Can the Silver/Bronze Age Batman costume be done in live action?

[Buried Alien]

All portrayals of Batman in live action since 1989 have clad him in black or dark grey rubbery or latex material, typically without the yellow oval around the bat symbol on his chest.

Is it possible to portray the classic blue and grey Silver/Bronze Age Batman costume (with yellow oval on chest) in live-action without making it look silly? The closest thing we ever got to it was the Adam West Batman's costume from the 1960s TV series, but that depiction was not meant to be taken seriously.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[Flash Gordon]

I'd be into it.

[bat39]

Its certainly possible. But I think the production would need to have an overall aesthetic and tone to match.



Could see something like this working...maybe with a darker shade of blue?

[Vakanai]

I don't think so. I don't think that the blue part of the color scheme feels right with the more serious tone and style of Batman films today - even in animation, it worked for the Brave and the Bold cartoon and the Batman Unlimited movies, but it was downright awful and all wrong in the crossover movie with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. And that's in animation where these things are easier to pull off. In live action you'd have to be even more careful to get the tone just right to pull it off.

And that's only the color scheme. Trying to get the whole made out of cloth thing requires you to be even more strict - it only works in a period piece. You can't do modern and make it work.

Basically you have to make a 1970s period piece where you can't even sniff the style and tone of the Nolan films or upcoming movie. Not saying that you can't make it serious, not saying it only works if you go campy, but the old Superman movies is closer to where you should be looking for this to work.

[bat39]

I don't think so. I don't think that the blue part of the color scheme feels right with the more serious tone and style of Batman films today - even in animation, it worked for the Brave and the Bold cartoon and the Batman Unlimited movies, but it was downright awful and all wrong in the crossover movie with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. And that's in animation where these things are easier to pull off. In live action you'd have to be even more careful to get the tone just right to pull it off.

And that's only the color scheme. Trying to get the whole made out of cloth thing requires you to be even more strict - it only works in a period piece. You can't do modern and make it work.

Basically you have to make a 1970s period piece where you can't even sniff the style and tone of the Nolan films or upcoming movie. Not saying that you can't make it serious, not saying it only works if you go campy, but the old Superman movies is closer to where you should be looking for this to work.

Agreed. I think it only works if the overall aesthetic and tone of the world matches up. That's not to say that the production would have to be completely 'light-hearted'. The MCU and the Arrowverse have had brightly colored costumes in works that are reasonably grounded in something close to the 'real-world'. Shows like Watchmen and The Boys are a good reference point too.

On a somewhat related note, I've often wondered if we could have a modern reboot of Batman '66 - Mad Men-style period piece meets The Boys style superheroics. Tonally, the show/movie would be more akin to Fargo than True Detective. I'd play it as a heightened reality where Batman and Robin wear these colorful costumes and fight crime in broad daylight as deputized officers of the GCPD - but the violence is a lot more real and visceral than BIFF! BAM! ZAP!, the villains are hardcore criminals with a bit of a psychotic edge in some cases (though maybe not outright insanity), and Gotham is such a crime-ridden hellhole that citizens genuienly believe that handing a couple of vigilantes a badge to uphold law and order through brute force isn't necessarily such a bad idea (though there will be opposition to that point of view as well).

[Jadeb]

Its certainly possible. But I think the production would need to have an overall aesthetic and tone to match.

Agree. The Affleck suit shows it can be done. We’re beyond the days when superhero outfits need to be black leather or bulky armor. I tend to think it’s only a matter of time before we see the blue and gray.

[Jim Kelly]

Now I remember it--wasn't Batinson supposed to wear blue? Of course, depending on the light, something that's blue can appear black..

I kind of like the texture and colour of the Adam West cape and cowl. The colour of his tights varied depending on your T.V. and which trading cards you got. Since in the comics, on the inside pages, they used a purple colour to represent grey (as a cost saving measure)--the outfit at that time wasn't always grey anyhow.

I liked the comics where Batman's outfit got ripped to shreds. I'd like to see that on screen. At least, maybe he has a work-out costume, so he's not always wearing armour. In an emergency, there isn't always time to put on the armour for a fight.

[Vakanai]

Agreed. I think it only works if the overall aesthetic and tone of the world matches up. That's not to say that the production would have to be completely 'light-hearted'. The MCU and the Arrowverse have had brightly colored costumes in works that are reasonably grounded in something close to the 'real-world'. Shows like Watchmen and The Boys are a good reference point too.

On a somewhat related note, I've often wondered if we could have a modern reboot of Batman '66 - Mad Men-style period piece meets The Boys style superheroics. Tonally, the show/movie would be more akin to Fargo than True Detective. I'd play it as a heightened reality where Batman and Robin wear these colorful costumes and fight crime in broad daylight as deputized officers of the GCPD - but the violence is a lot more real and visceral than BIFF! BAM! ZAP!, the villains are hardcore criminals with a bit of a psychotic edge in some cases (though maybe not outright insanity), and Gotham is such a crime-ridden hellhole that citizens genuienly believe that handing a couple of vigilantes a badge to uphold law and order through brute force isn't necessarily such a bad idea (though there will be opposition to that point of view as well).

I can see that working.

Agree. The Affleck suit shows it can be done. We’re beyond the days when superhero outfits need to be black leather or bulky armor. I tend to think it’s only a matter of time before we see the blue and gray.

Disagree on the Affleck suit - it's not clothy looking, and adding gray back is a long, long ways off from adding blue. I really don't see the connection between what's being asked for here and Affleck's costume. Certainly would have looked off in the movies Affleck's Batman was in.

Again, the tone and aesthetic has to be right to pull it off. It won't just work plopped into every Batman movie.

[gregpersons]

Anything can be done. I wouldn't prefer it. In general I think I dislike the more colorful Batman's costume is, regardless of their historic use. Even gray-on-black feels a bit more 'superhero' than 'night stalking vigilante.' I like Batman with the spookiest possible costume. He should kinda look like The Babadook!

My preference would be to do the streamlined version of the Batman '89 all-vinyl-black suit with gold emblem. Execution aside, just the design IMO is perfect. No extras, just the dracula cape, emblem, belt, and big black ears - a moving shadow. Love it.

I think the closest to gray/blue might've been the Nolan movies... that's certainly the most "gray" costume and the matte black might be mistaken for blue in some lighting. The Justice League version of Affleck was blue & gray, at least on the posters.