Some of the best things about any comic book movie are the details and that is especially true for Batman movies. Some of the biggest movies in the DC Universe, Batman movies are full of amazing and intricate details and we’re not talking simple Easter eggs or nods to the comics. We’re talking about details that present nods from one Batman film franchise to another, honor comic creators in unexpected ways, and even subtly and creatively foreshadow elements of story within the same movie so well that you don’t catch it on the first or even second watch.
Videos by ComicBook.com
While the tone of Batman movies can vary wildly from one filmmaker to another and each film series has their own unique stories, it’s the rich tapestry of incredible details that make them all truly special and part of a larger legacy of storytelling that brings one of fiction’s most indelible and layered characters to life. Here are seven of those incredible details you probably never noticed.
7) “The Blue Boy” (Joker)
We’re starting off with a detail that is actually found not in a Batman movie per se, but in Joker. In Todd Phillips’ 2019 film, there’s an art print hanging in Arthur Fleck’s apartment of Thomas Gainsborough’s “The Blue Boy”. On the surface, this might seem like really well-done set dressing as “The Blue Boy,” along with its companion painting “Pinkie”, was a popular piece of artwork used in homes during the 1970s as part of a larger “Old Masters” art trend. However, in the context of Joker, it’s much more than simply that.
You see, in Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman, there’s a scene in which Jack Nicholson’s Joker defaces artwork in the Gotham museum (while dancing to Prince’s epic Batman soundtrack). One of the pieces of artwork that the Joker walks past? “The Blue Boy”. By having the painting appear in his film, Phillips is offering a subtle nod to that previous, starkly different take on the iconic villain. It also makes things all the more rich when you think about Joaquin Phoenix’s Fleck dancing in the film.
6) The Masquerade Ball (The Dark Knight Rises)
There are a lot of great moments in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Trilogy, but one of the underappreciated ones comes in the final film, The Dark Knight Rises and it’s a gorgeous homage to Tim Burton’s final Batman film. In Nolan’s film, Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) dance at a masked ball where he confronts Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway) who had previously robbed him. It’s a great scene.
It is also a scene that is highly similar to a scene in Batman Returns. In that scene, Michael Keaton’s Batman and Michelle Pfeiffer’s Selina Kyle also share a surprisingly intimate and personal dance at a masquerade ball, but neither of them wear masks, a subtle suggestion that for them their “real” identities are the costume. While the context of the two scenes differs, visually Nolan does a great job of matching his to Burton’s and it’s a great little detail for Batman movie fans.
5) The Crossword Puzzle (Batman Forever)
Some of the best details in Batman movies are those that are almost blink and miss it moments and this one from Batman Forever fits that perfectly. There is a moment in the film where a sign can be seen lit up on a building that resembles a green and black crossword puzzle. The puzzle itself spells out Criss Cross Laundry Laundry While it might seem like a random thing, it is actually a very clever Easter egg detail in the film.
In Detective Comics #140 — the first appearance and origin story of The Riddler — there is an advertising sign sponsored by “The Cross Cleaning Co.” that presents a night crossword puzzle for public entertainment. The Riddler notably breaks into the control room for the sign and uses it to challenge Batman. The appearance of the sign — complete with a reference to “Criss Cross” and a type of cleaning company (in the movie’s case, a laundry), is such a delightful reference to the comics — and perfectly suited to the campy tone of Joel Schumacher’s Batman Forever.
4) Vicki Vale’s Popcorn (Batman)
A big reveal in Batman is that it turns out that a young Joker was the man who killed Bruce Wayne’s parents in the tragic mugging after they left the theater, but the best part of that reveal is not that Bruce remembers that his parents’ killer had said “did you ever dance with the Devil by the pale moonlight?” — which is what the Joker says when he shoots Bruce in Vicki’s apartment. No, the best detail in that scene is that Vicki is eating popcorn.
Vicki having popcorn in that scene is an interesting detail because she drops her popcorn when Bruce is shot. It ties to the moment in Bruce’s past when his own popcorn is spilled when his parents are shot by a young Jack Napier. It’s one of those things you might not notice right away, but it’s an example of the movie essentially recreating one of the most traumatic moments of Bruce Wayne’s life and it’s done brilliantly.
3) Hush (The Batman)
This one is a deep cut that takes you from the actual movie to some of the interactive content for the movie. In Matt Reeves’ The Batman, the Riddler exposes the alleged misdeeds of Thomas Wayne during his campaign for Gotham City Mayor, specifically that a reporter named Edward Elliot was on the verge of revealing that Martha Wayne had a history of admissions to Arkham Asylum that would have reflected badly on Thomas and prompted him to pay Carmine Falcone to handle things. Elliot is killed.
As part of the revelation of this scandalous information, there’s footage of Thomas Wayne (accessed by playing a game on an interactive website discovered in the movie) that has the word “Hush!” scribbled over it. It makes it a two-part detail. First, it’s the “Edward Elliot” aspect of it all that is interesting. As comics fans know, Thomas Elliot is one of Bruce’s childhood friends who goes on to become Hush. While the movie doesn’t directly make a connection to Tommy Elliot, it feels like one of those details that maybe “Edward Elliot” was somehow connected. Add in the detail from the interactive website, and you have a full-blown Easter egg that is extremely clever.
2) Halloween (The Batman)
Another very clever detail from The Batman is setting — specifically, the date on the calendar where the movie’s story starts. The story in The Batman begins on Halloween when Gotham City mayor Don Mitchell Jr. is murdered by the Riddler, who leaves a message for Batman at the crime scene. While The Batman is not an adaptation of any specific DC comic, starting the movie off on Halloween is definitely a nice little detail that connects to the comics.
One of the best and most beloved Batman stories in comics is The Long Halloween, which sees Batman working to stop the Holiday killer who kills someone on a holiday each month. The story also features a war between the Maroni and Falcone crime families. While The Batman utilizes both of these aspects from the comic, it’s not a direct adaptation — but that little detail about the story starting on Halloween is just a really great little treat.
1) The Bat-Man (Batman)
Any nod to creators makes for a nice detail and there’s one in Batman that is just perfect. The film features a scene where journalist Alexander Knox gets a sketch of a “Batman sighting”. Of course, it’s not an actual sketch of a sighting but rather a cartoonish drawing of a bat wearing a pinstriped suit. In the movie, the art is from a coworker of Knox’s at the Gotham Globe, Robert “Bob” Kane (played by Denis Lill) but there’s more to it than that.
The illustration given to Knox was drawn by the real Bob Kane, aka the co-creator of Batman. It’s a real piece of art that he created for the film which makes the “Bob Kane” signature on it actually from one of the men behind Batman — Bill Finger, who was also responsible for Batman, wouldn’t get the credit he was due for his role in creating the iconic hero until 2015.
What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
Most Viewed
-
Image courtesy of Stage 6 Films -
Image courtesy of Lucasfilm
