The New 'Batman V Superman' Batmobile Breaks Batman's One Rule

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Earlier this week, "Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice" director Zack Snyder revealed our first good look at the new Batmobile that Ben Affleck's Dark Knight will ride around.

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The car has received a lot of positive feedback looking like a mix between a few previous iterations of the Batmobile including Christopher Nolan's Tumbler, the classic shape of the model used in the 1989 film, and the tank version used in Frank Miller's 1986 "The Dark Knight Returns" series.

Some Batfans may have noticed one thing on the car that goes against the Caped Crusader's one rule. Can you spot it?

There are guns on the front of the vehicle.

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Historically, Batman's one rule has always been "no guns." This stems from the fact that his parents were gunned down and murdered in an alleyway in front of him while he was young.

batman no guns

DC Comics

Of course, when the character first appeared in the comics, this wasn't always the case. Early versions of Batman show him with a gun, before his character was really established.

Batman Is A Killer, Yo

However, the Caped Crusader is known for his detective skills and ability to fight crime without resulting to bullets. There are countless times we've seen versions of the Bat break guns so it's weird to see his latest vehicle with added artillery.

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So what's the deal? Is Batman going to start killing? Is Zack Snyder giving us a very different version of the Dark Knight?

Not necessarily.

It's not the first time the Batmobile has some added muscle to his car.

Tim Burton's 1989 batmobile had two machine guns mounted on the vehicle.

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And while Burton's version of the film may have seen Batman use guns on both his car and Batwing plane to take down some of Gotham's underworld including the Joker, added machinery to the Dark Knight's vehicle has mostly been for non-lethal use.

The vehicle featured in the Emmy-winning "Batman: The Animated Series" featured a missile rack. The more military-style Tumbler in Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight" trilogy also had a missile launcher and a dual-barreled cannon but weren't used to harm individuals.

the dark knight rises

TDKR screencap

One version of the Tumbler vehicle featured in "The Dark Knight Rises."

The latest design for the Batmobile in the next Batman video game, "Arkham Knight," shows off a slew of guns which are meant to be non-violent: immobilizer missiles, a Vulcan gun, a 60mm cannon, and a riot suppressor gun with rubber bullets.


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The guns on the newest Batmobile shouldn't come as a surprise.

When Snyder first announced the new "Batman V Superman" film he introduced it by having "Man of Steel" actor Harry Lennix read a passage from classic Batman graphic novel "The Dark Knight Returns."

The comic shows an older Batman come out of retirement and reprise his role as the Dark Knight. While Snyder has previously said he will not be adapting the four-part graphic novel, it's clear he's drawing some inspiration from the story which features Batman going up against Superman.

The Batmobile featured in the graphic novel was designed as a giant tank that also had missiles, rocket launchers, and 200 RPM tranquilizer-firing machine guns. The vehicle was introduced as something that could only be damaged from something from another planet (hint, hint: Superman).

batmobile the dark knight returns

DC Comics

Batman drives a giant tank in "The Dark Knight Returns."

Again, here's the new Batmobile.

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We have yet to see how the guns on the new batmobile will be used. What do you think of the new look?