We feel that Joel Schumacher should now be pardoned for the Batman episode. Since his disastrous neon version of Gotham City happened, two more Batman films have been released and a lot of water has flown under the bridge. Still, he is saying apologies for the tinkering that he did with the iconic DC Comics character. A lot of time has gone by already and it seems unfair to keep grilling him for his Bat designs.
The biggest flak he received was about the nipples on his Bat suit and this once again came up for discussion during a recent interview. This is what Schumacher said about the story behind his addition of nipples to the Bruce Wayne costume:
Well, it was made by Jose Fernandez, who was our brilliant lead sculpture. If you look at Batman and Batman Returns, it was the genius, Bob Ringwood, that created those suits, so by the time we got toBatman Forever, the rubber and techniques had gotten so sophisticated. If you look at when Michael Keaton appears in the first suit, you’ll notice how large it is. It was brilliant, but the best they could do at the time. By the time Batman Forever came around, rubber molding had become so much more advanced. So I said, let’s make it anatomical and gave photos of those Greek status and those incredible anatomical drawings you see in medical books. He did the nipples, and when I looked at them, I thought, ‘That’s cool.’
However, fans didn’t buy that idea. The Bat Nipples went on to become the central piece of any ‘Don’t Do’ list about the Batman. Through the discussion, Schumacher tried to explain why he believed in it being the right thing to do. There has been a barrage of taunts that shadowed Batman & Robin or the other Batman villains such as Poison Ivy, Mr. Freeze, Two-Face and Bane. It is weird to think that we had been criticizing the nipples on the Bat suit while all those comical characters played the main villain against him in the films done by Schumacher.
In fact, we feel that the nipples helped free the Batman franchise. While the Joel Schumacher’s Batman films had almost garish over-the-top sort of feel, Christopher Nolan did the opposite in his Batman Begins. His portrayal of Batman was very basic and he presented the Dark Knight with a very limited crime fighting arsenal. His film had a clear explanation for Batmobile and a redone costume. Not only that he went on to include a backstrory about the cave and the weapons used by Batman. Therefore, he created the version of Batman that we love now.
Therefore, we believe that we should now pardon Joel Schumacher and let him go on with his life. DCEU offers so much now and there is no reason for us to keep looking back and feeling bitter about something long done and dusted.
