Batman Returns has my favorite Batman outfit on the big screen. What is yours?

[Wayne49]

It's been a staggering 28 years since Michael Keaton burst on the big screen as Batman. While the suit has gone through some alterations, the initial idea of a latex body suit remains consistent to this day. With regards to that initial look (and with all deep respect to Adam West) what has been your favorite suit from that new frontier in the Batman spectacle? Mine is Batman Returns. I absolutely adore that suit. In fact, I just got my Hot Toys Batman Returns/Bruce Wayne set and I can not take my eyes off either figure. But I digress.

I like the Returns look because they really streamlined the outfit, not to mention the cowl. And he absolutely looks as much like the classic version as I can imagine in real life. I like the big neck on the mask and the comic accurate Bat-emblem plus the industrial abs on the suit. At least we can say Tony Stark had nothing to do with this technology, right? But I think he looks the most menacing, yet superbly stylized to capture that ideal look of Batman, for me. What are your choices and why?

[Silver Nemesis]

The Batman Returns cowl is definitely the most aesthetically pleasing. No actor has ever looked as good in a superhero mask as Keaton did in that movie.

I love both of the Burton suits, largely because they're black armoured variants of the Bronze Age costume drawn by artists like Neal Adams and Marshall Rogers. You've got the long ears on the cowl, the yellow oval around the chest emblem, the scalloped cape that drapes over the shoulders, and the yellow utility belt featuring cylindrical capsules instead of pouches.

I think the sonar and arctic suits from the Schumacher films were the best shaped and proportioned of all the Burton/Schumacher costumes. None of the nineties Batman actors were muscular, but the sonar and arctic suits helped create the illusion they were.

The Batman Begins suit is visually great, but suffers from the same mobility issues as its predecessors. If the Burton suit is an all-black version of the Bronze Age costume, then the Begins suit is an all-black version of David Mazzucchelli's Year One costume. It's got the shorter ears on the cowl, the black chest emblem without the oval, and the yellow utility belt with pouches instead of cylinders.

I've always thought the V-taper on the torso of the Begins suit (which reflected Bale's underlying shape) was similar to that of the B:TAS Batman.

The Dark Knight costume was great in terms of functionality, but lost much of its theatrical oomph. It was clearly a man in body armour, rather than a mythical bat-beast. And I felt that undermined the psychological purpose of the bat motif. But if nothing else, the TDK outfit topped all the previous costumes in terms of flexibility.

If we're excluding the Adam West costume, I'd probably say the Affleck suit was my favourite. It was a little too bulky in BvS, but other than that it's a damn near perfect fusion of The Dark Knight Returns and New 52 costumes. Despite the bulkiness, the overall shape is balanced and organic looking. It's got the grey and black colour scheme from the comics – which I love – and retains the flexibility of the TDK costume. If you saw this guy swooping down on you from a rooftop you could be forgiven for believing the urban legends about a bat monster stalking the streets of Gotham.

I just wish the ears were a bit longer and that they incorporated the trunks from the classic comic book design (I know I'm in the minority there). Of course if we're counting fan films, my favourite live action Batman costume ever would still be the version worn by Clark Bartram in Batman: Dead End.

[Catwoman]

My favorites are the Batman Forever suits. The regular one combined what I liked about the first two movies' suits, and the Sonar suit and Robin's costume were just effing cool in general lol. I love pretty much all of the Batsuits except the TDK/TDKR ones. They were ok but they just didn't do it for me, same as the Tumbler and everything else.

[The Dark Knight]

The Batman Returns and BvS suits are my top two.



The BR suit is the best of the Burton/Schumacher era template.
The BvS suit went for a completely different aesthetic, but one that is so common in the comics.

[The Laughing Fish]

The Batman Returns and BvS suits are my top two.



The BR suit is the best of the Burton/Schumacher era template.
The BvS suit went for a completely different aesthetic, but one that is so common in the comics.

^This right here. I'll go even further by saying the Burton costumes reminded me of the the comics of the 1970s and 1980, but tinted black. The good thing about Bob Ringwood's design for the cowls is it reminds me of how Neal Adams and Jim Aparo would draw them, and it's a design that's carried over into the Schumacher films.


The BvS Batsuit is definitely more faithful to the comics and the best in terms of allowing actors to look rugged but flexible during combat.

[zDBZ]

The Returns costume. That design and color scheme coupled with the mobility of the BvS suit would be my ideal. I'm fine with a slimmer Batman, myself.

[thecolorsblend]

I like all of them.

Except that's a cheap answer.

So I'll say I adore the panther suit from Batman Forever. Ringwood took the core elements of what worked in the previous Burton movies and added an extra sheen of gloss to it. Yeah, the nipples. But whatever, the suit just looks awesome and Kilmer was probably the most physically appropriate specimen of the 90's movies. Everything about both Kilmer's performance and his suit gives off a bit of a Bronze Agey vibe for me.

As SN says, the Bronze Age thing is evident in the other movies but the tone of and the lead actor's performance in those films don't really strive for the Bronze Age. But it's more apparent (at least to me) in Batman Forever. There are moments in BF where Batman in a weird type of way looks drawn onto the celluloid rather than photographed.

Plus, there's the nostalgia angle where the panther suit was the last suit to include a yellow oval. I don't understand why the yellow oval has been removed since it was a major element of Batman's outfit for over thirty years. But here we are.

[Catbat]

I like the Returns look because they really streamlined the outfit, not to mention the cowl. And he absolutely looks as much like the classic version as I can imagine in real life. I like the big neck on the mask and the comic accurate Bat-emblem plus the industrial abs on the suit.

I totally agree - the BR suit was a good compromise between functionality and theatricality. The shape of both the cowl and the body armor seemed conceived to give Batman both an imposing figure and a beast-like appearance, in order to increase the intimidating factor. Also, I personally find that the batsuit highlighted Batman's male features (i.e. the pectorals and the industrial abs), while simultaneously featuring some insidious flaws, most notably when Catwoman managed to find its weak areas and exploited them to puncture him.

[GoNerdYourself]

My personal favorite is the 1989 suit. I know it has it's imperfections, but for me it's perfectly imperfect. I really do love the all black look with the yellow emblem and belt. I'm not sure why, but I didn't like the suit's armored plating in Batman Returns as much as the "muscled" ones in 1989. Although, I think both suits are my top favorites as far as the movies go.

[thecolorsblend]

My personal favorite is the 1989 suit. I know it has it's imperfections, but for me it's perfectly imperfect. I really do love the all black look with the yellow emblem and belt. I'm not sure why, but I didn't like the suit's armored plating in Batman Returns as much as the "muscled" ones in 1989. Although, I think both suits are my top favorites as far as the movies go. y tast

What I love about the B89 suit is the less glossy and more textured look it has. Almost gives the impression of a real bat to it.