Director Tim Burton has rejoined the Batman discourse with some strong opinions about the infamous Batsuit nipples from Batman Forever. Speaking with Empire Magazine, Burton discusses his reactions to the Batman film franchise since he last worked on it and was edged out in 1992–which, believe it or not, can be best summed up by his reaction to the nipples.
Noting that he hasn’t yet seen Matt Reeves’ The Batman, but would “like to,” Burton says it’s ironic that the Caped Crusader is allowed to explore darker tones. “[Back then with Batman Forever and Batman & Robin] they went the other way,” said Burton (via Variety). “That’s the funny thing about it. But then I was like, ‘Wait a minute. Okay. Hold on a second here. You complain about me, I’m too weird, I’m too dark, and then you put nipples on the costume? Go f*** yourself.'” Which is why, Burton thinks, he ultimately was not allowed to direct a third Batman film in the ’90s.
“I’m not just overly dark,” Burton added. “That represents me in the sense that… that’s just how I see things. It’s not meant as pure darkness… I really feel fondly about [Batman Returns] because of the weird experiment that it felt like.”
As Variety also points out, Batman franchise lead sculptor Jose Fernandez recently spoke to Mel Magazine about the inspiration for the Batsuit nipples. “It wasn’t fetish to me, it was more informed by Roman armor–like Centurions,” said Fernandez. “In the comic books, the characters always looked like they were naked with spray paint on them–it was all about anatomy, and I like to push anatomy.”
Earlier this year, actor Michael Keaton talked about why he left the franchise after Joel Schumacher took Tim Burton’s place. Even more recently, Batman successor Robert Pattinson spoke far more diplomatically about the Batman film franchise, arguing that “none of them are bad movies.”
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