The DCU’s Batman Needs White Eyes—Here’s Why

Despite Ben Affleck’s Batman appearing as a fearsome character with his comic-inspired white-eyed armoured suit in Batman v Superman, many fans are still eager to see this iconic look featured more prominently in a live-action film. Will the DCU’s Batman movie feature a Caped Crusader with white eyes? Here’s why it should.

A New Batman For The DCU

Comic book movies are undergoing a rapid transformation. With Marvel correcting course, going for a more “quality over quantity” approach, and the DCU promising a less dramatic universe than the Snyderverse, no one knows what the Marvel vs. DC landscape will look like in a few years. However, with James Gunn now in charge, we can make some educated guesses about the tone he might be aiming for in the DCU.

As he proved in Guardians of the Galaxy and The Suicide Squad, Gunn loves the classic comic book vibes. That might be why he kept the red trousers in Superman’s design for the upcoming Superman film (the first in the DCU.) That said, Andy Muschietti, who directed the polarizing The Flash, will direct The Brave and the Bold, likely introducing the Dark Knight to the new cinematic universe.

Still, Batman remains one of the most iconic heroes in DC’s roster. Almost every live-action incarnation of Gotham’s Caped Crusader has been iconic in its own right, which means that Gunn and his team will have to do something drastic to make their Batman different from the rest. Fortunately for them, Deadpool & Wolverine just gave us a glimpse into what the new Batman needs.

The Dark Knight’s Detective Vision

As Deadpool exclaims, it took the studios 24 years before we finally saw Hugh Jackman in a comics-accurate Wolverine suit. Curiously enough, Deadpool was a trailblazer for Wolverine’s live-action suit, as the Merc with a Mouth featured expressive white eyes in his 2016 solo film.

Deadpool’s mask has always been a crucial part of his personality, and the same applies to Wolverine in the comics. For years, fans have noticed how Wolverine’s cowl looks exactly like two Batmen looking at each other. The X-Man’s mask design borrows a few notes from Batman’s, no doubt, as the two characters share their characteristic white eyes.

The only issue here is that Batman has never adopted the all-white retinas for his live-action suits. The closest we ever got to that design was in The Dark Knight, in the scene where Batman uses his detective vision to save a group of hostages from the Joker’s twisted machinations. Even then, those were basic LED lights attached to the suit – a far cry from the animated eyes we saw in both Deadpool and Wolverine’s suits.

It’s Time For A Live-Action Batman With White Eyes

While not every comic book version of Batman has white eyes, some of the most memorable instances of the character share this feature. Contrary to his more “realistic” look in the Arkham video game series, the Dark Knight has white eyes in The Killing Joke and The Long Halloween – and they never get in the way of showing his expressions.

If anything, this trend of giving comic book characters more comic-accurate suits appears as a natural evolution for a genre that should always avoid whatever happened to the costume designs of Thor: Love & Thunder.

Going by The Suicide Squad‘s inclusion of characters like King Shark and Starro, the DCU promises to be a love letter to the golden age of DC Comics. That means that some of the designs might appear more retro than they did in their Snyderverse counterparts.

Variety is always good, so if Gunn wants to make his and Muschietti’s take on Batman truly memorable, he should consider adding one of the comic book’s most iconic features: white eyes.

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Tell us, do you think the DCU’s Batman should have white eyes?