Holy vintage clothing, Batman!
Film director Andy Muschietti knew just what image to upload to Instagram from the set of The Flash to send comic book enthusiasts into a tizzy. The DC Extended Universe picture expected to race into theaters on November 4, 2022, began production at Warner Bros. studio in Leavesdon, England in mid-April. Since then the Argentinian-born director of Mama, It, and It: Chapter Two, has teased fans with snaps of director’s chairs reading Barry and Bruce Wayne. (The second one is a shot peeking through an unzipped tent; it’s almost like this guy knows how to build suspense through imagery!)
On Friday, however, we got an extreme close up of Batman’s breastplate, and it looks quite similar to the one worn by Michael Keaton in Tim Burton‘s 1989 film Batman. With Keaton confirmed in the cast, the implication is that we’ll see the Oscar-winning actor back in his old suit. It’s also got a splash of what we hope is grenadine on there, not blood.
Specifics about The Flash are still somewhat unknown, but the premise involves Ezra Miller‘s Barry Allen using the Speed Force to go back in time and save his mother. Doing so, however, monkeys with alternate timelines. (This has been known to happen; see the Geoff Johns-penned Flashpoint series for more details.) As such, The Flash will not just include Batman, but Batmen. The multiverse madness will include recently seen Bruce Wayne Ben Affleck, but also Keaton, who has not worn the cape and cowl since 1992’s Batman Returns.
If Robert Pattinson, Christian Bale, or a hologram of Adam West are involved in the project, that’s still being kept under wraps.
The 1989 Batman suit was designed by British costume designer Bob Ringwood, whose work also includes Excalibur, David Lynch‘s Dune, Alien Resurrection (which, if you have not seen in a while, demands a revisit), Demolition Man, and A.I.: Artificial Intelligence. He was twice nominated for Oscars, for his work on Steven Spielberg‘s Empire of the Sun and the Brad Pitt sandal epic Troy.
The Batman logo goes back to 1940, and has put equal parts fear and excitement into the minds of comic book lovers for decades.
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