These early production models of a Michael Keaton Batman Forever costume give us a glimpse of what might have been.
One of the great what-ifs in superhero movie history remains "what if Tim Burton and Michael Keaton had done Batman Forever." Now we at least know a little bit more about what a Michael Keaton Batman 3would have looked like, thanks to images of these costume sculpts from early in Batman Forever's production.
The sculpt is by Jose Fernandez, who also sculpted Catwoman's cowl in Batman Returns and the Robin suit in Batman and Robin. The top two look like the "sonar" batsuit from Batman Forever, while the bottom resembles that film's primary costume.
Check 'em out:
Don't get too excited over the grey suit. That's probably just the material used for the sculpt, and this likely would have been painted black like the other batsuits in the franchise. But the yellow oval with the contrast of the black cape, boots, and gloves on a grey bodysuit does look pretty striking when put in the context of the '90s Batmanmovies, doesn't it? The lack of nipples doesn't hurt, either.
I'm not sure about the exact chronology of these photos, which originally surfaced on the Brotherhood of the Bat message board and comes to us via The Movies (with a hat-tip to some old friends, too). It's likely that these were made after Tim Burton had departed the project, but before Michael Keaton did.
We outlined how Tim Burton's Batman 3 became Batman Forever right here, if you'd like to read more.
Mike Cecchini believes no batsuit is complete without the yellow oval. Join his crusade on Twitter.
