Ask anyone on the street to draw Batman from memory, and they’d get the basics just right. Ask them to sketch Bruce Wayne, and they’d put down their rendering of a man in a suit. Very few impromptu artists would capture Batman’s eye black. Almost every live-action iteration of the character dons black makeup around their eyes. They typically aren’t seen wearing the smoky-eye look without their cowl, but Robert Pattinson’s Bat broke new ground.
Every new live-action Batsuit reflects a distinct take on the larger universe. Burton’s Batman wore a shiny black matte latex that captured terror and eroticism. Nolan’s Batman donneda more militaristic outfitcanonically based on a Nomex survival suit. Snyder’s removed almost all the color, left most of the suit gray, made its shape more awkward and blocky, and slotted it into a ridiculous power armor suit. Matt Reeves split the difference, adding some fun accents to a very grounded suit design. These changes make all the difference.
Batman’s eye black was never handled well
InBatman Returns,Michael Keaton’s Batman wearsthe traditional eye black while in his cowl. The film doesn’t depict him donning the makeup, but he has it on whenever he’s wearing the Batsuit. There’s one scene in which he’s in the full suit without eye black. It’s the moment he takes off his cowl and reveals his identity. He can briefly be seen in the cowl without makeup before he tears off the latex. This continuity error was a deliberate choice to avoid Michael Keaton being depicted with dramatic smoky eyes. Jokes about Batman wearing makeup are common, regularly attacking the Caped Crusader’s masculinity for using an ostensibly feminine product. The apparent concession to avoid these gags is to never show the lead actor in eye black out of costume.
Eye black serves a couple of purposes in Batman’s costume. The other place most people will see it used is on professional athletes. Football players have thick black lines under their eyes behind their facemask. They use it to reduce glare. Some argue that the grease or strips applied under athletes' eyes are more aesthetic than practical.Mythbustersdetermined it helps to differentiate between light and dark, which would be hugely helpful for Batman, who spends most of his time fighting in darkness or harsh spotlights. Alternatively, the black makeup disguises the last inch or so around Bruce Wayne’s eyes that the mask can’t cover. Neither of these practical applications is mentioned in the text. The eyeshadow is rarely noted at all.
Batman Beginshas a similar scene to the eye black continuity error inBatman Returns, though with a more justifiable explanation. Near the start of the third act, Batman saves Rachel Dawes by bringing her to the Batcave. He sedates her to have her dropped off at her home. Bruce takes off his cowl for a long, calming breath shot from behind. In the next shot, he’s quickly getting dressed to appear at his ongoing birthday party. There’s no makeup around his eyes. The scriptby David S. Goyerfeatures an unused stage direction in which Alfred hands Wayne a towel and gestures to his eyes, indicating that he’s gotten dressed without removing his makeup. That moment doesn’t occur. The movies from 1989 to 2012 do not mention the eyeshadow.
The Batmanmade the eye black part of the suit
Robert Pattinson is the only Batman actor seen applying and wearing eye black without the cowl.It’s part of his look. The film’s makeup designer, Naomi Donne, also known for her work on projects likeSkyfallandThe Royal Tenenbaums, was pushed to tie Bruce Wayne to Kurt Cobain. Matt Reeves wanted a tortured billionaire instead of a charismatic playboy. Inan interview with Polygon, Donne said:
Matt was really keen that there were remains of [the eye makeup] when he took his cowl off. So we pushed that. We actually took the cowl off and looked at what was left, and we used that. It’s really hard to get black eye makeup off, and we used that.
That simple change fixed the costuming detail that has gone awkwardly unspoken for decades. It’s not a critical narrative point. It’s a functional fashion choice thatno live-action Batman cannow go without. The potential thematic excuse to ditch the makeup is as a layer of separation between Bruce and Batman.The Batmanremoves the fragile boundaries between Bruce’s waking life and his vigilante night job. It’s an excellent narrative choice. Pattinson’s Batman can’t keep his dual life divided. He doesn’t sleep, has no friends, and struggles with all-consuming paranoia. Watching the tormented aristocrat go through the laborious process of becoming his sleep-paralysis demon before taking to the streets to beat up criminalschanges the Batman storydramatically.
Batman’s eye black brings up commentaries around masculinity, continuity, and the lengths characters will go to for anonymity. The world may never know why some feel the need to mock makeup when looking at aman head-to-toe in shiny latex. Matt Reeves and Naomi Donne saw an opportunity to say something new with an incidental element of Batman’s look. That kind of creative choice keeps the character fresh.
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