Evolution of the Bat Suit

Everyone tends to forget that Adam West was not the first Batman and despite the fact that Batman Begins shows Bruce Wayne's early life, his suit was not the first to make the big screen either. That title goes to Lewis Wilson (shown on the right in 1943) and the second Batman was Robert Lowery (in 1949). And you're probably asking yourself which is which here since their costumes look pretty much identical. But there are little differences. The first bat-suit (Wilson) had a lighter cape, smaller bat insignia, square buckle and "devil" horns and the second one (Lowery) had a darker cape, bigger chest insignia, round belt buckle and "bull" horns on the cowl. Otherwise they're pretty identical suits for the first two short lived Batman series on television. Their suits were gray tights with black briefs, cape and mask and the yellow utility belt, all very plain without all the bells and whistle. Guess it just shows that Batman used to be a lot stronger and more wiser. ;)

Ahhhh Michael Keaton in the bat-suit, what a perfect picture. In Keaton's first Batman of 1989 his suit (the one on the left) was totally black except for the yellow oval of the bat insignia on his chest and the yellow utility belt. Now remember it's been over 20 years since Batman was on the big screen so the bat-suit was in need of some major overhauls. So they made the breast plate look more like a muscular body unfortunately it wasn't easy for Keaton to move around in so Batman's acrobatic movements were basically impossible for him to do. In 1992 when Keaton came back for Batman Returns they revised his suit a little, making it from a more light weight foam material so he could move around more altho it made him more vulnerable in some areas of the body. The insignia was changed back to what it was in the comics, the scallops on the gloves looked to be made from metal instead of rubber and the cape when expanded looked more like a glider.

On the left here is the first bat-suit that Kilmer wore in Batman Forever in 1995. It's been named the Panther Batsuit for it's almost predatorial panther like features and it's more focused on the anatomical design including having the first nipples on a Bat-suit. The insignia on the chest is more pronounced and they changed the light yellow on the background to a deeper gold. The utility belt has been changed from yellow to black and a new button on it which emits a spray that fireproofs the cape so Batman can use it as a shield in extreme fires. Like the other Batmen, Kilmer's also has numerous suits to pick from, the other one he used during Batman Forever was the Sonar Suit (pictured on the right). It is an iridescent silvery-black and more armor-like. It also has lenses that slide automatically over the cowl's eye holes to display a sonar-generated image of Batman's surroundings to him, allowing him to see with more accuracy in extreme darkness or glare.

I doubt George Clooney will ever live down the overly pronounced nipples on his Bat-suit in Batman and Robin (1997), although Kilmer's was the first suit to sport the nipples (guess maybe everyone's too busy ridiculing him over the penis shaped Batmobile). On the left is the main suit that he wore during the movie. It's been changed a little to have a more bluish color to it as opposed to the black of the rest of them and the the emblem on the suit is separated where the wings meet the body of the bat and changed the color of it again to black on black instead of having the normal yellow background. The other bat-suit Clooney wore (pictured on the right) is the suit Batman used in the final scene against Mr. Freeze. It's a more more silvery and elaborately detailed costume, it's suppose to represent more of an Arctic feel. It also sprouts ice skates.

2005 saw a new Batman and with him came a brand new bat-suit with the help of Lucious Fox. The new suit was the basic black with the gold utility belt. The new bat-suit also has a built-in temperature regulators to keep Batman a comfortable temperature this covered additional armor and the entire thing is coated in a black latex material for camouflage and the body cool so he can't be detected with night-vision equipment. The cape is made from memory cloth but can become rigid when an electric current is sent to it thru the right glove. The scallops in the glove are also made of medal and the left boot heel holds a high frequency sonic "sounder" to summon bats or used on a lower frequency it can cause incapacitating headaches in humans. The belt also includes climbing harness and magnetized impact-resistant pouches and canisters. It also carries a magnetic gas-powered grapple gun, an encrypted cell phone, Batarangs, a medical kit, smoke bombs, mini explosives, periscope, remote control for the Batmobile (the Tumbler), mini-cam, money, and other unspecified equipment.