Justice League: What you need to know about Batman’s new vehicles

Batman wouldn’t be Batman without a fleet of vehicles for every purpose—all painted in his trademark black, of course. Here’s what you need to know about what’s new. 

Entertainment Weekly’s The Ultimate Guide to Justice League, going behind the scenes of the upcoming movie and into the origin stories of the League’s members, is on sale now.

Part giant motorcycle, part tank and part steel crab: It’s the perfect vehicle to get Batman through those hard-to-maneuver locales. “I loved the idea that when you first see it, it’s sitting low, its legs are folded up, it’s traveling flat, and it looks like a tank,” says production designer Patrick Tatopoulos. “And then suddenly it stands up on its legs, and you can see the proportions of the thing. It’s enormous, and it can actually climb up walls. The audience is going to love it.”

A legacy vehicle originally created by Bruce Wayne’s father, the Flying Fox is what happens when you meld a fighter jet with a cargo airplane. Bruce upgrades his father’s design so the massive vehicle can transport his league of superheroes (along with all his vehicles). “When you put the two together, it looks like the Flying Fox had a baby, and the baby is the Batmobile,” Tatopoulos says. Three stories tall, the Flying Fox is his favorite creation. “I think you can build a character out of a jet, and I think the Flying Fox has become a real character in the film,” he says.

When Tatopoulos began constructing worlds for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, he homed in on the Batmobile to help define his hero’s aesthetic. Here the Batmobile is upgraded to reflect its driver’s tough and rugged exterior. “It’s now more of an off-road vehicle,” Tatopoulos says. “Instead of a jeep you drive in the city, you take this one on a Desert Storm mission. It’s still elegant, but it’s part of a language that includes trucks and tanks and power.”

Pick up Entertainment Weekly’s The Ultimate Guide to Justice League, which goes behind the scenes of the upcoming movie and into the origin stories of the League’s members, on sale now.