Robert abilities of the version of the caped crusader wearing it.
While Batman has sported a wide variety of Ben Affleck's Batman was the first to bring the classic gray fabric to life (of course with armor underneath). Affleck actually wore five different batman costumes during his time, with various combinations of fabric and light armor, but he was also the first live-action Batman to incorporate an armored exoskeleton in his fight against Superman. While Pattinson's costume clearly doesn't go that far, it may have more in common with Affleck's power suit than meets the eye.
Now that The Batman is in active principal photography, a number of set photos have surfaced of Matt Reeves initial reveal of Pattinson's camera test, such as the array of mysterious implements along the top of his gauntlets, but another minor detail could mean big things about this suit and abilities it'll give Pattinson's Batman.
Pattinson's Batsuit Could Hide an Exoskeleton
Since the costume reveal in the camera test and many of the first set photos only revealed Batman's upper body, this detail wasn't as noticeable, but on many shots of Batman riding his motorcycle, there appears to be vertical s running up the leg to the knee, and again from the knee to the waist. It could certainly just be a design in the pants, but thanks to modern technological breakthroughs, it possible the suit also has some additional built-in . It's impossible to from the set photos alone, so we won't know without official verification from the filmmakers, but the notion makes enough sense on its own to merit exploration.
While exoskeletons of the past have been quite bulky and slow, militaries around the world have recently begun to develop far more efficient technology looking to simply augment the wearer's strength and endurance instead of serving as full-blown mech armor. In fact, a very similar technology was already employed by Christian Bale's Batman in Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy had incurred an injury to his knee that made him step down as Gotham's protector. But when Bruce Wayne finds it necessary to suit up once again, he acquires a mechanical knee brace that augments his t in order to allow him to return to the field.
A Modern Batman Would Use Modern Exoskeleton Tech in His Suit
In the years since The Dark Knight Rises, this kind of technology has become a reality and is even found in common use in by many companies, such Ford's factory floors to workers who spend lots of time on their feet and regularly boxes or perform any other repetitive motion. The suits don't totally replace human muscles, but merely provide and mild assistance preventing t injury, increasing stamina, and mildly augmenting strength. These suits are exactly the kind of thing a modern Wayne Industries would be involved in developing, if not using in their own facilities.
And, of course, anything in use at Wayne Industries is fair game for the Batman, presuming they didn't unknowingly develop it for him in the first place. Looking back at the Nolan batsuit and the way it was augmented by available Wayne resources, makes it easy to imagine Pattinson's Batman employing something similar. In fact, Justice League Mortal almost did something similar.
The exciting prospect of such a technology being in use for Pattinson's Batman is it would allow a more grounded take on Batman to still be able to believably prowl Gotham city all night and climb rooftops and fight crime in a heavy batsuit loaded down with gear without quickly losing stamina or developing permanent t issues. And it would all be able to hide in the structure of his suit (with a little bit of additional high-tech engineering available through fiction).
Since Batman is already typically depicted at peak human fitness and endurance, this technology would push him 10-20% further, resulting in local legends of a vigilante performing feats that would seem superhuman to anyone unfamiliar with the technology hiding in his suit, but it wouldn't go so far as turning Batman into some sort of Iron Man or other superhero of a similar power set, keeping him grounded and street level.
Who knows if this is the true route being taken by Matt Reeves for Robert Pattinson's iteration of Batman. The idea is only hinted at in some blurry set photos, but it's a modern technology that's sure to be commonplace in future Batman iterations, and a similar technology was already employed by Christian Bale's Dark Knight. One of the most mysterious aspects of Matt Reeves' Batman is the mysteries surrounding his costume and gadgets, so it'll be exciting to learn more about them as production continues.
