Robert Pattinson and Ben Affleck, interpreters of Batman, see their white-eyed bat masks in a new edition for Batman fans. 2022 was the year that Warner Bros. relaunched The Dark Knight for the big screen, and Pattinson became the next star to don the famous Batsuit in Matt Reeves’ Batman. While the sequel is currently on hiatus due to the SAG-AFTRA and Writers Guild of America strikes, Batman Part 2 is on track, currently scheduled for 2025.
Pattinson’s version of Bruce Wayne in The Batman has been received positively, but there’s still a comic book element that fans want to see in the Dark Knight version. Despite adapting Batman costumes for live action several times, the Gotham City superhero has yet to get the famous white eyes as part of his superhero ensemble.
However, this version of the costumes was pictured on Reddit by user u/evq054, who showed off a new interpretation of Pattinson and Affleck’s Batman with modified white-eyed masks. Also, instead of the usual white eyes, versions of Batman were depicted with night vision lenses inspired by the predatory behavior of animals.
While Batman has appeared in live-action films and even various television series, various creative teams have never come up with a white-eyed version for practical reasons. First, having a real bat mask with closed eyes would likely make it difficult for an actor to portray the character’s emotions. The alternative to CGI can easily cause problems, especially in an era where visuals were heavily criticized, which has certainly been a constant problem in the superhero genre.
The lack of this feature could also be a creative choice for a production studio that might be wary of making white eyes look too comic-book-like. The version of Batman that came closest to having white eyes was from The Dark Knight, which was more of a comic book reference than an adaptation of the Christian Bale character. Batwoman also did something similar: Kate Kane and Ryan Wilder were able to activate night vision with a mask by covering their eyes with white, but only temporarily.
Time will tell if Batman Part 2 or even Batman: The Brave and the Bold finds a way to show white eyes, as it seems the new movies have their own new Batman costumes. The concept promises a lot, and it would be really interesting to see at least one live version of Batman in full comic book form that would last at least for the entire movie. Whether this feature will be introduced in the Batman universe or a future live-action incarnation, the world will just have to wait and see.
Source: Reddit