Zack Snyder is revealing which Batsuit is his personal favorite.
The Justice League director knows about the Dark Knight via that film and Batman v Superman. He was finally able to identify which suit is the best, and his choice shouldn’t be that surprising to fans.
The Batsuits
When Batman first started, his costume was just a simple cloth outfit meant to conceal his identity and protect himself in the field.
As time has gone on, the Batsuit has become a complex suit of leather armor, capable of handling any type of weapons and even able to allow Batman to take it to super-powered enemies.
For a time in the Silver Age, Batman seemed to have a new costume for any occasion, from an Arctic suit to underwater to even wearing different-colored costumes every day.
They all stick to the Bat motif while looking impressive in the various movies (although it wasn’t until The Dark Knight that they could make one capable of allowing the actor to turn his head).
While at the Deep Dive Into Zack Snyder’s Justice League With Zack Snyder panel at Justice Con, Snyder was asked which of the many Batsuits was his favorite, and his answer was easy.
“My favorite Batsuit is Dark Knight Returns. You know, basically Miller’s Batsuit…if I were to make that movie, I would make that suit exactly. And also, there was a guy, there was a cosplayer who cosplays that suit really well, I saw the other day on my feed. I forget his name. But he’s an older gentleman, and he does an incredible, he’s kind of a big guy, he does a great Dark Knight Returns. Really got the suit nailed, it looks really good. I’m like, clearly the suit can work.”
The Dark Knight
Snyder’s choice should be little surprise to those who have followed his work.
Published in 1986, Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns is one of the most acclaimed and influential Batman stories of all time.
It imagines an older Bruce Wayne coming out of a decade-long retirement to clean up an even more corrupt and darker Gotham City. He takes teenager Carrie Kelly as his apprentice and tackles old foes from Two-Face to the Joker.
The story culminates in a brutal fight between Batman and Superman, sent by the government to stop him.
The tale did away with the campy persona Batman had claimed in previous years, restoring him to his dark roots and would transform the character forever.
Miller would return for some sequels, and while his standing in the comic book world has faded, no one can deny how much of an impact this story still has.
The tale clearly influenced Snyder as several scenes in Batman v Superman are lifted entirely from TDKR, such as the Batman-Superman fight and Batman taking on a gang of thugs in a warehouse.
Snyder has even expressed interest in a live-action version of TDKR (DC had released a two-part animated adaptation for home video).
This shows one of the most obvious inspirations for Snyder’s take on Batman and why Miller’s masterpiece remains so influential today.
Justice League the Snyder Cut now streaming on HBO Max.