Ranking Batman's Batsuits Across The Years

The internet went bat-crazy this week when director Zack Snyder shared a tantalizing image from the set of Justice League that showed Ben Affleck in a new batsuit. The more armoured number, with fetching goggles, has split fans down the middle, but most are still excited Batman will get a new look in the movie. This was only to be expected, of course, as Batman’s bat-threads have constantly evolved over the course of his long cinematic career – more than any other hero, in fact. With the likes of Superman or Spider-Man, it’s basically the same every time. But with Batman, the stylistic approach to each suit changes film by film (and sometimes several times per film). Discounting Justice League’s so-called Tactical Batsuit, because we haven’t seen it in action just yet, as well as animated efforts like The Lego Movie and Batman: The Killing Joke, here's every batsuit Batman has ever worn in the movies ranked from worst to best. 13) Clooney’s Second Suit - Batman & Robin (1998) What else could come last but the most notorious batsuit of them all? Dubbed the Arctic Suit, Clooney’s late-in-the-movie change of clothes is apparently triggered by the need for something that's resistant to Freeze’s powers. In reality, it’s just an excuse to make more action figures. With the intrusive silver detailing, this is the furthest away from the classic Batman look that we've ever had, which means it has to fall at the bottom of our list. Infamously, the outfits worn by the Bat-family in the movie were designed by toy manufacturers rather than professional movie costumers, which just goes to show how misguided the film was as a whole. 12) Robert Lowery’s Suit – Batman and Robin (1949) Another Batman and Robin, another bad batsuit… This 15 part movie serial was obviously made decades ago (in the wake of World War II, no less) for a whole lot less money than modern productions, so we can cut its costume designs some slack. However, there's no getting around it. The outfit worn by Robert Lowery in the role is laughably bad. The high waist band holding up the enormous underpants paired with a cowl that is clearly too big for Lowery’s head make this iteration of Batman closer to the butt of the joke rather than The Killing Joke. 11) Lewis Wilson’s Suit – Batman (1943) Only slightly better is the suit used in the original Batman movie serial in 1943, with Lewis Wilson (father of future James Bond producer Michael G. Wilson) behind the cowl. While it has many of the same drawbacks of Lowery’s suit, this is the very first rendition of Batman’s outfit on screen. And it's fairly faithful to the character’s look in the comics at the time – Batman only having been created a mere three years earlier. Still, it is pretty poor, looking much more like a cheap costume from a Halloween store than something a hardened crime fighter would go around in. 10) Val Kilmer’s Second Suit – Batman Forever (1995) After Batman Returns had its Happy Meal deal revoked due to its dark content, Warner Bros. were keen to make the next movie much more toy-friendly. Director Joel Schumacher took that a bit too seriously though and gave us the most plastic-looking batsuit ever. Ridiculously sleek and shiny, this one is so impractical as a crime-fighting outfit and it's abundantly clear that it only exists to sell action figures. Particularly because, just like Clooney’s Arctic Suit, it's the second outfit Val Kilmer wears in the role. Quit trying on new outfits, Batman, and just stop the bad guys already! 9) George Clooney’s First Suit – Batman & Robin (1998) While it still isn’t the best batsuit you’ve ever seen, the initial threads Clooney wears in Batman & Robin are a marked improvement on his second outfit. If you embrace the fact that Clooney is just wearing a toyetic costume in a gaudy movie rather being an authentic version of the Dark Knight, this one is just about passable. At the very least, it's much less of an eye sore than some of the other outfits from Schumacher’s era. In fact, the silvery-blue shade sort of works and the needless accessories of certain other suits have been thankfully held back. Just don't focus on the fetishistic body work and the dreaded bat nipples. 8) Val Kilmer’s First Suit – Batman Forever (1995) For his first revamp of Batman’s outfit, Joel Schumacher just made some slight alterations to Michael Keaton’s suit. As such, it is infinitely better than the other outfits used in his era. With a sleek black finish and the bright yellow bat symbol, this one will appeal to fans of Tim Burton’s movies. That said, all of the terrible hallmarks of Schumacher’s suits begin here. From the enlarged codpieces to the moulded musculature to the batnipples. It’s just that this one gets a pass for not emphasizing these aspects as much as later examples. 7) Adam West’s Suit – Batman: The Movie (1966) The campy charms of the 1960s Batman series and its associated movie aren’t for everyone, but it’s hard to deny the massive impression Adam West’s Caped Crusader made on popular culture. West’s outfit in the role is far away from how we now see the character, then, but it is one of the most iconic looks for the hero and so deserves its due. Most importantly, his basuit – with its purple-blue colour scheme - fits the kitschy tone of the show. Even those pencilled-on eyebrows encapsulate its arch, tongue-in-cheek style. 6) Ben Affleck’s Anti-Superman Armour – Batman v Superman (2016) For all its flaws, Batman v Superman’s batsuits were not amongst them. As seen during his not-so-climactic fight with Superman, Affleck dons a bulky, metal armoured suit with which to take down the Man of Steel. Comics fans will instantly recognize it as an entirely faithful recreation of the suit used for the same purpose in Frank Miller’s seminal The Dark Knight Returns graphic novel. Despite being very different from the usual Batman look, this is a batsuit that was exciting to see on screen. After all, there is little that pleases the fans more than movies being true to the source material. 5) Christian Bale’s First Suit – Batman Begins (2005) Faithfulness to the comics was not something that Christopher Nolan was worried about when he rebooted Batman in his trend-setting gritty style in Batman Begins. As such, the suit worn by Christian Bale in the film is more functional than most. Portrayed as a military prototype with durable armour and a ‘memory cloth’ cape, it's as realistic a get-up as you can get for a man who dresses up as a bat. The only drawback is the restrictive cowl that, like Michael Keaton before him, caused Bale to have problems turning his head. Some work needed to be done on that for the sequel… 4) Ben Affleck’s Knightmare Suit – Batman V Superman (2016) The Knightmare sequence in BvS is weird. In it, Batman seemingly has a dream about a future Apocalypse (or should that be Apokolips?) where Superman has turned evil and he's fighting alien creatures in the desert. Whatever you think of the sequence, though, the outfit Affleck wears in it is awesome. Apart from sporting a scarf, cargo trousers and goggles (Snyder really likes putting goggles on Batman), the Knightmare batsuit's biggest deviation from the norm is a big frock coat in place of his classic cape. Slightly reminiscent of Hellboy, it’s a look that makes the Dark Knight even cooler than usual. 3) Michael Keaton’s Batsuit – Batman/Batman Returns (1989/92) In attempt to dismiss the then prevailing idea that Batman was a campy character, Tim Burton’s movies redesigned the hero from the ground up - including removing the Caped Crusader's classic blue and grey and putting him all in black. This is, of course, something that has gone on to become the norm. Though the bulky latex suit severely limits Keaton’s movement, it somehow makes Batman look more formidable than usual. This version of the character looks the part just standing on a rooftop or in the shadows in a back alley. We don’t need to see him being particularly athletic to be impressed. 2) Ben Affleck’s First Batsuit – Batman v Superman/Suicide Squad (2016) Like the previously mentioned anti-Superman get-up, the main suit worn by Ben Affleck in Batman V Superman is perfectly lifted from the pages of The Dark Knight Returns. As great as previous efforts were, it was refreshing to have a movie batsuit that actually had faith enough in the source material to replicate it on screen. What’s more, this suit also isn’t so heavily armoured that the man beneath is almost irrelevant. For letting Ben Affleck’s own bulk do the work, this is a batsuit that rightfully makes the hero once again more important than his wardrobe. 1) Christian Bale’s Second Batsuit – The Dark Knight/The Dark Knight Rises (2008/12) As previously stated, Batman Begins’ outfit left Bale with limited maneuverability, so for The Dark Knight it was written in that Batman would get a new suit. The result was the coolest-looking and most practical suit yet seen on film. It was so good, in fact, that the next film, The Dark Knight Rises, did away with tradition and kept the suit basically the same. The suit from The Dark Knight films has also arguably made the biggest impact on pop culture, with the body-armour look inspiring everything from video games and the comic book themselves. Unless Snyder and the DCEU get very lucky, there won’t be any knocking this suit off the top spot for a while.

Ranking Batman’s Batsuits Across The Years

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Christian Bone

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