The Detail You Likely Never Noticed About Robert Pattinson's Batman Costume

Tomorrow, March 4th, 2022, is the premiere of Matt Reeves' "The Batman," marking the debut of a new trilogy of Batman films starring "Twilight's" Robert Pattinson. Overall, it will be the 8th live-action standalone Batman movie since 1966's "Batman," with Adam West in the lead role.

Obviously, Batman is one of the most enduring characters of all time. If you include the Batman animated films and villain-centric ones like "Catwoman" and "Joker," altogether the franchise has grossed more than $6 billion at the box office (via The Numbers). From Michael Keaton to Christian Bale, actors have delivered some all-time great performances as the character.

This gives Matt Reeves and his production team a challenge: how to reinvent the character in a way that's both fresh and familiar? Every live-action iteration of Batman has featured a unique Batsuit with its own details and quirks. Keaton couldn't turn his neck without destroying the mask (via Digital Fix), and we all remember the George Clooney nipple suit.

"The Batman's" costume designer, Glyn Dillon, spoke with Esquire about their take on the iconic superhero costume. Here's where Dillon and Reeves drew their inspiration

When designing Batman's cowl, Dillon wanted to take advantage of Robert Pattinson's strong jawline. To do that, he had to pull the cowl farther back than previous Batsuits, making it closer to a mask than a full hood. The rest of the cowl is sculpted to accentuate Pattinson's features.

"I was looking at Venetian face masks, the ones worn at parties, and I liked the idea of it being very skull-like," Dillon explained. "If you look at the neck piece there's this cervical vertebrae. I wanted it to have a Grim Reaper feel."

Another detail to keep an eye out for is the emblem on Batman's chest. Dillon and Reeves wanted every aspect of the Batsuit to be functional, and it didn't feel right to stick a useless leather decal on the front of it. "So the conversation became, 'How can it be something that is useful?'" Dillon continued. "Maybe if some of the edges were blades, and maybe it could be some sort of knife. I'm kind of proud that we managed to make almost everything useful in some way. Even the ears, I guess, were so hard and spiky you could use them as weapons by running at someone. But everything had a proper purpose on that suit. Even the cape."

Above all, the goal was to make the suit practical. Unlike other Batsuits, this is the first one that allows its wearer to use the restroom unaided. As Dillon put it, "If it was a real suit, you'd want to be able to take a wazz on the street after you've beaten someone up."