Hold onto your butts, Bat-fans.
Director Matt Reeves has shared images of the new Batmobile from the upcoming reboot
The Batman, and we think it's pretty safe to say that they do not disappoint.
In keeping with past iterations of the iconic vehicle, the new version looks very lean,
very mean, and very fast.
"Show me my car."
Pretend for a moment you're some lowlife, up to no good in Gotham City; maybe you're
pulling off a jewelry store heist, or holding up an armored truck.
Is this the absolute last thing you'd want to see, or what?
Here's an overhead view:
Sleek, black, and obviously built for speed, like if a manta ray were an automobile.
We're sure you're already sold, but wait, we saved the best for last:
Look.
At.
That.
Now that is a car that nobody but Batman would be capable of driving for more than a block
without wrapping it around the nearest telephone pole, sending it sky-high in a ball of rocket
fuel-fed flames.
Not only are Batman die-hards bound to be drooling puddles over these photos, but we're
thinking that if you're a car person, your eyes are popping out of your head right now.
"I gotta get me one of those."
For starters, you've probably gotten the idea that Bruce Wayne did not build this car from
scratch, and you'd be right.
Our best guess: this vehicle began life as a 1970 Dodge Challenger, a legendary muscle
car that made up for what it lacked in handling ability with raw, screaming power.
There are a couple of other models it could be; the Pontiac GTOs of the late '60s come
to mind.
But given those deeply recessed headlights, extremely low profile, and distinctive curves,
we're pretty sure that Wayne went with a Dodge.
You'll note, however, that there are a few modern touches.
The trapezoidal tail lights, along with the rear window-mounted third brake light, are
obvious after-market modifications.
Also, looking closely at the rear view, you'll notice there's a small video display mounted
in-dash; touchscreen GPS units were not in widespread use at the time The Batman is thought
to be set, around the mid- to late- 2000s, but this is Bruce Wayne we're talking about.
"I'm rich."
Finally, the engine.
The freaking engine.
It looks like an absolutely massive V10, with enormous vertical exhausts up each side.
That big ring in the center?
Afterburner, obviously; you don't want to stand anywhere near it, ever.
Oh, and if you're wondering if any '60s or '70s muscle cars featured rear-mounted engines,
the answer is, "No, not one of them."
Why on Earth would Master Bruce have relocated the engine to the rear of the car?
Why, to make room for something else under the hood, of course.
Something, we're thinking, like a big, fat array of weapons and/or gadgets.
Aside from that afterburner, which you know will just spit a gigantic stream of fire,
this Batmobile doesn't bear much resemblance to the iterations we've seen in the past.
It's the only version we've ever seen that looks like a modified, commercially available
vehicle; even the '60s Batmobile was based on the Lincoln Futura, a concept car that
was never released to the public.
The Batmobile driven by Michael Keaton's Caped Crusader in 1989's Batman was quite obviously
a custom design, with its enormous size necessary for concealing all of the "wonderful toys"
which it could deploy.
With Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, the Batmobile's design took an even harder
turn into custom territory; dubbed the "Tumbler," it wasn't so much a car as it was a highly
armored, customizable, multi-configuration assault vehicle of the type that any military
worth its salt would shell out millions for.
"What's that?"
"Oh, the Tumbler?
You wouldn't be interested in that."
In keeping with the DIY, repurposed aesthetic of the new Batsuit, though, this new Batmobile
looks a bit like a first draft, an insanely fast, powerful, kickass first draft, but a
first draft nonetheless.
Perhaps Wayne will have upgraded by the time we see The Batman 2.
This version, though, looks absolutely ferocious, and if Bats' legions of fans hadn't whipped
themselves up into a frenzy over this flick before, we think it's safe for them to start
doing so now.
"Chicks dig the car."
The Batman hits the big screen on June 25, 2021.
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