Chapter 846: A Never-Before-Seen Catwoman Look

"If Scarecrow is a madman and the Joker is an anarchist, then Bane is an out-and-out terrorist. Not only does he have a high IQ, but his methods are also utterly ruthless... His physical conditioning is exceptional, and his mind is just as sharp, making him far more dangerous than other criminals."

Standing at the entrance of Warner Studios, Duke answered a few questions from the swarming reporters about the film's villain. "When we were deciding what kind of adversary to pit against Batman, my team and I realized an imperative shift had to happen here—choosing an antagonist completely different from the Joker, yet possessing equally formidable methods and background..."

Having already broken his press silence, Duke didn't mind saying a bit more. "First, this person has to go toe-to-toe physically with Bruce Wayne when he becomes Batman—something the previous two films never needed to consider or touch upon. I really wanted to see our protagonist face an evenly matched opponent, someone on par with him even mentally. Bane demonstrates a very primal power, along with a blind obsession and fanaticism for what he's doing. Only death can stop his advance."

After entering Warner Studios, Duke skipped his own office and headed straight to a costume design studio, where several designers were working against the clock to design and fabricate the gear for Bane and Catwoman.

In designing Bane's wardrobe, Duke wanted an effect that looked like "a cobbled-together amalgam." Because Bane had come from very far away, part of his vest was pieced together from scraps cut out of an old military tent. All of his clothing carried a strong militaristic flavor, but it could never be considered an actual uniform.

Of course, Bane's most striking feature was the ferocious mask on his face. Strapped tightly to his head, the mask served as a device that continuously pumped painkillers into his face—a necessity born of physical torment stemming from past injuries he had suffered when driven to the brink.

"He relies on this mask just to live a normal life. You mentioned he carries a past full of shame and hatred—his face is a constant reminder of all that, and it's what turned him into a true monster."

Standing before one of Bane's masks, Hannah Serena, who oversaw the studio, said to Duke, "So, we gave the mask a very bestial design. It creates a stark contrast with Batman's mask... and it couldn't be black, either."

The mask was built by the costume effects team, who had also created a digital mapping model based on Dwayne Johnson's face and cranium.

Costume effects supervisor Graham Churchyard explained further to Duke, "For us, Bane's mask has to fit like a second skin. At the same time, it can't look entirely like prosthetic skin—it has to look as if it were engineered out of a metal mold. Using Dwayne Johnson's computer cast, we fabricated each hard piece with three-dimensional modeling and fitted them to the contours of his head. That way, the mask locks tightly onto his face without a single gap."

Judging from the actual result when Dwayne Johnson wore it for production stills, calling it airtight was an understatement.

The mask clamped around Dwayne Johnson's head like a vise. With his cooperation and patience, the costume effects team had made it as tight as it could possibly get.

The front of the mask featured a magnetic removable plate, so beneath the visible portions sat a series of magnets. Under those magnets lay a rubber seal that shut out the air completely, pressing firmly into Dwayne Johnson's skin like an airtight jar. Just putting it on took real courage, let alone acting in it; even hearing it described was unbearable.

Still, that was all part of a Hollywood actor's job.

With Bane's mask, function mattered far more than form, whereas Selina Kyle's mask combined functionality and beauty in equal measure.

While Bane's gear had already entered fabrication, Catwoman's preparations remained on the drawing board.

After making a circuit of the studio, Duke sat down at a computer to look through several concept drawings from the costume effects team. None of them quite satisfied him—especially the pointed ears, which leaned far too heavily into literal feline traits.

He called Hannah Serena and costume effects supervisor Graham Churchyard over.

"This character's debut carries major significance, because she is Catwoman first, and Selina Kyle second."

Pointing at the pointed ears on the computer screen, Duke said, "What I want is a way to create the silhouette of cat ears without actually making a literal pair."

At that, Graham Churchyard pulled out a flash drive and plugged it into the computer. Duke ceded his seat and stepped back to stand behind him.

Without standing on ceremony, Graham Churchyard sat down, opened the drive, and pulled up a series of design sketches—all concept art for Catwoman's gear.

Flipping through the files, he spoke to Duke and Hannah Serena standing behind him. "This is an alternate version. I took inspiration from night-vision goggles, designing them to flip up onto her head and subtly form the outline of cat ears."

After studying them closely, Duke nodded in approval. "This works much better than the previous ones."

"I'll refine it further," Graham Churchyard added. "Once the concept is fully fleshed out, the fabrication team can bring it to life beautifully and send it over to you."

Duke added one more reminder: "Every last detail of the character's look must have an airtight logical justification."

Alongside the night-vision goggles, the concept files also included designs for Catwoman's suit.

"I think her catsuit is equally practical, letting her vanish into the darkness in an instant, ready to strike at any moment," Graham Churchyard added. "Even when Selina Kyle isn't in the catsuit, she makes a habit of wearing black, ready to adapt to any occasion. I think she has a classic chameleon personality."

That was certainly true. In the script, Selina Kyle didn't possess formidable superpowers; she was a burglar who could slip away from a scene at a moment's notice, always prepared to conceal her entire identity—or multiple identities.

In these design sketches, Selina Kyle's catsuit was actually a two-piece outfit, though a form-fitting belt made it look like a one-piece bodysuit. The complete ensemble also included elbow-length gloves and high-heeled, over-the-knee boots, all concealing clever uses of their own.

"They're actually all weapons."

Graham Churchyard continued explaining, "As I envision it, the catsuit will be made from two layers of material. The outer layer is polyurethane-coated stretch spandex printed with a hexagonal pattern. The overall cut is streamlined, perfectly outlining Catwoman's figure without being overly flashy."

During the discussion that followed, Duke settled on Catwoman's initial look.

For Catwoman's glasses, the initial design featured a pair of pointed tips extending outward from both sides of the lenses. When pushed up onto her head, they looked like ears. Furthermore, per Duke's requirements, the glasses had to appear in a way the audience wouldn't expect—functioning like a pair of sunglasses perched on Selina Kyle's face before sliding up onto the top of her head.

Yet once the prototype was finished and Gal Gadot tried it on, Duke found the result less than ideal.

The design had an obvious flaw: when the glasses sat over Gal Gadot's face, they made the character look foolish.

Graham Churchyard went back and reworked the design, adding extra hinges to the frame so that the sides extended back to her ears. He also put together a quick 3D animation to illustrate his concept, and Duke was very taken with the idea.

With Duke's approval secured, Graham Churchyard moved forward with the full design, working out how it would interact with the outer goggles. Once a new prototype was fabricated and Gal Gadot tried it on, even Duke had to admit he loved the design—so much so that he refused to let the technicians modify or refine it any further.

The Catwoman design project was more like a blend of engineering and aesthetics. Compared to other types of design, it placed a much heavier emphasis on uniting outward form with internal function—an approach no one had ever attempted with the character of Catwoman before.

Since the catsuit clung tightly to Selina Kyle from head to toe like a second skin, the actress truly had nowhere to hide. Gal Gadot had been working closely with an athletic trainer on her physique, making sure her posture and athleticism would let her move effortlessly even in such a skin-tight suit.

When audiences around the world were going to see a figure wrapped that tightly on the big screen, slacking off and skipping the gym was simply out of the question.

Beyond that, Selina Kyle needed to ride the Bat Motorcycle in the film.

However, Duke placed no special demands on the actress in that regard. Even though it was a street bike, it was far from easy to handle; a rider needed considerable strength and specialized technique to control the motorcycle with ease.

During the filming of The Dark Knight, only one person had actually been able to ride the Bat Motorcycle for real: professional stunt driver Jean-Pierre Goy.

He had once again accepted Duke's invitation to return as the rider of the Bat Motorcycle, serving as the riding double for both Gal Gadot and Christian Bale.

Jean-Pierre Goy had a build similar to Christian Bale's, so as long as the shot wasn't a frontal close-up, no post-production adjustments were even needed. His physique was a far cry from Gal Gadot's, however, though with current computer effects technology, swapping out the rider on the Bat Motorcycle in post-production was neither particularly difficult nor technically demanding.

Digital technology brought far greater convenience to filmmaking, and from shooting to post-production on this film, Duke would continue to rely on it.

Of course, 3D and IMAX were indispensable as well.