Robert Pattinson's Batmobile Is What Happens When CGI Takes A Backseat

Batmobile had to look like something Wayne could build

The latest iteration of Batmobile is one of the most fear-inducing and visceral-sounding crime-fighting machines ever made a back-to-basics approach Reeve and the production designer James Chindlund took when designing Bruce Wayne's ride of choice.

A key figure in designing the Batmobile is Digital Artist Ash Thorpe, known for his work on Total Recall and fan shorts like Awaken Akira.

"During the incept stages of the design process for The Batman, many ideas and concepts were thrown into the project to see which connected most with the themes and the world that Matt had envisioned. As I mentioned in previous posts I submitted a variation of concepts until we landed on the general concept of the Batmobile that you see in the film"

Ash Thorp

Ash presented several touchpoints to Matt Reeves before finally settling on the one you saw Robert Pattinson drive while chasing Penguin who drove a Maserati Ghibli. His initial ideas were based heavily on Nolan's version of Batmobile and the iconic 6-wheeled Tyrell F1 car.

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Still, Matt wanted something that people could relate to, the Batmobile had to be handcrafted, something Batman was capable of building himself in his Batcave rather than some sci-fi, gloss black, laser spewing multi-million dollar piece of equipment he just bought from Lucius Fox.

Thorp stated he used tools like Maxon Cinema 4K and Corona Renderer to make Matt's vision a reality.

Looks Like It's run on Vengeance.

The exoskeleton of the Batmobile is made from 3D-fabricated Aluminum parts made by Curvature Group. Batmobile was designed in a such way that everyday folks could relate to it in one way or another.

Source - Warner Bros

That's why it looks like a junkyard-sourced, spaceshipy, off-road muscle car kind of thing. The whole purpose of Batmobile is to act as a deterrent, to instill spine-chilling fear into the heart of evil, just like the floodlights that were used to light up Gotham sky at night by Gordon.

 “a creature from a horror film. It’s meant to intimidate.” 

Matt Reeves

The front of the car is pretty barebones and was heavily reinforced by the production team so that it could survive all the stunt work, which FYI is among the best I have seen in a long time.

The whole car looks menacing with raggedy edges and sort of rusted black paintwork which was deliberately done so that the Batmobile doesn't look like a shiny new garage queen that Batman never drives.

Source - Warner Bros

The rear is by far the most engaging aspect of the car that houses a Big Block LS3 heavily reworked to fit underneath the bodywork. It makes about 700 hp which is sent to either the Front, rear, or all wheels via a custom-made transfer case.

A Total of 4 Batmobiles were built

Robert Pattinson's Batmobile is made up of more than 2000 individual parts nearly all of which are custom fabricated and replicated 3X more times. A total of 4 batmobiles were made.

One was made as a full-fledged Batcar whose sound you heard and felt in theatres it had the whole shebang complete with flame throwers and red lightning underneath the intake manifold but was powered by an electric motor.

Firing up that big old V8 for every scene is not economical, even for a Billionaire like Bruce Wayne.

The second Batmobile was way lighter and had long-travel shocks and suspension used for the jump scenes, remember the scene in Batman when Robert Pattinson engages the jet engine and jumps off the ramp, the Batmobile you saw there was this one.

The third Batmobile was used to ram into stuff while a fourth one was used as a Camera car. The interior of the is a no-frill and satisfyingly analog affair. After all, you don't need cruise control and ventilated seats while chasing one of the most notorious crime bosses in the DC universe.

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There are gauges of all sorts laid neatly around the car along with several readouts indicating various temps and pressures. A fighter jet-style lever in the center console engages the Jet Engine, if Penguin thinks otherwise.

What Will The 2026 Batmobile Look Like?

It's hard to speculate this early, but maybe Bruce Wayne will appreciate some sort of electrical assistance.

The 2022 Batmobile didn't have any fancy gas launchers or machine guns but it might change because the next Batman movie will have an even tougher set of Villains (maybe Court of Owls or Calender Man) that won't be intimidated Robert Pattinson's vanilla 2022 Batmobile.

Which will forever remain one of the greatest Bat cars ever capable of inducing endless giggles among fans every time that jet engine fires up.