Batman is one of the few superhero lores that relies on the underlying actor’s skills and abilities to make it unique.
Be it Adam West’s muscular Batman or Christian Bale’s darker Batman, we have been given a different flavour of the masked vigilante throughout the years, replete with various treatments of Gotham and the characters involved. The Batmobile, as a result, has also evolved rapidly to mimic the mood of the script and give moviegoers one hell of a ride to remember.
The Batmobile’s evolution picked up momentum in the mid-1960s when the script felt the need to give Batman a bespoke vehicle with gadgets to take on the underworld of Gotham. In the late ’80s and early ’90s, the Batmobile evolved into serious machinery that only Batman could pilot, complete with wings and jet engines. The mid-2000s even saw the world of cinema create a robust tank-like Batmobile ramming through any obstacle it faced!
No wonder the moment when Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne laid his eyes on the first Batmobile prototype and asked Morgan Freeman’s Lucious Fox, “Does it come in black?”, the dialogue from Batman Begins (2005) became iconic.
The Batmobile has taken its evolution in an entirely different direction since then. Whether you like it or loathe it (does anyone even hate the Batmobile?), the powerful vehicle is a crucial character in pop culture.
Hence, as fans of the masked vigilante, we decided to take a look at the Batmobile evolution in the cinematic universe, starting from the very first car Batman drove and going all the way to Robert Pattinson’s muscular Batcar.
Which Is The Best Batman Movie? We Rank Them All From Best To Worst
13 Greatest Batman Villains Of All Time: From Joker To Two-Face
Best Batmobile designs and their evolution through the years
1939 Cadillac Series 75 Convertible
Based on: Stock car
TV Series: Batman (1943)
The first Batmobile was simply a car that anyone could drive in the 1940s – anyone who could afford a Cadillac back then, anyway. It was quite a marker of class and luxury, perfect for someone like Bruce Wayne.
However, the Batman of the 1940s wasn’t deemed cool enough to have a custom car with gadgets and weapons installed. Lewis Wilson’s Batman with Douglas Croft’s Robin used the Cadillac to embark on his adventures in the 1943 Columbia Pictures TV series. The only unique aspect about this Bat car was that the convertible roof went down when Bruce Wayne drove around and went up when Batman was in the car.
It seems that 1940s Batman preferred to go on his crime-fighting endeavours in full luxury at the expense of urgency.
1949 Mercury convertible
Based on: Stock car
TV Series: Batman (1949)
The sequel to the original TV series in 1949 saw Batman being portrayed by another actor and as expected, a new Batmobile was introduced. Sadly, it was still a stock car and for fans of the previous series, it was heart-wrenching to see the production house downgrade Batman’s car from a Cadillac to a Mercury. For reference, Mercury was the middle-class version of Lincoln, which was Ford’s answer to GM’s premier brand Cadillac.
Just like the previous Cadillac though, Batman’s Mercury convertible was just a stock car without any design references to the Bat theme. It was even said that the Mercury was so bad that the production crew had to use six different vehicles to complete the shooting.
Not quite the Batmobile we deserve, right?
1966 Batmobile
Based on: Lincoln Futura Concept
TV Series: Batman (1966)
When Adam West donned the role of the caped crusader in the mid-1960s, Batman was given a highly upgraded Batmobile. The iconic black car with red accents and the massive batwing-inspired fins was essentially the Lincoln Futura Concept car abandoned by Ford after its debut in 1955.
George Barris modified the Futura’s Italian body to accommodate the larger fins and leased it to the production house for the duration of the shoot. The double bubble canopy housing Batman was cool but TV special effects gave it even cooler gizmos like an onboard computer (an unbelievable feat for its time), radar, chain cutter, flame thrower, parachute-assisted 180-degree turn, lasers, rockets and everything our caped crusader needed to fight crime. It even got an atomic turbine engine, although there was a Chevy V8 engine powering the wheels underneath.
Despite all the on-screen trickery, the 1966 Batmobile remains one of the most sought-after iterations and is valued at almost USD 4.62 million. That’s fascinating for a concept car that Barris bought from Ford at USD 1.
1989 Batmobile
Based on: Chevrolet Impala with V8 engine
Movie: Batman (1989)
When director Tim Burton was tasked to give Batman a darker tone, he did two great things – cast Michael Keaton as the Dark Knight and introduced a badass Batmobile. The 1989 Batmobile is considered the best Batmobile ever created and the movie did justice to it.
Based on a modified Chevrolet Impala chassis with a V8 engine underneath, Keaton’s Batmobile embraced the bat theme well and gave our masked vigilante all the gadgets to take on Gotham’s worst. It featured a fake jet engine intake complete with an afterburner, stylish bat fins at the rear, a cool sliding canopy for the cockpit and those sleek yellow headlamps (which were borrowed from a late 1980s Honda Civic). The on-screen illusions gave it grappling hooks, machine guns, an onboard computer, bomb launchers, and a lot more.
The coolest part was the Batmissile mode, which allowed the car to jettison its extra parts to slide through narrow streets. Practical!
After Tim Burton’s Batman Returns in 1992, DC Comics brought back this 1989 Batmobile to the theatres in The Flash (2023), albeit for a cameo.
1995 Batmobile
Based on: NA
Movie: Batman Forever (1995)
Val Kilmer’s Batman may not be everyone’s favourite version of the caped crusader but his Batmobile was unforgettable. The ‘mohawk’ batcar had presented an evolution of the Keaton Batmobile, complete with its sliding cockpit canopy and overall profile. The oddly shaped and sized bat wings, the illuminated front highlighting the ribbed body panels and the afterburner at the back made it seem like a toy though – something which didn’t sit well with most fans.
While it resembled an actual bat, its presence in the movie was far from desirable when compared to its predecessor.
1997 Batmobile
Based on: NA
Movie: Batman and Robin (1997)
George Clooney’s Batman is certainly not what any DC Comics fan had on their mind in the late 1990s. It seemed like a parody of the previous Batman movies and the same can be said for the Batmobile. It was an extremely comical evolution of Burton’s 1989 Batmobile with pulsating lights, an overbearing afterburner, a RedBird cutoff switch, a video conferencing screen and bladed front wings. Thankfully, it had a high top speed of 140 mph to make up for the hideous visual treatment.
The 1997 Batmobile is best forgotten, just like the movie it debuted in.
2005 Tumbler
Based on: Military vehicle
Movie: Batman Begins (2005)
When Christopher Nolan was tasked to create a new Batmobile for his Dark Knight trilogy, he sat down with Nathan Crowley to create the Tumbler. Presented in the movie as a military vehicle to create bridges, Bruce Wayne got it painted in black and used it to save Rachel from Scarecrow’s fear toxin.
Bale’s Batmobile presented an assault vehicle that married the toughness of a military tank with the stealthy looks of a Lamborghini. It retained the afterburner from the 1989 version for making those long jumps off the rooftops and added a new attack mode to let Batman lay down and focus on the road ahead. It had a machine gun too. Bale’s Batmobile looked menacing in action and is a sight to behold in the trilogy.
In 2008’s The Dark Knight, the Batmobile makes itself useful after the Joker fires a bazooka in an attempt to kill Batman. Once immobile, the damaged Batmobile transforms into a two-wheeled Batpod with rotating wheels and a machine gun. This Batpod also made an appearance in 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises as Catwoman’s preferred mode of transportation while Batman was flying in The Bat aircraft.
2016 Batmobile
Based on: NA
Movie: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
Ben Affleck’s Batman was another controversial chapter in the history of the masked crusader but his Batmobile raised eyebrows. In a bid to bridge the gap between Nolan’s armoured tank and Burton’s swanky jet-powered sports car, the 2016 Batmobile was a fusion of the two concepts with sleek bodywork featuring some serious armour plating. With a machine mounted at the front and a couple of cool gadgets to exploit, the 2016 Batmobile looked more like a car rather than a tank. It wasn’t as memorable though.
In 2017’s Justice League, the studio upgraded the Batmobile with missile launchers and a more menacing bodywork. While it may have scared the parademons in the movie, this version of the Batmobile was not as memorable as some of its predecessors. The idea of seeing the Batmobile getting wrecked on the screen made it seem less cool.
On the whole, a largely forgettable Batmobile.
2022 Batmobile
Based on: Custom muscle car
Movie: The Batman (2022)
As Robert Pattinson heralded the new era with Matt Reeves’ The Batman, his Batmobile reflected the new approach to the character. Unlike the specialised military vehicles of the past, Pattinson’s Batmobile was designed to seem like a car Bruce Wayne would build himself, not induct alien technology. While it looks like a muscle car from Dodge, the production house commissioned a bespoke sports car with a Chevrolet V8 engine, underglow hood vents with pipes splitting flames and the traditional afterburner fitted to the back of the rear-mounted engine.
Since it wanted to be real, the Batmobile was devoid of any weaponry. Batman’s driving skills were the only thing this car got to steer clear of the enemies.
Fun fact: Did you know that the hero car shown in the movie was an EV? The production house built an EV for the camera, a petrol-powered V8-engine stunt car for ramming into obstacles, another petrol car for making the jumps and the fourth petrol car for stunt driving. They all looked the same and you heard only the V8 exhaust note in the movie.
Best Movies And Series Featuring The Joker: ‘The Dark Knight’ And Beyond
‘The Brave And The Bold’: What We Know About The Upcoming Batman Movie
(Hero and Featured Image Credits: Courtesy Jose Rueda via Unsplash)
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
The Batmobile first showed up in 1943’s Batman TV series.
Nine versions of the Batmobile exist to date.
The latest Batmobile (seen in 2022's The Batman) is a bespoke muscle car powered by a rear-mounted Chevrolet V8 engine and is devoid of any gadgetry, save for the afterburner of a jet engine.
The DC universe fandom considers the 1989 Batmobile driven by Michael Keaton in Batman (1989) as the best-looking Batmobile created.
