DAVID GOYER: We didn’t have a list of ‘what aren’t we going to do.’ We just approached everything from the standpoint of… Fortunately “Batman,” and Chris has talked about this in the press before, “Batman” is the most realistic in some ways of all the costumed superheroes. And he doesn’t have any superpowers and he employs high technology and training and things like that. But the thing that’s cool about Batman is that when you’re a kid and growing up [you can imagine] yourself being him. I mean, if you had access to that money and that technology, you could be him. It would be unlikely but you could. You could never be The Hulk. You could never be The Thing or Superman or something like that. So we just approached everything from the standpoint of realism. If he was going to wear a suit, what would he need to do in it and what would his suit require? If he’s going to be using a Batmobile, why would he use it and what would be required of the Batmobile? So everything was just approached from the standpoint of realism. That was just our rule. When we were working on the story, it was all based on either existing technology or our general rule was technology that was going to sort of be thrown into the marketplace in the next 10 years or so. So it was stuff that was being developed by the Department of Defense or existing programs.
You actually auditioned for the role of Batman. What was that process like?
CILLIAN MURPHY: I think if you ask any male if he wants to get into the real suit, I mean, that was a dream come true obviously. Just to get to work with Chris even for that little test was amazing as well. And then he saw something in me that he thought maybe he could use for the other character.
For the auditions, did they have a one size fits all Batsuit?
CILLIAN MURPHY: They had a few. I think it was a Val Kilmer suit. I had to adjust it. It was very hot.
DAVID GOYER: I’ll tell you, when Chris and I went to DC they had one of the original Michael Keaton suits in the lobby at DC. And it was definitely good for its time. But the thing that I think was remarkable about all those early Batsuits is that the sort of cowl part was just this one piece and you couldn’t turn your head.
CILLIAN MURPHY: That’s what I figured out. They all turned like [turning his whole body very stiffly] because you can’t [turn easily]. You simply can’t.
DAVID GOYER: We talked about all that stuff, what the material would be like, and we knew that it couldn’t be a rubber sort of piece of armor. That he had to be able to move and turn his head.
You’ve got two films you represent here at Comic Con. Will fans be more impressed with “Blade” or “Batman?”
DAVID GOYER: You know, they are so different. Chris and I were talking about this. In terms of their approach, “Blade” is a really gonzo, in your face, over the top, comic book movie. And “Batman” is much more classic. I think they’re both really cool but they could not be further removed from one another. The thing that is interesting about “Blade,” first of all it’s the third iteration. People are always wondering are you going to do something new. The main sort of interest I think in “Blade” is the introduction of these other characters. But it was interesting because I was writing “Batman” while I was in pre-production on “Blade” and so I’d work with Chris a lot of times from 7 in the morning until noon. Then I would do pre-production from noon until 9. Sometimes during production I would call up Chris and ask his advice about something. When I was shooting “Blade,” and sometimes he would call every once in a while and ask. It was a kind of fun experience.
Was it hard to keep them separated?
DAVID GOYER: No. They are so different it wasn’t hard at all because they are completely apples and oranges. Even though they are based on comic books, they are just totally different films.
