radical a re-design than what I had in mind —
LikeLike
The thing about the Batman Beyond suit is that it would look just as good with a cape.
LikeLike
I guess I spoke to soon, if you read up through the other comments, you’ll see that suit does have a cape — but only, apparently, when absolutely necessary!
LikeLike
Yup, it actually helps in keeping him from getting caught in revolving doors, sucked into jet engines and other dangerous situations a free-flowing cape can cause.
LikeLike
Ah, revolving doors — “Dollar Bill.” Need I say more?
LikeLike
Exactly!
LikeLike
I like the blue costume. I think it’s time to go retro myself. As for the Arkham idea, I like it a lot. I bet they could vulture some of ideas from the Green Arrow Supermax script that never got made. Bats has the best rogues gallery in the biz, so why not go all out with it?
LikeLike
I apologize to everybody for not getting the next post up yet, but folks are still having fun leaving comments on their ideas, so I’ll give it another day. I will chime in with my final costume choice for the movie tomorrow evening, you’ve all given me something to think about!
LikeLike
There’s also going the route of taking what’s good from all 6 and doing a combo suit.
LikeLike
Yeah, or coming up with a whole new one altogether—
LikeLike