The Secret Batsuit Fans Of The Tim Burton Batman Movies Missed

Tim Burton may have gone through torture to make his Batman films, but they were hugely influential in so many ways. That includes those unforgettable rubber Batsuits which remain as visually impressive today as they did back in the late '80s and early '90s. But even the most committed of superfans may have missed the secret Burton Batsuit, crafted by artist Steve Wang, that appeared in 1992's "Batman Returns" for a split second. 

In 1989, Tim Burton reintroduced the masses to the Dark Knight with "Batman," inducing what became known as "Bat-mania." That summer saw the world fall in love with Burton's darker vision of a character who'd otherwise struggled to shake the kitschy camp of the 1960s TV series. Prior to the film's release, however, nobody could have predicted it would have become such a phenomenon, not least because Michael Keaton's casting as Batman had Burton fighting for his star. Once the first trailer arrived, however, everybody's mind was instantaneously changed. 

Much of that was thanks to Bob Ringwood's Batsuit, which immediately subverted fan expectations by eschewing the spandex and underwear style then-synonymous with the character. Ringwood's design was all black rubber, molded at angles that evoked something primal and dangerous. There was a jankiness to the suit, too. It had a rough texture and the cowl didn't fit Keaton perfectly. But the effect was unmistakable. It convinced viewers that Keaton was Batman. 

All of that makes Ringwood's accomplishment on "Batman Returns" astonishing. Somehow the costume designer managed to top his work on the original, delivering a version of the suit that retained everything so powerfully evocative about the original while streamlining it to create something fresh. But between these two iconic suits there was a third version which actually appeared on-screen for a brief moment in the sequel.

Leaving aside the suit from the box office bomb of super-heroic proportions that was "The Flash," there have been so many great live-action Batsuits. But the version from "Batman Returns" is the greatest of them all — a perfect melding of the elemental, animalistic style of the '89 original and a more streamlined, Art-Deco inspired aesthetic that also pervaded the production design of "Returns." In that sense, it made Michael Keaton's Batman feel like even more of an extension of Gotham City itself. It also looked downright cool. The cleaner lines and angles worked so well amid Tim Burton's expressionist visuals, it was as if the "Returns" Batman was a living embodiment of the very artistic styles that had so beautifully clashed to create this nightmare fairytale Gotham.

But this suit wasn't the only one to feature in "Batman Returns." For a brief moment lasting less than a second, another suit can be seen (around the 1-hour, 23-minute mark) which almost became the main suit used throughout production. Instead, it ended up in this blink-and-you'll-miss-it shot.

After Batman is framed for pushing the Ice Princess (Cristi Conaway) off a roof into Gotham square, the Dark Knight returns to his Batmobile followed by an angry mob of citizens. As he disappears into the cockpit of the car, we see a cowl that, if you look closely, is actually markedly different to the version seen throughout the rest of the film. This cowl has a brow that protrudes much further than the standard "Returns" suit, and is in fact part of a costume that was designed ahead of filming but which was never used beyond this one shot and some promotional photos.

With "Batman Returns," Tim Burton ushered in the franchise era by letting his freak flag fly. Before his delightfully idiosyncratic vision came together, however, Burton tapped artist Steve Wang to create a new cowl based on Bob Ringwood's illustrations. One major change that Ringwood wanted was to make the neck slimmer and tasked Wang with sculpting this updated version. As the artist told Entertainment Partners: 

"[Ringwood] wanted the neck to be skinnier so that [Michael Keaton] could have more flexibility. We made it, they tested it, and [Keaton] could move better in it but it didn't look strong enough. Part of having the Batman image is those big broad hard lines, the silhouette. And so having the thick neck really was what sold the whole idea of the ears, that line is very important."

Wang actually produced multiple variations of this new cowl, which blended the '89 version with the more streamlined iteration ultimately used in "Returns." After Wang's cowl failed to project the required intimidation, however, costume designer and sculptor Jose Fernandez was brought in to craft the final version, which is seen throughout the final film. Interestingly enough, the lack of a strong neck was one of the criticisms of the suit used in 2008's "The Dark Knight" (which is still somehow better than you remember, suit issues aside).

For whatever reason, Wang's original cowl shows up in just one brief scene in the final film. But as producer of fan-made Batsuit replicas, Dark Roast Replicas, points out, his version of the suit was also used in promotional stills, in a poster for the Warner Bros. Studio tour, and was worn by Keaton's stunt double David Lea during shooting.