BANG Showbiz English
Tim Burton quit the ‘Batman' franchise over a nipple costume.
The 63-year-old director was at the helm of the 1989 movie ‘Batman' – which starred Jack Nicholson as the titular DC Comics superhero – and its 1992 sequel ‘Batman Returns' but explained that he was constantly being told his ideas were “too weird” even though costume designers had created a nipple costume for the movie.
He said: “Back then] they went the other way. That's the funny thing about it. But then I was like, ‘Wait a minute. Okay. Hold on a second here. You complain about me, I'm too weird, I'm too dark, and then you put nipples on the costume? Go f*** yourself.' Seriously!”
The acclaimed director – who is known for directing kooky gothic movies such as ‘Beetlejuice' and ‘Edward Scissorhands – added that the nipple costume drama was the reason he didn't return to the franchise to direct a third film.
He told Empire: “So yeah, I think that's why I didn't end up [doing a third film].”
Tim's comments come shortly after the costume designer Jose Fernandez – who worked on both of the films and designed the nipples aspect of the outfit worn by Val Kilmer – explained that the nipples were not a “fetish” addition to the costume and were more inspired by Roman armour.
He said: “With Val Kilmer's suit in ‘Batman Forever', the nipples were one of those things that I added. It wasn't fetish to me, it was more informed by Roman armor, like Centurions. And in the comic books, the characters always looked like they were naked with spray paint on them — it was all about anatomy, and I like to push anatomy. I don't know exactly where my head was back in the day, but that's what I remember. And so I added the nipples. I had no idea there was going to end up being all this buzz about it.”
