The Batman’s Muzzle Flash Sequence Was All Shot Practically

When it comes to the landscape of superhero blockbusters, most fans would be surprised with what’s crafted with the use of visual effects. That’s why it might be surprising to those same people that one of the most applauded moments in Matt Reeves’ The Batman was completely practical. The moment in question is when Robert Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne fights a group of members of the Falcone crime family in a hallway, with gun muzzles lighting all of the action. The moment itself was seen in the teasers, and Reeves himself has confirmed it was shot entirely practically with no added lighting.

“The genesis of that…I wrote it in the script…I guess I’m fascinated by that idea because I did it War [for the Planet of the Apes] with a CG character. The soldier comes into the tunnels when they’re looking for Caesar and Rocket attacks this guy. And I thought, ‘What if we take that [for The Batman?’ because we know that Batman can see into the night because he’s wearing these contact lenses and he kills the power,” Reeves said in a recent stop on the Reel Blend podcast.

Reeves went on to add that he felt they’d have to do a similar process to that same War for the Planet of the Apes moment. Stunt coordinator Rob Alonso, however, had an entirely different idea.

“When I was talking to Rob Alonso, who was my stunt coordinator and did second unit, he’s responsible for the fighting style because he’s a fighter himself. What was so interesting is that Rob Alonso goes “No, no we don’t need to [do it digitally]. We can do it off a reel.’ So we did it for real. He got the guys to train and they were really careful with those guns and they’re the best at what they do. So what you’re seeing is actually a scene that was lit with the muzzle flashes. We split it into three pieces and did each piece until the piece worked.

The Batman is now showing exclusively in theaters.