As Matt Reeves’ The Batman, which landed on the silver screen on March 4, continues to impress with its overly dark take on the franchise, the Batmobile is causing a ripple effect on social media, with more and more digital artists coming up with their versions of the Caped Crusader’s ride. For now, we’ll focus on a JDM take that sees Batman owning a Nissan 180SX.
Having already discussed the differences between the actual Batmobile and the pre-movie project that digital artist Ash Thorp created starting from the brief delivered by the director and production designer James Chinlund, as well as covering an independent creation exploring the Corvette’s potential as a Batmobile, the time has come to bring a drifter’s approach. That’s because the 180SX is hugely popular among slip angle enthusiasts.
However, before we dive into the details of this JDM Batmobile fan video below, which, by the way, also features The Ridler, we’ll go through the main driving forces behind the explosion of fan creations mentioned in the intro.
How the 2022 Batmobile inspires digital artists from across the web
We now live in the era of realistic 3D renderings and, be they images or videos, these blur the line between fantasy and reality like never before.
And since the 2022 Batmobile digital artist Ash Thorp is an important member of the rendering community, it’s only natural for his work to inspire other artists. In this case, we’re looking at the pixels of Detroit-based 3D artist Conor Lawlis (aka Project33), whose impressive skills have previously brought us an alternate-universe sequel for Japan’s Initial D anime, which also pays homage to MF Ghost, the upcoming official sequel.
In addition, the new Batmobile, which is rooted in the muscle car culture of the 1960s and 1970s, is arguably the most realistic machine of its kind, thus inviting aficionados to cast other beasts in the role.
Not unlike the ‘Vette work mentioned above, this Nissan 180SX partially goes off-script, since it skips the penetrating front end of the actual Batmobile, which is required to plow through obstacles—we’ll steer clear of delivering spoilers here.
The gaming community has also been included in the mix
Conor Lawlis started with a machine that many gamers are familiar with, namely the Nissan 180SX’s GP Sports S1 incarnation highlighted in the Assetto Corsa racing series.
The 1989-introduced sportscar—the factory model—is a key part of Japan’s drifting culture, so much so that drivers came up with a way of impersonating it which cuts costs, which is how the unofficial Nissan Sil80 was born.
However, instead of the usual liveries, this example sports a matte black take fit for the Batmobile, while maintaining its full drift car aero, wing included.
Parked in a dark alley—naturally—the gaze of the sportscar is met not by that of Batman (Robert Pattison), but the ominous look of The Riddler (Paul Dano).
There’s clear branding in the video below, while this also borrows the soundtrack of the movie’s main trailer. As such, you’ll get to enjoy the static, yet dramatic scene while listening to Nirvana’s Something In The Way.
As more and more rendering artists spend 2 hours and 56 minutes watching The Batman, the alternative Batmobiles should continue to arrive and we’ll be here, waiting.
