It’s obvious that Batman v. Superman is loosely based on Frank Miller’s masterpiece,
the Dark Knight Returns and one of the most interesting parallels is the powered exoskeleton
that Bruce Wayne dons to take on Superman in both.
It should be obvious, but this video contains some spoilers for The Dark Knight Returns.
The book came out in 1986. That was the same year Top Gun came out. You’ve had time.
Get over it.
In the book, Bruce Wayne has retired as Batman for ten years and decides to don the cape
and cowl again at the ripe old age of fifty five. His return however is met with mixed
reviews and after he seemingly kills The Joker, Superman is sent by the United States government
to bring him in.
It’s no surprise that an old man can’t take on the last son of Krypton alone and
even though Superman was weak after moving an atomic bomb, Batman still needed some extra
muscle for their showdown.
Batman’s powered armor makes its one and only appearance in their climactic battle
and it’s chock full of tricks including acid that sprays out of his gauntlets, a sonic
gun, spiky cleats, and some sort of bomb that he carries in his utility belt.
Speaking of, it’s common knowledge that Batman switches up the contents of his utility
belt depending on the mission and while it’s unknown what exactly he brought into battle
with Superman, here’s what Bruce was packing in issue one.
Nerve gas ampules, freezing compound, cable and grappling hooks, a stethoscope, and pain
killers. However, just a few pages later, he uses a military stimulant that makes people
hallucinate their worst nightmares.
However, all of this was not enough to take down Superman. Now I’m sure that many of
you guys are wondering “Why didn’t Batman use his Kryptonite ring?!” Fun fact, while
that ring was originally made by Lex Luthor in 1962, it didn’t make its way into Batman’s
hands until 1990, four years after The Dark Knight Returns was published! The most Bruce
could do was create a synthetic Kryptonite that he had Oliver Queen, the Green Arrow,
shoot at Supes, but even then, the man of steel survived. Mainly because Bruce Wayne
had a fake heart attack. But hey, now you know the history of that really cool armor
from the movie!
If this seemed short, it’s because the suit only appeared for a short time in the last
issue of The Dark Knight Returns. If you want to read it for yourself, start with issue
one or pick up the self contained graphic novel.
So what Batman suit do you like me to talk about in the future? The Justice Buster or
the Batman Beyond suit? Click or comment to cast your vote! If you watched this video,
then you must like Batman so click on this annotation right here and you’ll be taken
to a playlist of ALL my Batman videos, enjoy!