When fans think of iconic automobiles in pop culture, what comes to mind? It’s a safe bet that most fans likely have one of Batman’s famous variants of the batmobile streaking across our minds. After all, the eccentric and stylish rough-and-tumble vehicle has been a pop culture fixture before the majority of us were even born.
But what makes the batmobile so mesmerizing? Is it because we know that it strikes as much fear in the hearts of criminals as its legendary operator? Or do the numerous weapons and gadgetry that are just begging to be deployed against the seedy underbelly of Gotham spark our imagination and inner child-like joy? Maybe, just maybe, the batmobile’s visual appeal takes cool and edgy to the next level. With Matt Reeve's The Batman on the horizon and the introduction of a new Batmobile, it's important to recognize the famous legacy of Batman's stylish steed.
10 Batman Begins
Christopher Nolan’s take on the Batman mythos sought to bring a level of grounded reality to the character. When designing Caped Crusader’s ride, aiming for maximum defense and power was the goal. After all, what sort of vehicle screams “I’m ready for a fight” more than a battle tank?
The Tumbler was just that. A tank with a sleek modern design and a fresh coat of snappy black paint is all you need to masquerade as the bat and drive across the rooftops of Gotham City. Yes, rooftops. You heard that right.
9 Batman: Arkham Knight
Speaking of tanks, Rocksteady’s game for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC, Batman: Arkham Knight, put players directly in the driver’s seat of the Batmobile. From a reception standpoint, many weren’t thrilled with the repetitive tank-like combat required at several points throughout the game.
However, that didn’t change the fact that the technologically-enhanced capabilities of the vehicle to adapt between high-speed chase combat and more stationary forms of combat were next-level by visual design standards. In the Arkham world, the Batmobile was an absolute beast.
8 Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice may have not been the critical darling of the DCEU that everyone hoped for, but the film unmistakably oozed style. Director Zack Snyder may not be known for epic storytelling, but visually his character and set designs alongside pulse-pounding action sequences deliver the goods.
The Batmobile effortlessly gained approval from bat fans all over with its low-riding long-hood approach. The elongated hood is, of course, a call back to the era of Tim Burton’s Batman. However, this Batmobile managed to combine the hot rod car shape with the tank-like exterior of the Tumbler for one sweet ride complete with hood-mounted machine guns to boot.
7 Batman (1960s TV series)
While the 60s Batmobile might seem flashy by today’s standards, it was actually quite conservative for its time. Famed custom automobile designer George Barris was asked by ABC to design Batman’s car for the show.
Using a 1955 show car that he had purchased, the Lincoln Futura, Barris gave the car the color-scheme and the bubble windshield look that we know of today. Batman and his faithful ward, Robin, were ready to fight crime in style.
6 Lego Batman
It may be packing a heap of bricks under the hood instead of a twin V10 engine, but this Batmobile is part of Batman’s enduring legacy thanks to the 2017 film. Like Batmobiles that have come before it, the filmmakers opted to take inspiration from past iterations.
This Batmobile manages to incorporate the long snout of the Animated Series and 1989 Batman. However, instead of riding low to the ground, it is jacked up high giving it the feeling of being able to handle any terrain including but not limited to urban destruction and debris – or Lego bricks. With exhaust headers on both sides of the car and the staple bat fins to boot, this Batmobile feels like it’s ready for a destruction derby.
5 Batman Forever
Joel Schumacher isn’t known for his conservative approach to Batman. As Batman only operates under the cover of night, everyone is going to see this Batmobile coming a mile away with its bright blue glow emanating from the body and wheels of the vehicle.
RELATED: 10 Comic Book Inventions We Wish We Had In Real Life
As an aesthetic choice, the Batmobile underwent a makeover from the Burton-era with gill-like vents marking the body as well as a rather large third fin for the back – as if two weren’t enough. The grappling hook in this puppy allows batman to scale building walls – because why not?
4 1950s Batmobile
The 1950s Batmobile graced the pages of comic books everywhere with an era-appropriate Chrysler 300C body, a bubble dome cab, a fin on the back, and a Batman icon on the front.
By today’s standards, the retrofuturism is a bit wild. But in the 50s it gave the Dark Knight the punch he needed to patrol the streets in style. Prior to this version, Batmobiles tended to look like ordinary cars that didn’t exactly exude the panache we now associate with Batman’s famous set of wheels.
3 The Dark Knight Returns
Frank Miller’s gripping Cold War thriller version of Gotham City in The Dark Knight Returns actually put Batman in the cockpit of a tank for his Batmobile. While the Tumbler from Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy and the thunderous Arkham Knight vision of the Batmobile on video game platforms were tank-like in appearance, Frank Miller’s vision for a weaponized vehicle was an actual tank.
It came complete with the tracks we’re used to seeing on tanks. Because traditional wheels are out the window, any sense of speed goes right along with it. This Batmobile was built for rugged terrain – the very reason tanks are outfitted with tracks instead of wheels. Batman uses this beast for his one-man assault on the deadly mutant gang plaguing Gotham City.
2 Batman: The Animated Series
Coming off the heels of the 1989 Tim Burton film Batman, Bruce Timm, Paul Dini, and Mitch Brian created the animated series for television that many 90s kids are intimately familiar with. Batman, voiced by vocal talent Kevin Conroy, would face Mark Hamill’s Joker and other villains week after week in Gotham City.
The Batmobile followed Tim Burton’s precedent with the long hood but even more so being exaggerated for cartoonish effect. The pronounced low-riding, long body carried forward the 80s and 90s tradition of being sleek, quick, and ready for business.
1 Batman (1989)
Perhaps the most popular Batmobile among fans, Tim Burton’s Batman brought the vehicle forward into the new age away from the bright and campy days of the 60s into the darker, grittier times of the 80s. Batman was a brutal, criminal-punishing hero and his jet black ride had to exhibit that. The long-hood and curvature of the body are matched by the jet turbine engine meant to place speed front and center. Essentially, criminals better know that they aren’t escaping this thing.
Outfitted with grappling hooks, flammable oil slick offensive capabilities, a central arm cable of lifting the car and swiveling it 360 degrees, and cocoon-like armor, Batman was ready for any occasion. The car could even transform by dropping some baggage and compressing the vehicle making it capable of fitting in narrow pathways. This one is sure to carry onward alongside Batman’s immortal legacy.