While other creators focussed on grounding Batman to fight the various rogues in Gotham City, Zack Snyder just let Batman loose and dove into the DC comic lore to bring out a version that was taking on Superman, creating the Justice League and fighting Steppenwolf and Darkseid. Thus Ben Affleck received some of the best Batsuits out of any live-action Batman.
All of Batman’s suits were designed by Michael Wilkinson, who designed all the suits and costumes in Zack Snyder’s DC trilogy- Man of Steel, Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice and Zack Snyder’s Justice League.
Ben Affleck’s Batman Vs Superman Batsuit:
Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice had shown a Batman who had been in Gotham for a long time. He was a veteran in that aspect. To show this version, director Zack Snyder and costume designer Michael Wilkinson went with a brawler type suit for Batman, which showed how much of a terrifying creature of the night he was.
“Zack was quite clear about the direction he wanted to take. He wanted our Batman to look more like he does in the comic books, so when he was drawn in 2D, he’s just a solid ball of muscle — but he’s more of a boorish brawler than an armour-and-high-tech figure. So we kind of went back to his roots and portrayed some of it through his massive strength and fighting technique, more than armour.” said Wilkinson about his process on designing Ben Affleck’s Batsuit.
“The Batsuit (for Ben Affleck) was printed with dimensional ink to give the impression that it was this strong carbon fibre tri-weave, but in fact, it was quite a thin fabric that stretched to show underneath, so it showed his incredible anatomy. That was important, to show our Batman battle-worn and a little older than Batman from recent films, so he’s fighting crime in Gotham for a long time now and he has the scars to show it.”
The Famous Mech BatSuit from The Dark Knight Returns
A suit famous from the Frank Miller Batman comic- The Dark Knight Returns, the Batman designs his suit to take down Superman. And as Batman Vs Superman takes a lot of inspiration from the comic run, Affleck’s Batman designs the Mech Batsuit to face off Superman.
This Batsuit has a lot of metal armour, to take the hits from Superman and still keep going. This is also the only time we have seen Batman’s iconic white eyes done very well in live-action. He keeps kryptonite shells in this suit which are coated with lead, through which Superman can’t see.
Justice League Batsuit
To face Steppenwolf and his army, Batman needed some more tech in his Batsuit, that’s where the tactical Batsuit used in Justice League comes in. The goggles not only provide a shield during fights with parademons but also link up with all his arsenal which help him better utilize his equipment. The simplest one is the cross-aim of the gun being synced up and showing directly in his goggles.
Ben Affleck’s Batman even had another variant of the Batsuit which was used in the Knightmare scenes in which he dons a trenchcoat to hide better in the desert-like conditions which happen after Darkseid takes over the earth. Affleck’s Batman will be seen next in The Flash which releases on November 4th.
