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Exclusive: 'The Art of the Batman' brings Batcave concept art, on-set pics & more out of the shadows
The Art of the Batman goes on sale from Abrams Books Tuesday, April 19.
Still revved up over Matt Reeves' big screen interpretation of DC's Caped Crusader? So are we! To help keep that Batmobile engine going strong (how else are you going to catch the Penguin?), SYFY WIRE has three exclusive pages from The Art of The Batman.
Hitting stands by way of Abrams Books next month, the companion book offers up an in-depth look at the latest Dark Knight reboot — from concept art, to never-before-seen photographs from the set, to interviews with the various creatives who worked on the project.
***WARNING! The following contains certain plot spoilers for the movie!***
Our first photo, which shows Reeves directing Paul Dano's Riddler on-set, comes from the Foreword penned by the director and co-writer himself. In it, the filmmaker recalls how he once saw Batman on his ceiling during a particularly nasty fever as a child. "I hope revealing a little of our process may touch and inspire some of you who are interested in the same thing. The drive to find meaning through art," he writes. "Looking back on it now, it all feels like a fever dream. The Batman from my ceiling now flickers on the big screen."
Up next, we've got a piece of concept art for the Batcave. A break from longstanding tradition, this iteration of Batman's drab hideout is located beneath Wayne Tower instead of the opulent manor house fans so often associate with the vigilante. Production designer James Chinlund based the look of this particular Batcave on a train station located underneath the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City. The prevailing rumor is that a train is always at the ready to make a hasty escape if catastrophe strikes while the president is in town.
"I always loved that idea and thought it was so romantic, so I thought about the idea that if you were the Waynes and you had created this city, you would probably have your own secret train terminal over the tower," Chinlund states in the book.
The last exclusive image given to us comes from the tail end of the film's 3-hour runtime, in which Batman (played by Robert Pattinson) defeats the Riddler's minions and helps save the lives of the citizens holed up at the Gotham Square Garden sports arena during the flood. By the very end of the adventure, Bruce Wayne realizes that he needs to rethink his whole "Vengeance" shtick if he's going to continue on his path as a costumed crime-fighter. The idea of Batman bringing hope to Gotham is nothing new, but Pattinson saw this as a chance to shake up the dynamic between the hero and his hometown.
"I think a lot of the endings of Batman stories is that it ends with Batman believing that he's given hope to the city, and he thinks the symbol of Batman and what he's done throughout the story will hopefully inspire the city to have a more hopeful outlook, and create a brighter future," the actor explains. "In this, I always imagined that he's so committed to darkness and nihilism that it's actually the city which opens up himself for a bit of hope."
Written by James Field, The Art of the Batman goes on sale Tuesday, April 19. Click here to pre-order a copy. The Batman is currently playing in theaters everywhere if you'd like to associate yourself with every aspect of the film's aesthetic before the book is released.
After 10 days in theaters, The Batman is fast closing the gap on $500 million at the worldwide box office.
