

It’s clear that Schumacher wanted to explore the gay undertones of the relationship between Batman and Robin. There are easy heterosexual reads of the film that would ignore all of the movie’s subtext. But, there is plenty to digest and analyze. So, while this article is going to be a deep dive into how gay Batman Forever is, it’s important to note that all of this is just beneath the surface of what you see in the movie. He used his big-budget franchise moment to sneak in a lot about gay/bisexual relationships. However, director Joel Schumacher took the reins after Tim Burton’s departure and Schumacher has been an openly gay artist for the majority of his career. In 1995, general audiences wouldn’t have been too keen on such overtly queer characters in their superhero movie. Now, it’s worth noting that Batman Forever isn’t explicitly bringing up gay/bisexual relationships. Read Between the Lines You don't need to look too deeply to see how. And that’s its status as the first major superhero film to attempt to discuss homosexuality and bisexuality. While this did lead to many fans not vibing with the shift in tone, Batman Forever has an incredibly important place in superhero history.
#Batman forever movie armor update
Taking inspiration from the 1966 television series, Batman Forever became a ’90s update of the vibrant and campy take on the Caped Crusader. After the intensely grim Batman Returns - which is the best live-action Batman film - the studio decided to turn things around and get goofy. “Seriously.Batman Forever is not exactly a widely beloved entry in the Batman filmography. You complain about me, I’m too weird, I’m too dark, and then you put nipples on the costume? Go fuck yourself,'” Burton vented to Empire magazine. “Batman Returns” director Tim Burton recently slammed Schumacher’s “Batman Forever,” released after the studio grew disillusioned Burton’s dark take on the Gotham Knight. The movie was just all over the map - it was silly and bombastic, and there are times where you got shots focused on just Batman’s ass. “To me, it was like a stage musical, but without the music, more than it was a Batman movie. I was at the screening, but I was thinking to myself, ‘This is not good,'” he said. “I don’t even know that I finished the film, to be honest. It was a bit obscene, so we took the nipples off.”Īnd Fernandez doesn’t consider himself a fan of the finished product anyways. “After I sculpted it though, everybody realized, maybe not. “They said, ‘If the guys have nipples, the girls should have nipples, too,'” Fernandez remembered. While the suits for Clooney’s Batman and O’Donnell’s Robin both featured the design, production passed on adding nipples to Alicia Silverstone’s Batgirl costume. I had no idea there was going to end up being all this buzz about it.” I didn’t want to do it, but he’s the boss, so we sharpened them, circled them and it all became kind of ridiculous.”įernandez added, “I don’t know exactly where my head was at back in the day, but that’s what I remember. They were also circled, both outer and inner - it was all made into a feature of the batsuit. “But for ‘Batman & Robin’, Joel Schumacher loved the nipples, so he said, ‘Let’s showcase them,'” Fernandez continued, “Schumacher wanted them sharpened, like, with points.
#Batman forever movie armor series
Oscars 2023: Best Visual Effects PredictionsĮmmy Predictions: Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series - 'Abbott Elementary' Edges Closer 'Ticket to Paradise' Trailer: Julia Roberts and George Clooney Are Divorcées with a Spark George Clooney's 'Batman & Robin' Nipple Suit Hits Auction with $40,000 Starting Bid And while the nipple-forward “Batman Forever” suit started with “just a little blob of clay” on the chest, Fernandez called the “subtle” styling decision a “blip” at first. “And, in the comic books, the characters always looked like they were naked with spray paint on them - it was all about anatomy, and I like to push anatomy.”įernandez previously worked with Tim Burton on “Batman Returns” crafting the Catwoman suit prototype. “It wasn’t fetish to me, it was more informed by Roman armor - like Centurions,” Fernandez told MEL Magazine. “Batman & Robin” costume designer Jose Fernandez detailed the strong design decision to “showcase” Batman’s nipples, first in the 1995 film “Batman Forever” starring Val Kilmer, and even further (and infamously) accentuated for 1997 follow-up “Batman & Robin” with George Clooney and Chris O’Donnell as the titular Gotham heroes. Joel Schumacher’s “Batman” films are famous not just for the set design and campy aesthetic, but for the “sharpened” nipples visible on the superhero suits.
