Fusing Batman And A Stormtrooper In This Photo Is Melting Our Minds

Although Batman is undoubtedly one of the most iconic superheroes in all of fiction, over the years, plenty of writers and artists have tried to create radically different versions of Gotham's caped crusader. These distinctive Batman variants have appeared across a wide variety of different genres and mediums, with some of the most unique being the feudal Japanese Batman (Roger Craig Smith) from the film "Batman Ninja," the Wolverine-Batman hybrid "Dark Claw" who appears in the "Marvel Versus DC" #3, and the malevolent water-breathing Batwoman known as "The Drowned," who appears alongside other evil Batman variants in "Dark Days: The Casting" #1.

Now, artist @danb3ach on Instagram has given Batman fans a glimpse of what it might look like to see the world's greatest detective fused with a Stormtrooper from the "Star Wars" franchise; and the results are nothing short of incredible. The AI-generated artwork shows a Batman in stark white Stormtrooper armor walking through downtown New York City; bat logo emblazoned on his chest and a sleek black cape around his neck. But the most interesting part of the photo is the helmet, combining the futuristic vents and accessories of the classic Stormtrooper helm with Batman's pointed ears.

This design also moves the toothy "mouth" that usually sits in the middle of the Stormtrooper helmet down and places it along the very bottom of the facemask, somewhat mirroring the design of the much more intimidating helmet worn by Darth Vader (James Earl Jones).

By combining the classic Stormtrooper armor with Batman's cape and cowl, the artist presents a futuristic version of the Dark Knight who certainly wouldn't look out of place in the world of "Star Wars" and would be sure to strike fear into any intergalactic criminals who cross his path. The Instagram post itself has garnered over 696,000 likes as of June 13, 2023, and most users who came across this photo were awestruck by how impressive and cool this version of Batman seemed.

"This has no right to look as cool as it is," commented @frashafruit. "I think I found my dream cosplay!" echoed @highrankcleric. While many users were stunned by how amazing this design actually turned out, some "Star Wars" fans took the opportunity to joke about how worthless this version of Batman would be in combat, reminding everyone just how terrible the Stormtroopers are with their blasters. "This looks sweet until he can't hit anything with a batarang and misses 90% of the times he tries to use his grapple gun," wrote @cmest_hts. User @capsule.81 joined in on the fun, saying that this must be why Batman "misses" his family so much.

Even if his abilities might pale in comparison to some of the other Batman variants we've seen in the past, it's clear that fans have a strong appreciation for this crisp "Star Wars" redesign of the classic DC Superhero.

Although we'll probably never see this sort of a mashup character appear in the canon DC Multiverse, funnily enough, we have already (sort of) seen a Batman/"Star Wars" crossover within the DC Extended Universe courtesy of "Justice League" director Zack Snyder. In 2016, Snyder uploaded a fan film titled "Dark Side Knight v Super Jedi: Dawn of the Alliance" on the social media site Vero, which combines footage and audio from the original "Star Wars" trilogy alongside a heavily edited version of the trailer for "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice."

The trailer, which was reuploaded by Cosmic Book News on YouTube, replaces fighter jets with Tie Fighters, superimposes the Millennium Falcon over the Gotham City skyline, and shows a Sith version of Batman (Ben Affleck) wielding a red double-bladed lightsaber in battle against a Jedi Superman (Henry Cavill) wielding a green saber. In addition to Snyder's trailer, fans looking for more "Star Wars" and Batman crossovers can check out some of the other AI-generated artwork posted by @danb3ach on Instagram — which fuses Batman with other iconic "Star Wars" characters like Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison) and Darth Vader.

As unlikely as it is that Batman would ever find himself in the "Star Wars" universe (and even more unlikely that he would sign up with the Galactic Empire), this artwork captures an exciting "What If?" scenario that fans of both franchises ought to enjoy.