Robert Pattinson’s Batman costume in Matt Reeves’ The Batman includes goggles, which could introduce an iconic Dark Knight design element: white eyes. The director of the highly-anticipated DC picture unveiled the first look at Pattinson’s version of Batman in a camera test shoot. While the footage only showed a few details of Pattinson’s costume, a lot of eager fans were intrigued by the bodysuit design as well as the mysterious cowl. As production has been underway in Glasgow, Scotland, set photos revealed what appears to be Pattinson’s stunt double on a motorcycle for a chase sequence.

One of the most interesting details in the photos was that the cowl seems to have goggles of some kind. So far it has been difficult to make out specifically what types of goggles the stunt performer is wearing due to the photo quality. However, it might indicate this Batman costume will be incorporating an iconic feature from the various Batman suits from the comics: the white eyes. Since the Dark Knight’s inception in comics, the eyes of the cowl have always been depicted as white slits, making it easier to give him discernable facial expressions through his mask.

When looked at closely, they do like like more than just the average motorcycle goggles. While several aspects of the Caped Crusader’s costume has been tackled in one way or another in live-action, white eyes have always been tricky. Because there’s no practical way to explain Batman having white eyes - and because it reduces the already limited ability to emote from behind through the cowl - live-action movies have typically stuck with the naked eyeballs visible. Both Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight and Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice found ways to give Batman glowing eyes temporarily via technology in the cowl, but it’s never been a proper fixture in the standard Batman costume.

The CW’s Arrowverse also managed to introduce the white eyes on a regular basis with Batwoman. In early season 1 episodes, Kate Kane (Ruby Rose) has been able to use night vision lenses that visually give her the white eyes look. It’s possible these lenses have some kind of technological function when Pattinson’s Batman rides his motorcycle, or maybe even a detective mode feature like Batman used in the Arkham games. However, the costume test didn’t show Pattinson’s eyes light up, and as the big costume reveal, it seems logical that such a feature would be showcased there if it were a permanent fixture.

Only time will tell if this is what’s going on, as set photos don’t always give a clear idea of the final look of a film, but the cowl’s goggles will definitely be a point of curiosity with fans until there’s a clearer idea of what the final product will look like. The Batman has been described as aiming to break into new and unexplored territories by Reeves in past interviews. With the movie pitched as being a noir-themed detective story, Reeves and Pattinson are definitely already doing things differently with the character compared to past live-action iterations. As production continues, hopefully we’ll get more exciting glimpses of what to expect from The Batman.

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