5 Batsuit Upgrades We Want To See In Robert Pattinson’s The Batman 2
Four years later, Matt Reeves’ The Batman has still delivered one of the most impressive versions of the Caped Crusader with Robert Pattinson. Rather than showing his origins or as a fully realized Dark Knight, The Batman saw Batman only two years into his vigilante career. As a result, the majority of his tools and overall aesthetics with his batsuit were rougher and “early-stage.” However, it’s already been teased that The Batman – Part II will feature several changes and upgrades to Pattinson’s batsuit.
Following the announcement that The Batman – Part II has been delayed to early 2028 rather than a 2027 release, a short clip was released giving fans their first look at Robert Pattinson’s Batman in the new movie. While there aren’t any drastic changes, his cowl does have some notable changes including longer ears, a chin guard, and a slightly taller collar. Likewise, the bat logo itself features rounder edges, shorter ears, and no head, suggesting similar design changes will be seen on Pattinson’s chest as well. Hopefully, the upgrades to the batsuit won’t stop there.
Robert Pattinson in the Batman suit for The Batman Part 2
Although The Batman – Part II doesn’t need to completely reinvent Pattinson’s already strong look as a younger Dark Knight, some upgrades/improvements would make a lot of sense as Bruce Wayne continues to evolve and reshape his mission in Gotham, having determined at the end of The Batman that he had to become more for the city than “Vengeance” alone. Keeping that in mind, here are some of the best upgrades that could make Robert Pattinson’s next Batsuit even cooler, while remaining faithful to the grounded universe created by director Matt Reeves.
5
A Better Utility Belt (With More Gadgets)
Batman prepares a batrope in DC Comics.
Although Pattinson’s Batman wasn’t necessarily lacking equipment in the first movie. After all, he had his contacts capable of recording crime scenes, his adrenaline injector, and his incredibly versatile grapple gun. That said, the overall arsenal felt more limited compared to past depictions of The Dark Knight, both on-screen and on the page.
Keeping that in mind, The Batman – Part II feels like the perfect opportunity to expand the number of gadgets at Bruce Wayne’s disposal, and for that, he’ll need a more comprehensive utility belt. Likewise, it’s also an opportunity for Pattinson’s Batman to start using throwable batarangs, as he didn’t use the classic weapon in the first movie. The closest thing he had was the bat-shaped cutting tool on his chest (which also served as his bat logo).
Overall, a more advanced utility belt filled with classic gadgets could easily help represent Bruce becoming more confident as Gotham’s protector. The belt could even be a dull gold, connecting to the comics while offering an added bit of color.
4
Batman Needs A New Cape For Prolonged Gliding
One of The Batman’s coolest sequences saw Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne jumping off the roof of the GCPD headquarters, having deployed his wingsuit with an emergency parachute. Likewise, his incredibly rough landing was one of the movie’s rare moments of humor, perfectly highlighting how much of his crusade is still in the early concept stages.
Rather than continuing to rely on what looked to be a one-time emergency flight suit, Bruce should absolutely upgrade his cape in The Batman – Part II to provide sustained gliding, just like in countless modern-day Batman comics, movies, games, and animated projects. It’d certainly allow Pattinson’s Dark Knight to patrol the streets of Gotham with greater ease (and greater heights). It does feel like one of the most natural and comic-accurate upgrades the batsuit could get in the upcoming sequel.
3
Genuine Gauntlet Blades
Batman Gauntlets DC Comics
The gauntlets on Robert Pattinson’s batsuit are fairly unique, featuring multiple reloads for his grapple gun system on each arm. Likewise, the way the straps stick out resembles the classic gauntlet blades seen on the page and past live-action depictions of Batman.
From the Caped Crusader to The Batman · Eight Questions How Well Do You Know Batman? “I’m Batman.”
🦌Bob & BillDetective Comics #27, 1939
🥘The Camp EraAdam West, 1966
🎣Burton & SchumacherKeaton to Clooney, 1989–97
💉The Dark KnightBale & Ledger, 2005–12
🕵The BatmanPattinson & Reeves, 2022–
01
Batman debuted in Detective Comics #27 in May 1939. Cartoonist Bob Kane received sole credit for creating the character for the next 76 years — on every comic, every TV series, every film — despite being only half of the real partnership. His uncredited collaborator wrote much of the original story, designed the cowl and cape, invented the name “Bruce Wayne,” named Gotham City, and helped create the Joker, the Penguin, the Riddler and Catwoman. DC finally added his name to all Batman credits in 2015. Who?
✓ Correct! Bill Finger (1914–1974). Kane’s original 1939 pitch was a Superman-style figure in a red leotard with a domino mask and bat-wings; Finger talked him into the cowl, scalloped cape, gauntlets and grey-and-black colour scheme that have defined the character ever since. Finger also wrote Detective Comics #27 itself, named Bruce Wayne (after Robert the Bruce and Anthony Wayne), created Gotham as a stand-in for New York, and co-created most of the rogues’ gallery — while signing a 1939 contract that gave Kane exclusive byline credit. Kane received millions in royalties; Finger died poor and uncredited. After a 2014 documentary and a 2015 family campaign, Warner Bros. and DC added “Batman created by Bob Kane with Bill Finger” to every credit starting with Gotham (Fox), Batman v Superman (2016) and forward.
✗ Wrong. The answer is Bill Finger. Jerry Robinson (option A) really did co-create the Joker and Robin alongside Finger and Kane — he was the third member of the early studio — but the cowl, cape, “Bruce Wayne,” Gotham City and the actual script of Detective Comics #27 were Finger’s. Joe Shuster co-created Superman, not Batman. Otto Binder created Supergirl and Mary Marvel. Finger signed away his byline in 1939 and didn’t receive on-screen credit until 2015.
02
Batman: The Movie — released in July 1966 between the first and second seasons of the ABC TV series, featuring the “Holy Whatever, Batman!” tone, the four super-villain team-up (Joker, Penguin, Riddler, Catwoman), the shark-repellent Bat-spray, and the Batmobile/Batboat/Batcopter — is generally considered the first theatrical Batman feature film. Two earlier 1940s movie serials don’t qualify as standalone features. Which actor played Batman in this first theatrical feature?
✓ Correct! Adam West (1928–2017), with Burt Ward as Robin and Cesar Romero as the Joker. West played the role across 120 ABC episodes (1966–1968) and the 1966 theatrical feature, hammed up the camp tone to perfection, and then spent decades typecast before reclaiming the role in animated form (Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders, 2016) and as Mayor West on Family Guy. The two traps are real: Lewis Wilson played Batman in Columbia’s 15-chapter 1943 serial Batman, and Robert Lowery played him in the 1949 sequel serial Batman and Robin — but those were Saturday-morning chapter plays, not standalone theatrical features. Michael Keaton’s Batman doesn’t arrive until Tim Burton’s 1989 film.
✗ Wrong. The answer is Adam West. The trap is real but technical: Lewis Wilson (1943) and Robert Lowery (1949) both played Batman in Columbia movie serials, but those were 15-chapter Saturday-morning serials, not theatrical features. Adam West’s 1966 Batman: The Movie — with the four-villain team-up and the shark-repellent Bat-spray — is the first standalone Batman feature film. Michael Keaton doesn’t arrive until 1989.
03
Batman: The Animated Series (Fox Kids, 1992–1995) — the Bruce Timm/Eric Radomski production with the deco-noir “Dark Deco” backgrounds painted on black paper — is consistently ranked by fans and creators as the definitive screen Batman. Its central performance is so iconic that the actor reprised it across 30 years, every DC Animated Universe series, and a dozen Arkham-series video games. He died on November 10, 2022, and DC essentially treated his passing as the death of Batman’s voice. Name him.
✓ Correct! Kevin Conroy (1955–2022). Conroy’s key innovation, on his first audition for BTAS in 1991, was to give Bruce Wayne and Batman two distinct voices — Bruce as the lighter, charming playboy and Batman as the deeper, harder-edged growl — a take that became the industry default and was openly copied by Christian Bale, Ben Affleck and Robert Pattinson on screen. He played the role for 31 years, across BTAS, Superman: TAS, Justice League, Justice League Unlimited, Batman Beyond (as the elderly Bruce), and every Rocksteady Arkham game. The trap is genuine: Mark Hamill voiced the Joker opposite Conroy on BTAS and is just as legendary in that role. Tim Daly voiced Superman; Will Friedle voiced Terry McGinnis in Batman Beyond. Conroy died in November 2022 at 66.
✗ Wrong. The answer is Kevin Conroy. Mark Hamill (option C) is the giant trap — he voiced the Joker opposite Conroy on BTAS for 30 years and is widely considered the definitive screen Joker — but Batman was Conroy. Tim Daly voiced Superman in the DCAU; Will Friedle voiced Terry McGinnis in Batman Beyond, with Conroy still playing the elderly Bruce. Conroy died November 10, 2022.
04
Jack Nicholson’s Joker in Tim Burton’s Batman (1989) earned him an estimated $60–$90 million from a film for which his actual on-screen salary was a fairly modest $6 million — making it, dollar-for-dollar, one of the most famously lucrative single roles in Hollywood history. He achieved this by negotiating an unusual deal structure that other actors immediately tried (and largely failed) to copy. What was it?
✓ Correct! Nicholson took a $6 million base, a piece of the box-office gross (so-called “first-dollar gross” rather than net profits, which Hollywood accounting has a habit of vapourising) AND a percentage of Batman merchandising — the toys, posters, t-shirts, lunch boxes, video games and ride tickets. Batman (1989) grossed $411 million theatrically and unleashed the largest superhero merchandising wave in history, and Nicholson’s royalties on it have reportedly continued accruing for decades. His agent Sue Mengers, and his attorney’s “back-end participation” structure, became the gold standard talent-deal template that A-listers like Tom Cruise and Robert Downey Jr. would later use. Nicholson also negotiated top billing over Michael Keaton (despite Batman being the title character) and limited shoot days. It’s the most-copied bad-guy deal in Hollywood.
✗ Wrong. The answer is C — a percentage of box-office gross plus merchandising royalties. The $6 million base salary was relatively modest by 1989 star standards; the magic was the back-end participation in both ticket sales and the unprecedented Batman toy/poster/lunchbox merchandise wave, which has reportedly continued paying out for decades. Tom Cruise and RDJ later borrowed the same gross-points-plus-merch template. There was no $50M opening-weekend trigger, no equity stake in Warners, and no per-screening micro-royalty.
05
After Ben Affleck stepped down from his planned solo Batman film, Warner Bros. handed the project to a new director who reconceived it as a noir-detective serial-killer story modelled on Se7en and Zodiac, runs 2h 56min, casts Robert Pattinson as a brooding second-year Bruce Wayne, and gives Paul Dano’s Riddler a Zodiac-style cipher gimmick. The Batman (2022) grossed $772 million worldwide. Who directed it?
✓ Correct! Matt Reeves — the Cloverfield (2008), Let Me In (2010), and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) / War for the Planet of the Apes (2017) director. Reeves co-wrote The Batman with Peter Craig, leaned hard into a Fincher-noir detective tone (the Riddler is essentially Zodiac), and got Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz (Catwoman), Colin Farrell (an unrecognisable Penguin), Paul Dano (Riddler) and Jeffrey Wright (Gordon). The film established its own continuity separate from the DCEU/James Gunn DCU. The Penguin (HBO/Max, 2024) followed as a Reeves-produced spin-off, and The Batman: Part II is currently scheduled for 2026.
✗ Wrong. The answer is Matt Reeves — the Cloverfield, Let Me In and Planet of the Apes-reboot director. Nolan made the Dark Knight trilogy (2005–2012); Snyder made Batman v Superman (2016) and Justice League (2017/2021) with Affleck’s Batman; Burton made the 1989/1992 Keaton films. The Batman (2022) is Reeves’s, in its own continuity, with The Penguin (2024) as the spin-off and Part II in 2026.
06
Joel Schumacher’s Batman & Robin (1997) — with Bat-nipples on the suit, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Mr. Freeze spitting ice puns (“Let’s kick some ice!”), Uma Thurman’s Poison Ivy, Alicia Silverstone’s Batgirl, and an estimated $238 million box-office failure on a $125 million budget — is widely regarded as one of the worst superhero films ever made. It killed the live-action Batman franchise for eight years until Batman Begins (2005). Who played Batman in it?
✓ Correct! George Clooney — in his only outing as Bruce Wayne, between his ER fame and Out of Sight. Clooney has publicly apologised for the film for nearly thirty years; he told Entertainment Weekly he “destroyed the franchise” and routinely thanks fans for their hostility. The trap is Val Kilmer, who played Batman in the previous Schumacher film, Batman Forever (1995) — he was originally signed for two but exited due to scheduling and reported disputes with Schumacher. Keaton played Batman in Burton’s 1989 and 1992 films (and returned in The Flash, 2023). Bale arrived eight years later in Nolan’s Batman Begins (2005). The Bat-nipples were Schumacher’s, the ice puns Schwarzenegger’s, the apology Clooney’s.
✗ Wrong. The answer is George Clooney. Val Kilmer (option B) was Batman in the previous Schumacher film, Batman Forever (1995) — he then exited and Clooney took over for Batman & Robin. Keaton was Batman in Burton’s 1989/1992 films (and returned in The Flash, 2023). Bale arrived in Nolan’s Batman Begins (2005), eight years after Batman & Robin killed the franchise.
07
Cesar Romero’s Joker on the 1966–1968 ABC Batman series — white grease-paint, green wig, red lipstick, manic giggle — remains one of the most-cited comedic TV villains in American history. Romero, a leading-man matinée idol since the 1930s, agreed to the role on one condition: he refused to do a specific thing for the makeup. You can still see what he refused if you look closely. What did Romero refuse?
✓ Correct! Romero refused to shave his trademark moustache — reportedly a vanity rule he’d had since the 1930s — so the makeup department simply caked white grease-paint over it. If you watch the 1966 episodes or Batman: The Movie (1966) on Blu-ray, you can clearly see the moustache bristles poking through the white paint above his lip. It’s one of TV’s most-cited “visible-prosthetic” quirks — later parodied by Burt Ward and explicitly nodded to in the 2016 animated Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders (Romero was already dead, having passed in 1994, but the animation reproduces the moustache underneath the makeup). Romero played the role for all three TV seasons and the 1966 feature.
✗ Wrong. The answer is shaving his moustache. Romero had had his trademark Latin-lover moustache since the 1930s, refused to lose it for any role, and the makeup department simply painted white grease-paint over it — if you look closely on Blu-ray you can see the bristles poking through under his lip. The wig, the high-pitched giggle and the purple gloves were all things he gladly did.
08
Todd Phillips’s Joker (2019) — the standalone, R-rated, $1.07-billion-grossing Joaquin Phoenix vehicle that exists outside any DC continuity — was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, the most of any comic-book-derived film at the time. It won Best Actor for Phoenix. It also won exactly one other Oscar that night. Which?
✓ Correct! Best Original Score, Hildur Guðnadóttir — the Icelandic cellist and composer who, in the same awards cycle, won the Emmy and Grammy for Chernobyl (HBO, 2019). Joker’s score (anchored by the haunting cello motif during Arthur Fleck’s bathroom dance) was her breakthrough; she became the first solo woman to win Best Original Score since Marilyn Bergman in 1984 (and the fourth ever). Phillips lost Best Director to Bong Joon-ho for Parasite, which also won Best Picture, beating Joker’s nomination. The film’s screenplay nomination was Adapted (because it’s based on existing DC IP), not Original — option C names the right category but it lost to Jojo Rabbit.
✗ Wrong. The answer is Best Original Score — Hildur Guðnadóttir (also the Chernobyl composer that year). She became the fourth solo woman ever to win the category. Phillips lost Best Director to Bong Joon-ho (Parasite); Best Picture also went to Parasite; the screenplay nomination was Adapted (not Original) and lost to Jojo Rabbit. Phoenix’s Best Actor + Guðnadóttir’s Best Original Score are Joker’s two 2020 Oscar wins.
The Bat-Signal Has Faded · Final Scorecard Your Gotham Standing
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World’s Greatest Detective — or a Gotham red herring?
Now, it seems like The Batman – Part II could pretty easily take things further and give Pattinson’s upgraded batsuit actual gauntlet blades. After all, they’re proven to be quite effective, capable of blocking blades and improving close-quarters combat scenarios. It’s also just one of the more recognizable (and coolest) batsuit features. They’d certainly help add to the theatricality and the growing legend of fear Batman is instilling among Gotham’s criminal element.
2
Upgraded, Streamlined Armor
One of the defining characteristics of Pattinson’s current batsuit from the first movie is how low-tech it feels with some serious “prototype” vibes. While that makes perfect sense for The Dark Knight’s entire aesthetic in his second year, a full overhaul of the armor feels warranted as Batman continues to evolve. The Batman – Part II could give us something uniform and streamlined, perhaps with Bruce Wayne finding new materials to keep him protected while offering greater mobility.
The armor doesn’t need to become super sleek or futuristic, but some refinements would be warranted to show how Pattinson’s Batman continues to evolve, a solid visual distinction that could be made between the Batman he was in the first film and the Batman he is in Part II.
1
White Lenses For The Cowl?
Bloody Batman with white eyes punching towards the screen
Several Batman fans have long wanted to see permanent white eye lenses in live-action. Aside from brief detective modes or temporary armor like in the DCEU’s Batman v. Superman, live-action depictions of Batman have almost always kept Bruce Wayne’s eyes visible. It’s a decision that’s understandable from an acting standpoint, though it sacrifices one of Batman’s most iconic visual elements from the comics.
It can be argued that The Batman – Part II director Matt Reeves has an opportunity to finally make white lenses work within his grounded universe. Beyond the potential practical benefits (like potentially being an upgrade to the contact lenses he’s already using), the classic white lenses for the cowl would dramatically enhance Batman’s mythic image, making criminals question even further whether Gotham’s vigilante is even human. After all, it’d be terrifying to see nothing but those white eyes staring back at you from the shadows.
Across the board, incorporating white lenses truly does feel like a logical next step for a live-action Batman, even if it’s not Pattinson’s version. After all, other live-action superheroes like Deadpool and Wolverine have proven that white eyes on the mask and/or cowl can absolutely work.
The Batman – Part II now releasing in theaters on February 18th, 2028 from DC Studios.
