Creating Batman’s New Motorcycle for ‘The Dark Knight’

By Robin Rowe

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 7/17/08 – “What I love about Batman is that he has no super powers except for his extraordinary wealth,” says ‘The Dark Knight’ director Christopher Nolan. “Looking at it from that point of view, if you had limitless financial resources, and therefore a lot of power in material ways, how could you apply that to the creation of some amazing gadgets and crime-fighting techniques, all of which are still based on real science and real-world logic?”

“Will you be wanting the Bat-Pod, Sir?”

“In the middle of the day, Alfred? Not very subtle.”

Nolan says, “It’s a two-wheeled vehicle, but it’s definitively not a motorcycle.” The Bat-Pod is self-standing, meaning it does not require a foot stand. It has the same monster truck tires found on the Batmobile. For hostile situations, it’s equipped with 40mm cannons, 50-caliber machine guns, and grappling hook launchers.

The original design of the Bat-Pod was the brainchild of Nolan and production designer Nathan Crowley. From the basic concept, the two worked out the details in Nolan’s garage. “We figured, let’s just go for it,” says Crowley. “Let’s build it full-size. So we did. We got some tools and put together a full-size model out of anything we could find that might fit.”

Nolan and Crowley had previously redesigned the ultimate muscle car: Tumbler Batmobile for ‘Batman Begins’. Weighing two and a half tons, the Tumbler rides on six monster truck tires and has no front axle. “We wanted to give Batman something new, a fresh means of transportation, something very exotic and very powerful looking,” says Nolan. “In essence, the Bat-Pod is to the world of motorcycles what the Tumbler is to the world of cars.”

But could the Bat-Pod actually work? Could it be more than a model, a real motorcycle?

“I was flabbergasted,” says ‘The Dark Knight’ special effects supervisor Chris Corbould who flew from England to look at Nolan and Crowley’s creation. “I stood there silently, pretending I was mulling it over, but the thought going through my head was that they both had to be off their nut. Where was I going to put a power train? And with those massive wheels, would this thing actually steer? There were so many issues.”

Corbould returned to London, where he and his crew began brainstorming ways to bring the Bat-Pod to life. After some trial and error, they developed the final working Bat-Pod. “It really shouldn’t work, but somehow Chris and his team found a way to do it,” says Nolan.

“The funny thing is, I don’t think Chris or Nathan had ever ridden a motorcycle in their lives,” says Corbould. “So, they were completely unaware of the mechanics needed to get that thing moving. In a way it was beneficial because they weren’t steered towards a more orthodox bike, even subconsciously. The fact that they had no knowledge of the mechanics helped them create this weird, wonderful vehicle.”

“The finished product that Chris and his team came up with was very striking, very effective
and worked very well,” says Nolan. “But, it’s incredibly difficult to ride and to steer.”

In order to maneuver the Bat-Pod, the driver has to lean his upper body forward, almost horizontally, and steer from his elbows, rather than his wrists. The only person to master the Bat-Pod was professional stunt rider Jean-Pierre Goy.

“I’ve worked with Jean-Pierre a couple of times,” says Corbould. “He’s one of the best bike riders in the world, if not the best. Right away, he totally got in the mindset of learning that machine. He said, ‘I’m not riding another bike until I finish this sequence,’ because he had to concentrate on the Bat-Pod’s unique handling qualities. I’d be lying if I said it was easy for even him to ride, but it looked spectacular when he did, so it was worth the effort.”

‘The Dark Knight’
Release Date: July 18th, 2008 (USA)
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and some menace
Distributor: Warner Bros.