The Batman: How Year One Influenced Bruce Wayne’s “Drifter” Look

Frank Miller’s Batman: Year One is not only a touchstone for comic book readers, but has turned into something that virtually every filmmaker takes a look at before they tackle their own tale of the Dark Knight. Before Christopher Nolan released a movie that leaned heavily on Year One as source material, award-winning filmmaker Darren Aronofsky had pitched a movie literally called Batman: Year One. It’s little surprise, then, that the series would play a role in inspiring Matt Reeves’s The Batman, even if only a small one. In The Art of The Batman, a new book that takes a long-form look at the film, Reeves went into detail in terms of how Bruce’s physical appearance is not only key to the story, but influenced by Miller’s work.

In the film, a young Bruce Wayne is carrying the Batman costume around in his backpack while passing himself off as an anonymous drifter. During that time, he watches people carefully, taking notes about people and places that would become helpful for his nighttime activities.

“He can’t walk around in public places wearing the Batsuit, people would be like ‘Who’s that guy in the costume?” Reeves says in the book. “So that’s how I actually borrowed a concept that I saw in Frank Miller’s Year One, where before he ever even adopted the suit, Bruce went around sort of as an alter-ego: the drifter.” 

Producer Dylan Clark describes the film’s version of Bruce’s drifter look as “coming out of the Batman fever dream — he’s not Bruce Wayne either.” 

“Then he transforms into Batman and…he confronts it,” star Robert Pattinson explained. “I always liked the idea, kind of the grimy version of Superman going into the phone box.”

“There were two influences on the Drifter costume. One was Year One, and one was just the idea of how you are invisible in a modern crowd. So, what do you wear?” explained costume designer Jacqueline Durran. “Rob was involved in the evolution of this costume. He really wanted to push the workwear, and the idea that what makes you most invisible in a modern crowd is if you’re wearing some sort of uniform. He specifically spoke about the dock workers in Manhattan and the kind of workwear they wear, and you just pass in the crowd unnoticed.” 

“It was quite driven by the Year One comic book — this sort of hooded figure that lurks around — and we’ve been guided a lot by that,” added makeup artist Naomi Donne. “You never really quite see who he is, really. We talked with Jacqueline and she was saying a lot of the drifter look was based off of this workman, blue-collar kind of look, and you can see it in the makeup too, It’s nota flattering leading man makeup at all t’s quite real in a sense. Its all based in a reality that surrounds his life. It’s sad.”

The Batman is still in select theaters, and now available to stream on HBO Max or to rent or buy on other digital platforms.