Recently, I got to make this film Batman v Superman, and in the process, I had to design a Batman character. I had to do a suit. I dont know if you know anything about the process, but what you do is over months of meticulous designing and editing, you come to an aesthetic you believe will be the Batman you want to see. Along with my costume designer Michael Wilkinson, we did just that and we came to the point where we were going to test the suit on Ben [Affleck]. So, we had built a set of an alley, graffiti, barrels with fire, steamy stuff, and it was this very kind of noir-ish setting to film our Batman for the first time. Ben put the suit on and we put him in front of the camera and I was just having him turn and look around looking Batman-ish, and it was amazing because I felt in that moment that I had achieved this goal that I had set out for myself. When I looked at Ben, he was the perfect personification of the Batman I had in my mind.
After the ceremony, Snyder also talked to Comic Book Resources about the character. Batman, unlike Superman or Wonder Woman or Flash, is a guy without powers, Snyder said. Hes a man. Hes all of us. I think thats it. We all carry around a hero inside of ourselves every day. Its that guy. Its Batman. I thank Bob for that. we all owe him a debt of gratitude. In that hero that we carry around, we realize that the hero is us, because hes just the man. In truth, we are all the Batman.
As far as the Batsuit, Snyder added that he had a really strong idea about what I wanted to do I really wanted to do sort of a fabric-based Batman; not whats become the more normal, armored Batman. Thats how we evolved it.
And what new elements did he want to bring to the character that viewers havent seen before? I definitely wanted an older Batman. I wanted a war-weary Batman. Thats why, in a lot of ways, Ben was really perfect for me we kind of aged him a little bit. It worked really great. Im really excited about the Batman we created.
Snyder also mentioned the Frank Miller influence on the film. There are so many great artists who have drawn Batman. So many great comics that have been created its countless. I was talking to Frank about it: Dark Knight Returns was such a big influence on me, that I wanted to to honor him through imagery in the movie. You could still make Dark Knight Returns into a movie, if you want. Thats what Im saying, as far as how much we used and how much we didnt use. The visual elements, there are some that I homage, but I dont think the movie [is an adaptation].