Holy retractable roof, Batman!

The Batman leak reveals one suprising change to the Batcave

New gadgets and gizmos abound in The Batman, but could the Batcave also get an upgrade?

Matt Reeves’ The Batman follows the Caped Crusader’s early years as Gotham City’s protector, and the director has already revealed an upgraded Batsuit and the Batmobile reimagined as a sophisticated muscle car. Now, a new leak suggests that The Batman will include another major change to a familiar DC Comics set piece: the Batcave.

An anonymous Reddit leaker shared some "unverified" information about the Batcave’s design in the film. Per the leak, Warner Bros. is building an entirely new lair for the hero, which features a “large chamber surrounded by three ledge floors/tiers, each connected by metal laddered stairs and a central elevator platform.”

Before you get too excited, we should note that this leak isn't verified by the DCEU subreddit where it was shared, and the sourcing of the claims is unknown. In other words, you should trust these The Batman spoilers about as much as you'd trust the Poison Ivy to cook you dinner. That said, however, there's one more detail in the leak that's too exciting to ignore.

A new Batmobile might mean a new helicopter to go along with it.

Warner Bros./Matt Reeves

Perhaps the most interesting bit from the leak is that the Batcave will supposedly include a helicopter launchpad on the uppermost tier. If the leak proves true, then it’s possible the Batcave will have a latch in the roof that will automatically open whenever Batman needs to enter or leave via Batcopter. A ceiling entrance would also be a major departure from previous Batcave designs, which include a variety of secretly cloaked external entrances.

In Batman: The Animated Series, the Batcave’s external entrance was a metal door hidden behind a waterfall on the side of a cliff, which was used to fly Batman’s plane in and out. This waterfall-style entrance is also used in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy. In 1989’s Batman, the dark knight drives his Batmobile through a rock wall to get inside the Batcave. Suffice it to say that Vicki Vale was none too pleased, thinking they were about to crash.

Waterfall entrance in Christopher Nolan's Batman movies.

Warner Bros.

The Inverse Analysis — Holograms and ponds have also been used throughout Batman's comic book history. All of these external entrances make a lot of sense considering that the Batcave is traditionally an actual cave redesigned to cater to Batman’s superhero lifestyle. It also maintains the secret of the cave’s location and makes it hard for almost anyone else to find it.

Let’s say the leak is true and there is indeed an opening in the ceiling of the Batcave’s roof. It’s arguably a lot more conspicuous for Batman to exit and enter the Batcave from an aerial location and he’s much more likely to be spotted. A side service entrance is more practical for a helicopter to enter through without drawing too much attention. Whether or not the Batcave will be built from scratch to include a new entrance remains to be seen. However, it would be pretty cool if The Batman did at least include a helicopter to add to the Caped Crusader's collection.

The Batman is scheduled to hit theaters on October 1, 2021.

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