You might call the Batmobile something of a microcosm of the automotive industry. As our cars have changed over the years and decades, so too has Batman’s ride – from the Lincoln-based roadster that Adam West drove in the original TV series to the Tumbler that Christian Bale piloted in the Dark Knight trilogy. But what if the two were to meet in one glorious mashup?
That’s the idea behind this rendering. We don’t know who created it, but artist Greg Capullo shared it via Twitter, and ComicBook.com brought it to our attention.
As far as Batmobiles go, it could hardly be more incongruous if the jet-powered dragster that Michael Keaton drove in 1989’s Batman ’92’s Batman Returns were thrown into the mix. It’s rough and well… tumbler, imbued with the red piping, open cockpit, and Sixties styling of the original.
It’s hardly what we’d call handsome or beautiful, by any stretch of the imagination. The modern and retro elements just don’t go together. Decades of design evolution separate them, and that’s probably a good thing. Because the super heroes who piloted the two are rather different from each other, too.
So is it real? Of course not. None of the Batmobiles are. They exist only in a fantastical universe that, for better or worse, is far removed from our own. That’s part of what makes it, and everything in it, so entertaining. But even among Batmobiles, this one’s entirely fictitious. It’s just a rendering. But a humorous rendering it is, and we’re grateful to whoever created it.
Holy mashup, Batman! pic.twitter.com/58MJYd9gZT
— Greg Capullo (@GregCapullo) June 5, 2018