Australian costume designer Michael Wilkinson has spilled the beans about creating Batman's famous suit.
The Oscar nominee, who designed the Dark Knight's costume for the upcoming movie Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice, said keeping the hero comfortable was a high priority.
Actor Ben Affleck will not be suffering the same stiff neck as others who have taken on the role of the Caped Crusader. He will have room to move in Wilkinson's version of Batman's head and neck piece, also known as the "cowl".
"That's actually one of the first things that [director Zack] Snyder mentioned to me in one of our initial meetings," Wilkinson told fashion website Fashionista.
"It's a very important thing to Zack that the Batsuit would be comfortable and very flexible, but then would be able to perform in a very natural and forceful way. So a lot of incredible engineering went into the development of the new black cowl."
Wilkinson, who designed costumes on Man of Steel and American Hustle, said he enjoyed being part of the online discussion between passionate fans.
He and Snyder gave fans the first glimpse of the new Batsuit last year, when they posted images of the costume to Twitter.
Our suit up close....
#BatmanvsSuperman
#ZackSynder
#BenAffleck as Batman
pic.twitter.com/sNvlIK2V4A — michael wilkinson (@wilkinsonmartin)
May 13, 2014
"It's no longer a designer just in his workroom pushing a costume out into the world and that's it," Wilkinson said. "There's a real sense of a conversation and engaging in a dialogue about this stuff."
He said he found re-imagining Aquaman a "huge challenge" because of low fan expectations, with the character seen as less "cool" than his superhuman comrades.
As well as Batman, the film also features Superman and Wonder Woman. From the outset, Wilkinson said his design brief was to ensure the iconic costumes had a contemporary feel.
"[Snyder] really wants these characters to connect directly to our world," Wilkinson said.
"So if you were walking down the street and you came across Superman or Batman — of course it would be startling and powerful — but it could actually happen in our world rather than in a stylised version of our reality."
For inspiration, Wilkinson said he looks to ancient Greek sculpture, high fashion, video art and military apparel and creates collages on Photoshop.
"It's an amazing, broad and complex experience," he said.
But making the costume is really just the start of it - putting it on almost requires superpowers.
While actor Henry Cavill can slip into Superman's costume in about 15 minutes, it takes Affleck close to 25 minutes to don the Batsuit.
"It does involve multiple costumers," Wilkinson said. "It's not the sort of thing that I could just sit in Ben's trailer and he gets into it himself. It's a six-handed operation."
Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice is due to be released in early 2016.
