Batman’s Tactical Suit: Breakdown & Comparisons

Earlier today, we got an official look at Batman’s tactical Batsuit, which The Dark Knight will wear in Justice League. We’d previusly seen an unfinished version of the tactical Batsuit, but this is the first of the finished version that we’ve seen, and there are some points to breakdown, and some unavoidable comparisons that are going to get made.

The tactical Batsuit has a decidely different aesthetic than the standard Batsuit we saw in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, or even the armored Batsuit from that film. Of course, most fans will immediately see the tactical suit and point out that it has a similar aesthetic to that of Chris Nolan’s Batman in The Dark Knight and Dark Knight Rises. Take a comparative look:

The armor platelettes over a mesh of carbon fiber was the receipe for Batman’s costume in the Nolanverse, and it seems like the DCEU Batman in Justice League will take a similar approach. That type of armor is effective against indirect gunshots and blades (and cats) – but alien weaponry will be an entirely different story. Hope Bats get that heavy armor suit, as well…

Of course, no fan of comic book movies or Justice League director Zack Snyder can look at this new Batman tactical suit’s cowl piece and not make an immediate association with Patrick Wilson’s Nite Owl II in Snyder’s Watchmen movie adaptation:

The cowl ears and goggles are clearly similar to those of Nite Owl II, which is already casuing fans to mock it with jokes about Zack Snyder pulling the costume from his basement and patining it black.

For our part, we look at this tactical suit and can’t help but to make the association with the more armored version (not full armored) version of the Batsuit we saw in the Batman: Arkham Knight:

While the cowl, ears and eyes of the Arkham Knight outfit are clearly different, the chest, arm and leg armoring looks pretty similar – down to the cut of the abdominal molds on both suits- as does the utility belt.

In the end, this tactical outfit looks to borrowing influences from several places, which is fine, if the result is something that plays well onscreen within the context of a Justice League movie.

We know that Batman and his fellow Justice League members will be battling extraterrestrial threats like war-mongering alien general Steppenwolf and his legions of “Parademons.” Facting that level of threat, it’s understandable that Batman would need a costume enhanced to withstand battle with alien monsters.

Not too much was revealed about Batman’s tactical suit during our Justice League set visit. Here’s what our own Brandon Davis originally reported from the set, when confronted with an early version of Batman’s tatctical suit:

“By the time the suit comes to life on the set of Justice League, being worn by Ben Affleck’s Bruce Wayne, it will receive some gray coloring, belt straps around the core areas, leg and arm braces, goggles which will reflect light to give the white-eyed Batman effect, and (most importantly) and Batman symbol across the chest.”

For those who have been longing to get a comic book-style white-eyed Batman into the movies, rejoice. Sounds like the tactical suit in Justice League will finally deliver that.

As for the rest of the photo, here are some interesting things about the setting in which we meet the tactical Batsuit:

1. There’s a Bat-vehicle in the shot (the new Batmobile?). We can see that the vehicle will pack plenty of firepower, as there is a barrage of missles tucked under the passengers side of the car, just before the rear wheel. If you thought Batman was brutal with his Bat mobile carnage in Batman v Superman, it looks like Justice League will be upping that ante.
2. The lever that Batman is pulling down has something written on it that eagle-eyed fans are identifying as “Wayne Tech.”

Based on that info, our best guestimate is that the scene depicted is one of Batman refreshing or changing his career for a battle against a fearsome breed of enemy. The suit is changed, the Batmobile (or whatever vehicle) gets loaded up with weapons, the switch is flipped (cue those sparks), and Batman zooms out of Wayne Tech towards the battle. Just a guestimate, but one that would be pretty cool to see onscreen.

NEXT: Batman Tactical Suit Photo Gallery

Suicide Squad is in theaters. Wonder Woman arrives on June 2, 2017, followed by Justice League on November 17, 2017; The Flash on March 16, 2018; Aquaman on July 27, 2018; Shazam on April 5, 2019; Cyborg on April 3, 2020; and Green Lantern Corps on July 24, 2020.