title: Adolf Hitler

text: While at Landsberg, Hitler dictated most of the first volume of "Mein Kampf" ("My Struggle"; originally entitled "Four and a Half Years of Struggle against Lies, Stupidity, and Cowardice") at first to his chauffeur, Emil Maurice, and then to his deputy, Rudolf Hess. The book, dedicated to Thule Society member Dietrich Eckart, was an autobiography and exposition of his ideology. The book laid out Hitler's plans for transforming German society into one based on race. Throughout the book, Jews are equated with "germs" and presented as the "international poisoners" of society. According to Hitler's ideology, the only solution was their extermination. While Hitler did not describe exactly how this was to be accomplished, his "inherent genocidal thrust is undeniable", according to Ian Kershaw.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: Published in two volumes in 1925 and 1926, sold 228,000 copies between 1925 and 1932. One million copies were sold in 1933, Hitler's first year in office.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: Shortly before Hitler was eligible for parole, the Bavarian government attempted to have him deported to Austria. The Austrian federal chancellor rejected the request on the specious grounds that his service in the German Army made his Austrian citizenship void. In response, Hitler formally renounced his Austrian citizenship on 7 April 1925.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: At the time of Hitler's release from prison, politics in Germany had become less combative and the economy had improved, limiting Hitler's opportunities for political agitation. As a result of the failed Beer Hall Putsch, the Nazi Party and its affiliated organisations were banned in Bavaria. In a meeting with the Prime Minister of Bavaria Heinrich Held on 4 January 1925, Hitler agreed to respect the state's authority and promised that he would seek political power only through the democratic process. The meeting paved the way for the ban on the Nazi Party to be lifted on 16 February. However, after an inflammatory speech he gave on 27 February, Hitler was barred from public speaking by the Bavarian authorities, a ban that remained in place until 1927. To advance his political ambitions in spite of the ban, Hitler appointed Gregor Strasser, Otto Strasser and Joseph Goebbels to organise and enlarge the Nazi Party in northern Germany. Gregor Strasser steered a more independent political course, emphasising the socialist elements of the party's programme.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: The stock market in the United States crashed on 24 October 1929. The impact in Germany was dire: millions were thrown out of work and several major banks collapsed. Hitler and the Nazi Party prepared to take advantage of the emergency to gain support for their party. They promised to repudiate the Versailles Treaty, strengthen the economy, and provide jobs.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: The Great Depression provided a political opportunity for Hitler. Germans were ambivalent about the parliamentary republic, which faced challenges from right- and left-wing extremists. The moderate political parties were increasingly unable to stem the tide of extremism, and the German referendum of 1929 helped to elevate Nazi ideology. The elections of September 1930 resulted in the break-up of a grand coalition and its replacement with a minority cabinet. Its leader, chancellor Heinrich Brüning of the Centre Party, governed through emergency decrees from President Paul von Hindenburg. Governance by decree became the new norm and paved the way for authoritarian forms of government. The Nazi Party rose from obscurity to win 18.3 per cent of the vote and 107 parliamentary seats in the 1930 election, becoming the second-largest party in parliament.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: Hitler made a prominent appearance at the trial of two Reichswehr officers, Lieutenants Richard Scheringer and Hanns Ludin, in late 1930. Both were charged with membership in the Nazi Party, at that time illegal for Reichswehr personnel. The prosecution argued that the Nazi Party was an extremist party, prompting defence lawyer Hans Frank to call on Hitler to testify. On 25 September 1930, Hitler testified that his party would pursue political power solely through democratic elections, which won him many supporters in the officer corps.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: Brüning's austerity measures brought little economic improvement and were extremely unpopular. Hitler exploited this by targeting his political messages specifically at people who had been affected by the inflation of the 1920s and the Depression, such as farmers, war veterans, and the middle class.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: Although Hitler had terminated his Austrian citizenship in 1925, he did not acquire German citizenship for almost seven years. This meant that he was stateless, legally unable to run for public office, and still faced the risk of deportation. On 25 February 1932, the interior minister of Brunswick, Dietrich Klagges, who was a member of the Nazi Party, appointed Hitler as administrator for the state's delegation to the Reichsrat in Berlin, making Hitler a citizen of Brunswick, and thus of Germany.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: Hitler ran against Hindenburg in the 1932 presidential elections. A speech to the Industry Club in Düsseldorf on 27 January 1932 won him support from many of Germany's most powerful industrialists. Hindenburg had support from various nationalist, monarchist, Catholic, and republican parties, and some Social Democrats. Hitler used the campaign slogan "" ("Hitler over Germany"), a reference to his political ambitions and his campaigning by aircraft. He was one of the first politicians to use aircraft travel for political purposes, and used it effectively. Hitler came in second in both rounds of the election, garnering more than 35 per cent of the vote in the final election. Although he lost to Hindenburg, this election established Hitler as a strong force in German politics.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: The absence of an effective government prompted two influential politicians, Franz von Papen and Alfred Hugenberg, along with several other industrialists and businessmen, to write a letter to Hindenburg. The signers urged Hindenburg to appoint Hitler as leader of a government "independent from parliamentary parties", which could turn into a movement that would "enrapture millions of people".


title: Adolf Hitler

text: Hindenburg reluctantly agreed to appoint Hitler as chancellor after two further parliamentary elections—in July and November 1932—had not resulted in the formation of a majority government. Hitler headed a short-lived coalition government formed by the Nazi Party (which had the most seats in the Reichstag) and Hugenberg's party, the German National People's Party (DNVP). On 30 January 1933, the new cabinet was sworn in during a brief ceremony in Hindenburg's office. The Nazi Party gained three posts: Hitler was named chancellor, Wilhelm Frick Minister of the Interior, and Hermann Göring Minister of the Interior for Prussia. Hitler had insisted on the ministerial positions as a way to gain control over the police in much of Germany.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: As chancellor, Hitler worked against attempts by the Nazi Party's opponents to build a majority government. Because of the political stalemate, he asked Hindenburg to again dissolve the Reichstag, and elections were scheduled for early March. On 27 February 1933, the Reichstag building was set on fire. Göring blamed a communist plot, as Dutch communist Marinus van der Lubbe was found in incriminating circumstances inside the burning building. Until the 1960s, some historians including William L. Shirer and Alan Bullock thought the Nazi Party itself was responsible; the current consensus of nearly all historians is that van der Lubbe actually set the fire alone. At Hitler's urging, Hindenburg responded by signing the Reichstag Fire Decree of 28 February, drafted by the Nazis, which suspended basic rights and allowed detention without trial. The decree was permitted under Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution, which gave the president the power to take emergency measures to protect public safety and order. Activities of the German Communist Party (KPD) were suppressed, and some 4,000 KPD members were arrested.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: In addition to political campaigning, the Nazi Party engaged in paramilitary violence and the spread of anti-communist propaganda in the days preceding the election. On election day, 6 March 1933, the Nazi Party's share of the vote increased to 43.9 per cent, and the party acquired the largest number of seats in parliament. Hitler's party failed to secure an absolute majority, necessitating another coalition with the DNVP.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: On 21 March 1933, the new Reichstag was constituted with an opening ceremony at the Garrison Church in Potsdam. This "Day of Potsdam" was held to demonstrate unity between the Nazi movement and the old Prussian elite and military. Hitler appeared in a morning coat and humbly greeted Hindenburg.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: To achieve full political control despite not having an absolute majority in parliament, Hitler's government brought the (Enabling Act) to a vote in the newly elected Reichstag. The Actofficially titled the ("Law to Remedy the Distress of People and Reich")gave Hitler's cabinet the power to enact laws without the consent of the Reichstag for four years. These laws could (with certain exceptions) deviate from the constitution. Since it would affect the constitution, the Enabling Act required a two-thirds majority to pass. Leaving nothing to chance, the Nazis used the provisions of the Reichstag Fire Decree to arrest all 81 Communist deputies (in spite of their virulent campaign against the party, the Nazis had allowed the KPD to contest the election) and prevent several Social Democrats from attending.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: On 23 March 1933, the Reichstag assembled at the Kroll Opera House under turbulent circumstances. Ranks of SA men served as guards inside the building, while large groups outside opposing the proposed legislation shouted slogans and threats towards the arriving members of parliament. After Hitler verbally promised Centre party leader Ludwig Kaas that Hindenburg would retain his power of veto, Kaas announced the Centre Party would support the Enabling Act. The Act passed by a vote of 444–94, with all parties except the Social Democrats voting in favour. The Enabling Act, along with the Reichstag Fire Decree, transformed Hitler's government into a de facto legal dictatorship.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: Having achieved full control over the legislative and executive branches of government, Hitler and his allies began to suppress the remaining opposition. The Social Democratic Party was banned and its assets seized. While many trade union delegates were in Berlin for May Day activities, SA stormtroopers occupied union offices around the country. On 2 May 1933, all trade unions were forced to dissolve and their leaders were arrested. Some were sent to concentration camps. The German Labour Front was formed as an umbrella organisation to represent all workers, administrators, and company owners, thus reflecting the concept of Nazism in the spirit of Hitler's ("people's community").


title: Adolf Hitler

text: By the end of June, the other parties had been intimidated into disbanding. This included the Nazis' nominal coalition partner, the DNVP; with the SA's help, Hitler forced its leader, Hugenberg, to resign on 29 June. On 14 July 1933, the Nazi Party was declared the only legal political party in Germany. The demands of the SA for more political and military power caused anxiety among military, industrial, and political leaders. In response, Hitler purged the entire SA leadership in the Night of the Long Knives, which took place from 30 June to 2 July 1934. Hitler targeted Ernst Röhm and other SA leaders who, along with a number of Hitler's political adversaries (such as Gregor Strasser and former chancellor Kurt von Schleicher), were rounded up, arrested, and shot. While the international community and some Germans were shocked by the murders, many in Germany believed Hitler was restoring order.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: On 2 August 1934, Hindenburg died. The previous day, the cabinet had enacted the "Law Concerning the Highest State Office of the Reich". This law stated that upon Hindenburg's death, the office of president would be abolished and its powers merged with those of the chancellor. Hitler thus became head of state as well as head of government, and was formally named as (leader and chancellor), although was eventually quietly dropped. With this action, Hitler eliminated the last legal remedy by which he could be removed from office.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: As head of state, Hitler became commander-in-chief of the armed forces. Immediately after Hindenburg's death, at the instigation of the leadership of the , the traditional loyalty oath of soldiers was altered to affirm loyalty to Hitler personally, by name, rather than to the office of commander-in-chief (which was later renamed to supreme commander) or the state. On 19 August, the merger of the presidency with the chancellorship was approved by 88 per cent of the electorate voting in a plebiscite.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: In early 1938, Hitler used blackmail to consolidate his hold over the military by instigating the Blomberg–Fritsch affair. Hitler forced his War Minister, Field Marshal Werner von Blomberg, to resign by using a police dossier that showed that Blomberg's new wife had a record for prostitution. Army commander Colonel-General Werner von Fritsch was removed after the (SS) produced allegations that he had engaged in a homosexual relationship. Both men had fallen into disfavour because they objected to Hitler's demand to make the ready for war as early as 1938. Hitler assumed Blomberg's title of Commander-in-Chief, thus taking personal command of the armed forces. He replaced the Ministry of War with the (OKW), headed by General Wilhelm Keitel. On the same day, sixteen generals were stripped of their commands and 44 more were transferred; all were suspected of not being sufficiently pro-Nazi. By early February 1938, twelve more generals had been removed.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: Hitler took care to give his dictatorship the appearance of legality. Many of his decrees were explicitly based on the Reichstag Fire Decree and hence on Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution. The Reichstag renewed the Enabling Act twice, each time for a four-year period. While elections to the Reichstag were still held (in 1933, 1936, and 1938), voters were presented with a single list of Nazis and pro-Nazi "guests" which carried with well over 90 per cent of the vote. These elections were held in far-from-secret conditions; the Nazis threatened severe reprisals against anyone who did not vote or dared to vote no.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: In August 1934, Hitler appointed President Hjalmar Schacht as Minister of Economics, and in the following year, as Plenipotentiary for War Economy in charge of preparing the economy for war. Reconstruction and rearmament were financed through Mefo bills, printing money, and seizing the assets of people arrested as enemies of the State, including Jews. Unemployment fell from six million in 1932 to one million in 1936. Hitler oversaw one of the largest infrastructure improvement campaigns in German history, leading to the construction of dams, autobahns, railroads, and other civil works. Wages were slightly lower in the mid to late 1930s compared with wages during the Weimar Republic, while the cost of living increased by 25 per cent. The average work week increased during the shift to a war economy; by 1939, the average German was working between 47 and 50 hours a week.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: Hitler's government sponsored architecture on an immense scale. Albert Speer, instrumental in implementing Hitler's classicist reinterpretation of German culture, was placed in charge of the proposed architectural renovations of Berlin. Despite a threatened multi-nation boycott, Germany hosted the 1936 Olympic Games. Hitler officiated at the opening ceremonies and attended events at both the Winter Games in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and the Summer Games in Berlin.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: In a meeting with German military leaders on 3 February 1933, Hitler spoke of "conquest for in the East and its ruthless Germanisation" as his ultimate foreign policy objectives. In March, Prince Bernhard Wilhelm von Bülow, secretary at the Auswärtiges Amt (Foreign Office), issued a statement of major foreign policy aims: with Austria, the restoration of Germany's national borders of 1914, rejection of military restrictions under the Treaty of Versailles, the return of the former German colonies in Africa, and a German zone of influence in Eastern Europe. Hitler found Bülow's goals to be too modest. In speeches during this period, he stressed the peaceful goals of his policies and a willingness to work within international agreements. At the first meeting of his cabinet in 1933, Hitler prioritised military spending over unemployment relief.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: Germany withdrew from the League of Nations and the World Disarmament Conference in October 1933. In January 1935, over 90 per cent of the people of the Saarland, then under League of Nations administration, voted to unite with Germany. That March, Hitler announced an expansion of the Wehrmacht to 600,000 memberssix times the number permitted by the Versailles Treatyincluding development of an air force () and an increase in the size of the navy (). Britain, France, Italy, and the League of Nations condemned these violations of the Treaty, but did nothing to stop it. The Anglo-German Naval Agreement (AGNA) of 18 June allowed German tonnage to increase to 35 per cent of that of the British navy. Hitler called the signing of the AGNA "the happiest day of his life", believing that the agreement marked the beginning of the Anglo-German alliance he had predicted in . France and Italy were not consulted before the signing, directly undermining the League of Nations and setting the Treaty of Versailles on the path towards irrelevance.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: Germany reoccupied the demilitarised zone in the Rhineland in March 1936, in violation of the Versailles Treaty. Hitler also sent troops to Spain to support General Franco during the Spanish Civil War after receiving an appeal for help in July 1936. At the same time, Hitler continued his efforts to create an Anglo-German alliance. In August 1936, in response to a growing economic crisis caused by his rearmament efforts, Hitler ordered Göring to implement a Four Year Plan to prepare Germany for war within the next four years. The plan envisaged an all-out struggle between "Judeo-Bolshevism" and German Nazism, which in Hitler's view required a committed effort of rearmament regardless of the economic costs.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: In October 1936, Count Galeazzo Ciano, foreign minister of Mussolini's government, visited Germany, where he signed a Nine-Point Protocol as an expression of "rapprochement" and had a personal meeting with Hitler. On 1 November, Mussolini declared an "axis" between Germany and Italy. On 25 November, Germany signed the Anti-Comintern Pact with Japan. Britain, China, Italy, and Poland were also invited to join the Anti-Comintern Pact, but only Italy signed in 1937. Hitler abandoned his plan of an Anglo-German alliance, blaming "inadequate" British leadership. At a meeting in the Reich Chancellery with his foreign ministers and military chiefs that November, Hitler restated his intention of acquiring for the German people. He ordered preparations for war in the East, to begin as early as 1938 and no later than 1943. In the event of his death, the conference minutes, recorded as the Hossbach Memorandum, were to be regarded as his "political testament". He felt that a severe decline in living standards in Germany as a result of the economic crisis could only be stopped by military aggression aimed at seizing Austria and Czechoslovakia. Hitler urged quick action before Britain and France gained a permanent lead in the arms race. In early 1938, in the wake of the Blomberg–Fritsch Affair, Hitler asserted control of the military-foreign policy apparatus, dismissing Neurath as foreign minister and appointing himself as War Minister. From early 1938 onwards, Hitler was carrying out a foreign policy ultimately aimed at war.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: In February 1938, on the advice of his newly appointed foreign minister, the strongly pro-Japanese Joachim von Ribbentrop, Hitler ended the Sino-German alliance with the Republic of China to instead enter into an alliance with the more modern and powerful Empire of Japan. Hitler announced German recognition of Manchukuo, the Japanese-occupied state in Manchuria, and renounced German claims to their former colonies in the Pacific held by Japan. Hitler ordered an end to arms shipments to China and recalled all German officers working with the Chinese Army. In retaliation, Chinese General cancelled all Sino-German economic agreements, depriving the Germans of many Chinese raw materials.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: On 12 March 1938, Hitler announced the unification of Austria with Nazi Germany in the "Anschluss". Hitler then turned his attention to the ethnic German population of the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia. On 28–29 March 1938, Hitler held a series of secret meetings in Berlin with Konrad Henlein of the Sudeten German Party, the largest of the ethnic German parties of the Sudetenland. The men agreed that Henlein would demand increased autonomy for Sudeten Germans from the Czechoslovakian government, thus providing a pretext for German military action against Czechoslovakia. In April 1938 Henlein told the foreign minister of Hungary that "whatever the Czech government might offer, he would always raise still higher demands ... he wanted to sabotage an understanding by any means because this was the only method to blow up Czechoslovakia quickly". In private, Hitler considered the Sudeten issue unimportant; his real intention was a war of conquest against Czechoslovakia.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: Germany was dependent on imported oil; a confrontation with Britain over the Czechoslovakian dispute could curtail Germany's oil supplies. This forced Hitler to call off , originally planned for 1 October 1938. On 29 September Hitler, Neville Chamberlain, Édouard Daladier, and Mussolini attended a one-day conference in Munich that led to the Munich Agreement, which handed over the Sudetenland districts to Germany.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: Chamberlain was satisfied with the Munich conference, calling the outcome "peace for our time", while Hitler was angered about the missed opportunity for war in 1938; he expressed his disappointment in a speech on 9 October in Saarbrücken. In Hitler's view, the British-brokered peace, although favourable to the ostensible German demands, was a diplomatic defeat which spurred his intent of limiting British power to pave the way for the eastern expansion of Germany. As a result of the summit, Hitler was selected "Time" magazine's Man of the Year for 1938.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: In late 1938 and early 1939, the continuing economic crisis caused by rearmament forced Hitler to make major defence cuts. In his "Export or die" speech of 30 January 1939, he called for an economic offensive to increase German foreign exchange holdings to pay for raw materials such as high-grade iron needed for military weapons.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: On 14 March 1939, under threat from Hungary, Slovakia declared independence and received protection from Germany. The next day, in violation of the Munich accord and possibly as a result of the deepening economic crisis requiring additional assets, Hitler ordered the Wehrmacht to invade the Czech rump state, and from Prague Castle he proclaimed the territory a German protectorate.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: In private discussions in 1939, Hitler declared Britain the main enemy to be defeated and that Poland's obliteration was a necessary prelude for that goal. The eastern flank would be secured and land would be added to Germany's . Offended by the British "guarantee" on 31 March 1939 of Polish independence, he said, "I shall brew them a devil's drink". In a speech in Wilhelmshaven for the launch of the battleship on 1 April, he threatened to denounce the Anglo-German Naval Agreement if the British continued to guarantee Polish independence, which he perceived as an "encirclement" policy. Poland was to either become a German satellite state or it would be neutralised in order to secure the Reich's eastern flank and prevent a possible British blockade. Hitler initially favoured the idea of a satellite state, but upon its rejection by the Polish government, he decided to invade and made this the main foreign policy goal of 1939. On 3 April, Hitler ordered the military to prepare for ("Case White"), the plan for invading Poland on 25 August. In a Reichstag speech on 28 April, he renounced both the Anglo-German Naval Agreement and the German–Polish Non-Aggression Pact. Historians such as William Carr, Gerhard Weinberg, and Ian Kershaw have argued that one reason for Hitler's rush to war was his fear of an early death. He had repeatedly claimed that he must lead Germany into war before he got too old, as his successors might lack his strength of will.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: Hitler was concerned that a military attack against Poland could result in a premature war with Britain. Hitler's foreign minister and former Ambassador to London, Joachim von Ribbentrop, assured him that neither Britain nor France would honour their commitments to Poland. Accordingly, on 22 August 1939 Hitler ordered a military mobilisation against Poland.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: This plan required tacit Soviet support, and the non-aggression pact (the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact) between Germany and the Soviet Union, led by Joseph Stalin, included a secret agreement to partition Poland between the two countries. Contrary to Ribbentrop's prediction that Britain would sever Anglo-Polish ties, Britain and Poland signed the Anglo-Polish alliance on 25 August 1939. This, along with news from Italy that Mussolini would not honour the Pact of Steel, prompted Hitler to postpone the attack on Poland from 25 August to 1 September. Hitler unsuccessfully tried to manoeuvre the British into neutrality by offering them a non-aggression guarantee on 25 August; he then instructed Ribbentrop to present a last-minute peace plan with an impossibly short time limit in an effort to blame the imminent war on British and Polish inaction.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: On 1 September 1939, Germany invaded western Poland under the pretext of having been denied claims to the Free City of Danzig and the right to extraterritorial roads across the Polish Corridor, which Germany had ceded under the Versailles Treaty. In response, Britain and France declared war on Germany on 3 September, surprising Hitler and prompting him to angrily ask Ribbentrop, "Now what?" France and Britain did not act on their declarations immediately, and on 17 September, Soviet forces invaded eastern Poland.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: The fall of Poland was followed by what contemporary journalists dubbed the "Phoney War" or ("sitting war"). Hitler instructed the two newly appointed Gauleiters of north-western Poland, Albert Forster of Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia and Arthur Greiser of Reichsgau Wartheland, to Germanise their areas, with "no questions asked" about how this was accomplished. In Forster's area, ethnic Poles merely had to sign forms stating that they had German blood. In contrast, Greiser agreed with Himmler and carried out an ethnic cleansing campaign towards Poles. Greiser soon complained that Forster was allowing thousands of Poles to be accepted as "racial" Germans and thus endangered German "racial purity". Hitler refrained from getting involved. This inaction has been advanced as an example of the theory of "working towards the Führer", in which Hitler issued vague instructions and expected his subordinates to work out policies on their own.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: Another dispute pitched one side represented by Heinrich Himmler and Greiser, who championed ethnic cleansing in Poland, against another represented by Göring and Hans Frank (governor-general of occupied Poland), who called for turning Poland into the "granary" of the Reich. On 12 February 1940, the dispute was initially settled in favour of the Göring–Frank view, which ended the economically disruptive mass expulsions. On 15 May 1940, Himmler issued a memo entitled "Some Thoughts on the Treatment of Alien Population in the East", calling for the expulsion of the entire Jewish population of Europe into Africa and the reduction of the Polish population to a "leaderless class of labourers". Hitler called Himmler's memo "good and correct", and, ignoring Göring and Frank, implemented the Himmler–Greiser policy in Poland.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: On 9 April, German forces invaded Denmark and Norway. On the same day Hitler proclaimed the birth of the Greater Germanic Reich, his vision of a united empire of Germanic nations of Europe in which the Dutch, Flemish, and Scandinavians were joined into a "racially pure" polity under German leadership. In May 1940, Germany attacked France, and conquered Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Belgium. These victories prompted Mussolini to have Italy join forces with Hitler on 10 June. France and Germany signed an armistice on 22 June. Kershaw notes that Hitler's popularity within Germanyand German support for the warreached its peak when he returned to Berlin on 6 July from his tour of Paris. Following the unexpected swift victory, Hitler promoted twelve generals to the rank of field marshal during the 1940 Field Marshal Ceremony.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: Britain, whose troops were forced to evacuate France by sea from Dunkirk, continued to fight alongside other British dominions in the Battle of the Atlantic. Hitler made peace overtures to the new British leader, Winston Churchill, and upon their rejection he ordered a series of aerial attacks on Royal Air Force airbases and radar stations in southeast England. On 7 September the systematic nightly bombing of London began. The German Luftwaffe failed to defeat the Royal Air Force in what became known as the Battle of Britain. By the end of September, Hitler realised that air superiority for the invasion of Britain (in Operation Sea Lion) could not be achieved, and ordered the operation postponed. The nightly air raids on British cities intensified and continued for months, including London, Plymouth, and Coventry.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: On 27 September 1940, the Tripartite Pact was signed in Berlin by Saburō Kurusu of Imperial Japan, Hitler, and Italian foreign minister Ciano, and later expanded to include Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria, thus yielding the Axis powers. Hitler's attempt to integrate the Soviet Union into the anti-British bloc failed after inconclusive talks between Hitler and Molotov in Berlin in November, and he ordered preparations for the invasion of the Soviet Union.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: In early 1941, German forces were deployed to North Africa, the Balkans, and the Middle East. In February, German forces arrived in Libya to bolster the Italian presence. In April, Hitler launched the invasion of Yugoslavia, quickly followed by the invasion of Greece. In May, German forces were sent to support Iraqi forces fighting against the British and to invade Crete.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: On 22 June 1941, contravening the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of 1939, over three million Axis troops attacked the Soviet Union. This offensive (codenamed Operation Barbarossa) was intended to destroy the Soviet Union and seize its natural resources for subsequent aggression against the Western powers. The invasion conquered a huge area, including the Baltic republics, Belarus, and West Ukraine. By early August, Axis troops had advanced and won the Battle of Smolensk. Hitler ordered Army Group Centre to temporarily halt its advance to Moscow and divert its Panzer groups to aid in the encirclement of Leningrad and Kiev. His generals disagreed with this change, having advanced within of Moscow, and his decision caused a crisis among the military leadership. The pause provided the Red Army with an opportunity to mobilise fresh reserves; historian Russel Stolfi considers it to be one of the major factors that caused the failure of the Moscow offensive, which was resumed in October 1941 and ended disastrously in December. During this crisis, Hitler appointed himself as head of the .


title: Adolf Hitler

text: On 7 December 1941, Japan attacked the American fleet based at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Four days later, Hitler declared war against the United States. On 18 December 1941, Himmler asked Hitler, "What to do with the Jews of Russia?", to which Hitler replied, ("exterminate them as partisans"). Israeli historian Yehuda Bauer has commented that the remark is probably as close as historians will ever get to a definitive order from Hitler for the genocide carried out during the Holocaust.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: In late 1942, German forces were defeated in the second battle of El Alamein, thwarting Hitler's plans to seize the Suez Canal and the Middle East. Overconfident in his own military expertise following the earlier victories in 1940, Hitler became distrustful of his Army High Command and began to interfere in military and tactical planning, with damaging consequences. In December 1942 and January 1943, Hitler's repeated refusal to allow their withdrawal at the Battle of Stalingrad led to the almost total destruction of the 6th Army. Over 200,000 Axis soldiers were killed and 235,000 were taken prisoner. Thereafter came a decisive strategic defeat at the Battle of Kursk. Hitler's military judgement became increasingly erratic, and Germany's military and economic position deteriorated, as did Hitler's health.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: Following the Allied invasion of Sicily in 1943, Mussolini was removed from power by King Victor Emmanuel III after a vote of no confidence of the Grand Council of Fascism. Marshal Pietro Badoglio, placed in charge of the government, soon surrendered to the Allies. Throughout 1943 and 1944, the Soviet Union steadily forced Hitler's armies into retreat along the Eastern Front. On 6 June 1944, the Western Allied armies landed in northern France in one of the largest amphibious operations in history, Operation Overlord. Many German officers concluded that defeat was inevitable and that continuing under Hitler's leadership would result in the complete destruction of the country.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: Between 1939 and 1945, there were many plans to assassinate Hitler, some of which proceeded to significant degrees. The most well known, the 20 July plot of 1944, came from within Germany and was at least partly driven by the increasing prospect of a German defeat in the war. Part of Operation Valkyrie, the plot involved Claus von Stauffenberg planting a bomb in one of Hitler's headquarters, the Wolf's Lair at Rastenburg. Hitler narrowly survived because staff officer Heinz Brandt moved the briefcase containing the bomb behind a leg of the heavy conference table, which deflected much of the blast. Later, Hitler ordered savage reprisals resulting in the execution of more than 4,900 people.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: According to British academic Dan Plesch, Hitler was put on the United Nations War Crimes Commission's first list of war criminals in December 1944, after determining that Hitler could be held criminally responsible for the acts of the Nazis in occupied countries. By March 1945 at least seven indictments had been filed against him.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: By late 1944, both the Red Army and the Western Allies were advancing into Germany. Recognising the strength and determination of the Red Army, Hitler decided to use his remaining mobile reserves against the American and British armies, which he perceived as far weaker. On 16 December, he launched the Ardennes Offensive to incite disunity among the Western Allies and perhaps convince them to join his fight against the Soviets. After some temporary successes, the offensive failed. With much of Germany in ruins in January 1945, Hitler spoke on the radio: "However grave as the crisis may be at this moment, it will, despite everything, be mastered by our unalterable will." Acting on his view that Germany's military failures meant it had forfeited its right to survive as a nation, Hitler ordered the destruction of all German industrial infrastructure before it could fall into Allied hands. Minister for Armaments Albert Speer was entrusted with executing this scorched earth policy, but he secretly disobeyed the order. Hitler's hope to negotiate peace with the United States and Britain was encouraged by the death of US President Franklin D. Roosevelt on 12 April 1945, but contrary to his expectations, this caused no rift among the Allies.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: On 20 April, his 56thbirthday, Hitler made his last trip from the (Führer's shelter) to the surface. In the ruined garden of the Reich Chancellery, he awarded Iron Crosses to boy soldiers of the Hitler Youth, who were now fighting the Red Army at the front near Berlin. By 21 April, Georgy Zhukov's 1st Belorussian Front had broken through the defences of General Gotthard Heinrici's Army Group Vistula during the Battle of the Seelow Heights and advanced to the outskirts of Berlin. In denial about the dire situation, Hitler placed his hopes on the undermanned and under-equipped (Army Detachment Steiner), commanded by Felix Steiner. Hitler ordered Steiner to attack the northern flank of the salient, while the German Ninth Army was ordered to attack northward in a pincer attack.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: During a military conference on 22 April, Hitler asked about Steiner's offensive. He was told that the attack had not been launched and that the Soviets had entered Berlin. Hitler asked everyone except Wilhelm Keitel, Alfred Jodl, Hans Krebs, and Wilhelm Burgdorf to leave the room, then launched into a tirade against the treachery and incompetence of his commanders, culminating in his declaration—for the first time—that "everything was lost". He announced that he would stay in Berlin until the end and then shoot himself.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: By 23 April the Red Army had surrounded Berlin, and Goebbels made a proclamation urging its citizens to defend the city. That same day, Göring sent a telegram from Berchtesgaden, arguing that since Hitler was isolated in Berlin, Göring should assume leadership of Germany. Göring set a deadline, after which he would consider Hitler incapacitated. Hitler responded by having Göring arrested, and in his last will and testament of 29 April, he removed Göring from all government positions. On 28 April Hitler discovered that Himmler, who had left Berlin on 20 April, was trying to negotiate a surrender to the Western Allies. He ordered Himmler's arrest and had Hermann Fegelein (Himmler's SS representative at Hitler's HQ in Berlin) shot.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: After midnight on the night of 28–29 April, Hitler married Eva Braun in a small civil ceremony in the . Later that afternoon, Hitler was informed that Mussolini had been executed by the Italian resistance movement on the previous day; this presumably increased his determination to avoid capture.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: On 30 April 1945, Soviet troops were within a block or two of the Reich Chancellery when Hitler shot himself in the head and Braun bit into a cyanide capsule. Carrying out Hitler's previous command, their corpses were carried outside to the garden behind the Reich Chancellery, where they were placed in a bomb crater, doused with petrol, and set on fire as the Red Army shelling continued. Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz and Joseph Goebbels assumed Hitler's roles as head of state and chancellor respectively.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: Berlin surrendered on 2 May. The remains of Joseph and Magda Goebbels, the six Goebbels children, General Hans Krebs, and Hitler's dogs were repeatedly buried and exhumed. Hitler and Braun's remains were alleged to have been moved as well, but this is most likely Soviet disinformation. There is no evidence that any actual bodily remains of Hitler or Braun—with the exception of the dental bridges—were found by the Soviets, which could be identified as their remains. While news of Hitler's death spread quickly, a death certificate was not issued until 1956, after a lengthy investigation to collect testimony from 42 witnesses. Hitler's demise was entered as an assumption of death based on this testimony.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: The Holocaust and Germany's war in the East were based on Hitler's long-standing view that the Jews were the enemy of the German people and that was needed for Germany's expansion. He focused on Eastern Europe for this expansion, aiming to defeat Poland and the Soviet Union and then removing or killing the Jews and Slavs. The (General Plan East) called for deporting the population of occupied Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union to West Siberia, for use as slave labour or to be murdered; the conquered territories were to be colonised by German or "Germanised" settlers. The goal was to implement this plan after the conquest of the Soviet Union, but when this failed, Hitler moved the plans forward. By January 1942, he had decided that the Jews, Slavs, and other deportees considered undesirable should be killed.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: The genocide was organised and executed by Heinrich Himmler and Reinhard Heydrich. The records of the Wannsee Conference, held on 20 January 1942 and led by Heydrich, with fifteen senior Nazi officials participating, provide the clearest evidence of systematic planning for the Holocaust. On 22 February, Hitler was recorded saying, "we shall regain our health only by eliminating the Jews". Similarly, at a meeting in July 1941 with leading functionaries of the Eastern territories, Hitler said that the easiest way to quickly pacify the areas would be best achieved by "shooting everyone who even looks odd". Although no direct order from Hitler authorising the mass killings has surfaced, his public speeches, orders to his generals, and the diaries of Nazi officials demonstrate that he conceived and authorised the extermination of European Jewry. During the war, Hitler repeatedly stated his prophecy of 1939 was being fulfilled, namely, that a world war would bring about the annihilation of the Jewish race. Hitler approved the —killing squads that followed the German army through Poland, the Baltic, and the Soviet Union—and was well informed about their activities. By summer 1942, Auschwitz concentration camp was expanded to accommodate large numbers of deportees for murder or enslavement. Scores of other concentration camps and satellite camps were set up throughout Europe, with several camps devoted exclusively to extermination.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: Between 1939 and 1945, the (SS), assisted by collaborationist governments and recruits from occupied countries, were responsible for the deaths of at least eleven million non-combatants, including the murders of about 6 million Jews (representing two-thirds of the Jewish population of Europe), and between 200,000 and 1,500,000 Romani people. The victims were killed in concentration and extermination camps, ghettos, and through mass executions. Many victims of the Holocaust were murdered in gas chambers, while others died of starvation or disease or while working as slave labourers. In addition to eliminating Jews, the Nazis planned to reduce the population of the conquered territories by 30 million people through starvation in an action called the Hunger Plan. Food supplies would be diverted to the German army and German civilians. Cities would be razed and the land allowed to return to forest or resettled by German colonists. Together, the Hunger Plan and would have led to the starvation of 80 million people in the Soviet Union. These partially fulfilled plans resulted in additional deaths, bringing the total number of civilians and prisoners of war who died in the democide to an estimated 19.3 million people.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: Hitler's policies resulted in the killing of nearly two million non-Jewish Polish civilians, over three million Soviet prisoners of war, communists and other political opponents, homosexuals, the physically and mentally disabled, Jehovah's Witnesses, Adventists, and trade unionists. Hitler did not speak publicly about the killings, and seems to never have visited the concentration camps.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: The Nazis embraced the concept of racial hygiene. On 15 September 1935, Hitler presented two laws—known as the Nuremberg Laws—to the Reichstag. The laws banned sexual relations and marriages between Aryans and Jews and were later extended to include "Gypsies, Negroes or their bastard offspring". The laws stripped all non-Aryans of their German citizenship and forbade the employment of non-Jewish women under the age of 45 in Jewish households. Hitler's early eugenic policies targeted children with physical and developmental disabilities in a programme dubbed Action Brandt, and he later authorised a euthanasia programme for adults with serious mental and physical disabilities, now referred to as .


title: Adolf Hitler

text: Hitler ruled the Nazi Party autocratically by asserting the (leader principle). The principle relied on absolute obedience of all subordinates to their superiors; thus, he viewed the government structure as a pyramid, with himself—the infallible leader—at the apex. Rank in the party was not determined by elections—positions were filled through appointment by those of higher rank, who demanded unquestioning obedience to the will of the leader. Hitler's leadership style was to give contradictory orders to his subordinates and to place them into positions where their duties and responsibilities overlapped with those of others, to have "the stronger one [do] the job". In this way, Hitler fostered distrust, competition, and infighting among his subordinates to consolidate and maximise his own power. His cabinet never met after 1938, and he discouraged his ministers from meeting independently. Hitler typically did not give written orders; instead, he communicated verbally, or had them conveyed through his close associate Martin Bormann. He entrusted Bormann with his paperwork, appointments, and personal finances; Bormann used his position to control the flow of information and access to Hitler.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: Hitler dominated his country's war effort during World War II to a greater extent than any other national leader. He strengthened his control of the armed forces in 1938, and subsequently made all major decisions regarding Germany's military strategy. His decision to mount a risky series of offensives against Norway, France, and the Low Countries in 1940 against the advice of the military proved successful, though the diplomatic and military strategies he employed in attempts to force the United Kingdom out of the war ended in failure. Hitler deepened his involvement in the war effort by appointing himself commander-in-chief of the Army in December 1941; from this point forward, he personally directed the war against the Soviet Union, while his military commanders facing the Western Allies retained a degree of autonomy. Hitler's leadership became increasingly disconnected from reality as the war turned against Germany, with the military's defensive strategies often hindered by his slow decision-making and frequent directives to hold untenable positions. Nevertheless, he continued to believe that only his leadership could deliver victory. In the final months of the war, Hitler refused to consider peace negotiations, regarding the destruction of Germany as preferable to surrender. The military did not challenge Hitler's dominance of the war effort, and senior officers generally supported and enacted his decisions.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: Hitler created a public image as a celibate man without a domestic life, dedicated entirely to his political mission and the nation. He met his lover, Eva Braun, in 1929, and married her on 29 April 1945, one day before they both committed suicide.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: In September 1931, his half-niece, Geli Raubal, took her own life with Hitler's gun in his Munich apartment. It was rumoured among contemporaries that Geli was in a romantic relationship with him, and her death was a source of deep, lasting pain. Paula Hitler, the younger sister of Hitler and the last living member of his immediate family, died in June 1960.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: Hitler was born to a practising Catholic mother and an anticlerical father; after leaving home, Hitler never again attended Mass or received the sacraments. Speer states that Hitler railed against the church to his political associates, and though he never officially left the church, he had no attachment to it. He adds that Hitler felt that in the absence of organised religion, people would turn to mysticism, which he considered regressive. According to Speer, Hitler believed that Japanese religious beliefs or Islam would have been a more suitable religion for Germans than Christianity, with its "meekness and flabbiness". Historian John S. Conway states that Hitler was fundamentally opposed to the Christian churches. According to Bullock, Hitler did not believe in God, was anticlerical, and held Christian ethics in contempt because they contravened his preferred view of "survival of the fittest". He favoured aspects of Protestantism that suited his own views, and adopted some elements of the Catholic Church's hierarchical organisation, liturgy, and phraseology. In a 1932 speech, Hitler stated that he was not a Catholic, and declared himself a German Christian. In a conversation with Albert Speer, Hitler said, "Through me the Evangelical Church could become the established church, as in England."


title: Adolf Hitler

text: Hitler viewed the church as an important politically conservative influence on society, and he adopted a strategic relationship with it that "suited his immediate political purposes". In public, Hitler often praised Christian heritage and German Christian culture, though professing a belief in an "Aryan Jesus" who fought against the Jews. Any pro-Christian public rhetoric contradicted his private statements, which described Christianity as "absurdity" and nonsense founded on lies.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: According to a US Office of Strategic Services (OSS) report, "The Nazi Master Plan", Hitler planned to destroy the influence of Christian churches within the Reich. His eventual goal was the total elimination of Christianity. This goal informed Hitler's movement early on, but he saw it as inexpedient to publicly express this extreme position. According to Bullock, Hitler wanted to wait until after the war before executing this plan.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: Speer wrote that Hitler had a negative view of Himmler's and Alfred Rosenberg's mystical notions and Himmler's attempt to mythologise the SS. Hitler was more pragmatic, and his ambitions centred on more practical concerns.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: Researchers have variously suggested that Hitler suffered from irritable bowel syndrome, skin lesions, irregular heartbeat, coronary sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, syphilis, giant-cell arteritis, tinnitus, and monorchism.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: In a report prepared for the OSS in 1943, Walter C. Langer of Harvard University described Hitler as a "neurotic psychopath". In his 1977 book "", historian Robert G. L. Waite proposes that he suffered from borderline personality disorder. Historians Henrik Eberle and Hans-Joachim Neumann consider that while he suffered from a number of illnesses including Parkinson's disease, Hitler did not experience pathological delusions and was always fully aware of, and therefore responsible for, his decisions.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: Sometime in the 1930s, Hitler adopted a mainly vegetarian diet, avoiding all meat and fish from 1942 onwards. At social events, he sometimes gave graphic accounts of the slaughter of animals in an effort to make his guests shun meat. Bormann had a greenhouse constructed near the Berghof (near Berchtesgaden) to ensure a steady supply of fresh fruit and vegetables for Hitler.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: Hitler stopped drinking alcohol around the time he became vegetarian and thereafter only very occasionally drank beer or wine on social occasions. He was a non-smoker for most of his adult life, but smoked heavily in his youth (25 to 40 cigarettes a day); he eventually quit, calling the habit "a waste of money". He encouraged his close associates to quit by offering a gold watch to anyone able to break the habit. Hitler began using amphetamine occasionally after 1937 and became addicted to it in late 1942. Speer linked this use of amphetamine to Hitler's increasingly erratic behaviour and inflexible decision-making (for example, rarely allowing military retreats).


title: Adolf Hitler

text: Prescribed 90 medications during the war years by his personal physician, Theodor Morell, Hitler took many pills each day for chronic stomach problems and other ailments. He regularly consumed amphetamine, barbiturates, opiates, and cocaine, as well as potassium bromide and atropa belladonna (the latter in the form of Doktor Koster's Antigaspills). He suffered ruptured eardrums as a result of the 20 July plot bomb blast in 1944, and 200 wood splinters had to be removed from his legs. Newsreel footage of Hitler shows tremors in his left hand and a shuffling walk, which began before the war and worsened towards the end of his life. Ernst-Günther Schenck and several other doctors who met Hitler in the last weeks of his life also formed a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: Hitler's suicide was likened by contemporaries to a "spell" being broken. Public support for Hitler had collapsed by the time of his death and few Germans mourned his passing; Kershaw argues that most civilians and military personnel were too busy adjusting to the collapse of the country or fleeing from the fighting to take any interest. According to historian John Toland, Nazism "burst like a bubble" without its leader.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: Kershaw describes Hitler as "the embodiment of modern political evil". "Never in history has such ruination—physical and moral—been associated with the name of one man", he adds. Hitler's political programme brought about a world war, leaving behind a devastated and impoverished Eastern and Central Europe. Germany suffered wholesale destruction, characterised as (Zero Hour). Hitler's policies inflicted human suffering on an unprecedented scale; according to R. J. Rummel, the Nazi regime was responsible for the democidal killing of an estimated 19.3 million civilians and prisoners of war. In addition, 28.7million soldiers and civilians died as a result of military action in the European theatre of World War II. The number of civilians killed during the Second World War was unprecedented in the history of warfare. Historians, philosophers, and politicians often use the word "evil" to describe the Nazi regime. Many European countries have criminalised both the promotion of Nazism and Holocaust denial.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: Historian Friedrich Meinecke described Hitler as "one of the great examples of the singular and incalculable power of personality in historical life". English historian Hugh Trevor-Roper saw him as "among the 'terrible simplifiers' of history, the most systematic, the most historical, the most philosophical, and yet the coarsest, cruelest, least magnanimous conqueror the world has ever known". For the historian John M. Roberts, Hitler's defeat marked the end of a phase of European history dominated by Germany. In its place emerged the Cold War, a global confrontation between the Western Bloc, dominated by the United States and other NATO nations, and the Eastern Bloc, dominated by the Soviet Union. Historian Sebastian Haffner asserts that without Hitler and the displacement of the Jews, the modern nation state of Israel would not exist. He contends that without Hitler, the de-colonisation of former European spheres of influence would have been postponed. Further, Haffner claims that other than Alexander the Great, Hitler had a more significant impact than any other comparable historical figure, in that he too caused a wide range of worldwide changes in a relatively short time span.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: Hitler exploited documentary films and newsreels to inspire a cult of personality. He was involved and appeared in a series of propaganda films throughout his political career, many made by Leni Riefenstahl, regarded as a pioneer of modern filmmaking. Hitler's propaganda film appearances include:


title: The Batman (film)

text: The Batman is a 2022 American superhero film based on the DC Comics character Batman. Produced by DC Films, 6th & Idaho, and Dylan Clark Productions, and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, it is a reboot of the "Batman" film franchise. The film was directed by Matt Reeves, who wrote the screenplay with Peter Craig. It stars Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne / Batman alongside Zoë Kravitz, Paul Dano, Jeffrey Wright, John Turturro, Peter Sarsgaard, Andy Serkis, and Colin Farrell. The film sees Batman, who has been fighting crime in Gotham City for two years, uncover corruption while pursuing the Riddler (Dano), a serial killer who targets Gotham's elite.


title: The Batman (film)

text: Development began after Ben Affleck was cast as Batman in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) in 2013. Affleck signed on to direct, produce, co-write, and star in "The Batman", but had reservations about the project and dropped out. Reeves took over and reworked the story, removing the DCEU connections. He sought to explore Batman's detective side more than previous films, drawing inspiration from the films of Alfred Hitchcock and the New Hollywood era, and comics such as "" (1987), "" (1996–97), and "" (2000). Pattinson was cast in May 2019, with further casting in late 2019. Filming began in the United Kingdom in January 2020, but was halted in March by the COVID-19 pandemic. It resumed later in the year and concluded in Chicago in March 2021.


title: The Batman (film)

text: After the COVID-19 pandemic caused two delays to its original June 2021 release date, "The Batman" premiered at the Lincoln Center in Manhattan on March 1, 2022, and was theatrically released worldwide on March 4. The film was a commercial success, and grossed over $770million against a $185–200million budget, making it the sixth-highest-grossing film of 2022. It received positive reviews from critics, with praise for the performances, score, editing, cinematography, Reeves' direction, visual style, action sequences, and story, although the runtime received some criticism. "The Batman" is intended to launch a "Batman" shared universe, with two sequels planned and two spin-off television series in development for HBO Max.


title: The Batman (film)

text: On Halloween, Gotham City Mayor Don Mitchell Jr. is murdered by the Riddler, a masked serial killer. Reclusive billionaire Bruce Wayne, who has operated for two years as the vigilante Batman, investigates the murder alongside the Gotham City Police Department (GCPD). Lieutenant James Gordon discovers a message that the Riddler left for Batman. The following night, the Riddler kills Commissioner Pete Savage and leaves another message for Batman.


title: The Batman (film)

text: Batman and Gordon discover that the Riddler left a thumb drive in Mitchell's car containing images of Mitchell with a woman, Annika Kosolov, at the Iceberg Lounge—a nightclub operated by Oswald "The Penguin" Cobblepot, crime boss Carmine Falcone's lieutenant. While the Penguin pleads ignorance, Batman notices that Selina Kyle, Annika's roommate, works at the club as a waitress. When Annika disappears, Batman sends Selina back to the Iceberg Lounge for answers and discovers that Savage was on Falcone's payroll, as is District Attorney Gil Colson.


title: The Batman (film)

text: The Riddler abducts Colson, straps a timed collar bomb to his neck, and sends him to interrupt Mitchell's funeral. When Batman arrives, the Riddler calls him via Colson's phone and threatens to detonate the bomb if Colson cannot answer three riddles. Colson refuses to answer the third—the name of the informant who gave the GCPD information that led to a historic drug bust ending gangster Salvatore Maroni's operation—and dies. Batman and Gordon deduce that the informant may be the Penguin and track him to a drug deal. They discover that Maroni's operation transferred to Falcone, with many corrupt GCPD officers involved. Selina inadvertently exposes them when she arrives to steal money and discovers Annika's corpse in the trunk of a car. After a car chase, Batman captures the Penguin, but learns he is not the informant.


title: The Batman (film)

text: Batman and Gordon follow the Riddler's trail to the ruins of an orphanage funded by Bruce's murdered parents, Thomas and Martha Wayne, where they learn that the Riddler holds a grudge against the Wayne family. Bruce's butler and caretaker, Alfred Pennyworth, is hospitalized after opening a letter bomb addressed to Bruce. The Riddler leaks evidence that Thomas, who was running for mayor before he was murdered, hired Falcone to kill a journalist who was writing a story about Martha's family history of mental illness. Bruce confronts Alfred, who maintains that Thomas only asked Falcone to threaten the journalist into silence; Thomas planned to turn himself and Falcone over to the police once he found out Falcone murdered the journalist instead. Alfred believes that Falcone had Thomas and Martha killed to silence them.


title: The Batman (film)

text: Selina reveals to Batman that Falcone is her father, and that he murdered both her mother and Annika, killing the latter because she found out that he was the informant. She tries to kill Falcone, but he overpowers and tries to kill her. Batman and Gordon arrive in time to save her and arrest Falcone, but the Riddler shoots him dead with a sniper rifle moments later. The Riddler is revealed to be forensic accountant Edward Nashton, and is incarcerated in Arkham State Hospital, where he tells Batman he took inspiration from him when targeting the corrupt. Batman learns that Nashton has planted car bombs around Gotham and cultivated an online following that plans to assassinate Mayor-elect Bella Reál.


title: The Batman (film)

text: The bombs destroy the seawall around Gotham and flood the city. Nashton's followers attempt to kill Reál, but Batman and Selina manage to stop them. In the aftermath, Nashton befriends another inmate, while Selina deems Gotham beyond saving and leaves. Batman aids recovery efforts and vows to inspire hope in Gotham.


title: The Batman (film)

text: Additionally, Jayme Lawson portrays Bella Reál, a mayoral candidate for Gotham City who Reeves said represents hope; Gil Perez-Abraham portrays Martinez, a GCPD officer; Peter McDonald portrays William Kenzie, a corrupt GCPD officer; Alex Ferns portrays Pete Savage, the GCPD commissioner; Con O'Neill portrays Mackenzie Bock, the GCPD chief; and Rupert Penry-Jones portrays Don Mitchell Jr., Gotham's mayor. Barry Keoghan makes a cameo appearance as the Joker (credited as "Unseen Arkham Prisoner"), while other cast members include twins Charlie and Max Carver as Iceberg Lounge bouncers (credited as "The Twins"); Hana Hrzic as Annika, Selina's roommate; Jay Lycurgo as a young gang member; Akie Kotabe as a train passenger; Sandra Dickinson as Dory, Bruce's caretaker and housekeeper; and Luke Roberts and Stella Stocker as Bruce's parents, Thomas and Martha Wayne.


title: The Batman (film)

text: In August 2013, Ben Affleck was cast as Bruce Wayne / Batman for multiple films set in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). He made his debut in "" (2016) before appearing in "Suicide Squad" (2016) and "Justice League" (2017). In October 2014, Warner Bros. revealed plans for a standalone Batman film starring Affleck, and he was in negotiations to direct and co-write the screenplay with Geoff Johns by July 2015. Production was expected to begin after Affleck finished work on "Live by Night" (2016).


title: The Batman (film)

text: Affleck and Johns finished the first draft in March 2016. Set after the events of "Batman v Superman" and "Justice League", the script told an original story inspired by comic book elements, an approach that Affleck compared to director Zack Snyder's "Batman v Superman" story, with specific influence from "" (1989) and "" (1992–1994) as well as the video game "" (2009). Cinematographer Robert Richardson, who was attached early in development, confirmed that the script was primarily set in Arkham Asylum. It featured Slade Wilson / Deathstroke orchestrating a breakout at Arkham to tire Batman and make him vulnerable, before fighting him in the streets of Gotham during the climax. Batgirl was planned to appear and help Batman. Johns said the film would also explore the death of Robin, which was hinted at in "Batman v Superman".


title: The Batman (film)

text: Warner Bros. CEO Kevin Tsujihara confirmed at CinemaCon in April 2016 that Affleck was directing. Jeremy Irons said he would reprise his "Batman v Superman" role of Alfred Pennyworth in May, and Joe Manganiello was cast as Deathstroke in September. Manganiello explained that Deathstroke believed Batman was responsible for his son's death and was depicted as systematically dismantling Batman's life and killing those close to him like a "horror movie villain". He compared the story to David Fincher's "The Game" (1997). Snyder enjoyed the story and filmed a post-credits scene for "Justice League"—featuring Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) revealing Batman's secret identity to Deathstroke—to help set up the film. Affleck revealed the title was "The Batman" in October, and in December he said filming was on track to begin in mid-2017 for a 2018 release. That month, a planned "Justice League" sequel was delayed to accommodate "The Batman". Chris Terrio turned in a rewrite of the script in January 2017.


title: The Batman (film)

text: Affleck began to have reservations about directing the film and announced in January 2017 that he was stepping down as director but still planned to star and produce. He initially said he had stepped down to focus more on starring as Batman but soon stated that he had been unable to get the script where he needed it and felt it was time for someone else to "have a shot at it". Affleck later added that he did not think he would have enjoyed directing the film and felt it should be directed by someone who would love working on it. At the time, Warner Bros. was re-evaluating its approach to superhero films following the release of "Batman v Superman", which led to Affleck's film being "sidelined" according to Borys Kit of "The Hollywood Reporter". The "Justice League" post-credits scene was altered in post-production to tease the Injustice League in a "Justice League" sequel instead of Deathstroke's role in "The Batman", though the original was restored in the 2021 director's cut "Zack Snyder's Justice League".


title: The Batman (film)

text: Matt Reeves, Matt Ross, Ridley Scott, Gavin O'Connor, George Miller, Denis Villeneuve, and Fede Álvarez were all considered as replacements for Affleck as director. Reeves, a longtime Batman fan, quickly moved to the top of the shortlist and entered negotiations after meeting with Warner Bros. on February 10, 2017. Warner Bros. sent Reeves a copy of the script, but Reeves felt that Affleck's take, while "totally valid", was not the film he wanted to make. Reeves only wanted to join if he was guaranteed creative control, and Warner Bros. Pictures Group chair Toby Emmerich—who wanted an "auteur" to make the next "Batman" film—was impressed by his initial ideas. An issue with his salary soon arose, but it was quickly overcome, and Reeves was hired to direct "The Batman" on February 23. He was also set to produce the film with Dylan Clark. Reeves was not willing to share his full vision with the studio while he was working on "War for the Planet of the Apes" (2017), and Warner Bros. agreed to delay production until he was available.


title: The Batman (film)

text: Reeves began working on the script in March 2017. He initially planned to keep "The Batman" connections to the DCEU, and spoke with Affleck during the writing process, but soon reworked the story to focus on Batman earlier in his vigilante career, with plans to cast a younger actor to play Batman; Warner Bros. was planning to replace Affleck by July 2017. In August 2018, Affleck went to rehabilitation for alcohol abuse, and it was considered unlikely that he would reprise his role in the film after that. On a Television Critics Association panel in August 2018, Reeves said the script was nearing completion. He hoped to finish it within a couple of weeks and was aiming to begin production in early-to-mid-2019. Reeves submitted his first draft to Warner Bros. the following month. Mattson Tomlin and Peter Craig also contributed to the script, though only Reeves and Craig received credit. Tomlin used some of the ideas he developed for "The Batman" in a comic book limited series, "" (2021).


title: The Batman (film)

text: In January 2019, Warner Bros. set a June 25, 2021, release date for "The Batman", and Affleck confirmed that he was no longer starring. Affleck explained that he stepped down due to a combination of factors, including his divorce from Jennifer Garner, the tumultuous production of "Justice League", his lack of enjoyment in the role at that point, and his alcohol problems. Elaborating on his "Justice League" experience, Affleck said it had particularly soured his interest in the role since it involved his divorce, frequent traveling, and competing agendas, as well as the death of Snyder's daughter Autumn (which led to the director's exit from the project) and the subsequent extensive reshoots for the film. Affleck recalled that he had shown a version of "The Batman" script to a friend who said, "I think the script is good. I also think you'll drink yourself to death if you go through what you just went through [on "Justice League"] again."


title: The Batman (film)

text: When Reeves decided to focus on Batman earlier in his vigilante career, he began writing a new script from scratch. Affleck's script had taken an action-driven, ""James Bond"-ian" approach, but Reeves wanted a more personal narrative that "rock[ed Batman] to his core". He wanted to explore how the Batman mythos could exist in the real world, and chose to set the film during the second year of Batman's career rather than retell the character's origin story, as he wanted his take to be different from previous "Batman" films. He felt the film was "more about someone who hadn’t quite figured out why they were doing the thing they were doing" and wanted it to focus on Batman's emotional arc, in which "you see him go through tremendous trauma and then marshal the will to find a way through". Reeves originally intended for his version of "The Batman" to be set in the DCEU, but eventually decided that this would distract from Batman's character arc and asked Warner Bros. for the creative freedom to move outside of the shared universe. Reeves wanted to be able to create a version of Batman with a "personal aspect to it", and felt he should not be obligated to connect it to other aspects of the DCEU. Warner Bros.' incorporation of the multiverse in its DC productions allowed Reeves to take the project in his own direction; as a consequence, the film takes place in a separate world known as "Earth-2".


title: The Batman (film)

text: Reeves knew early on that the film would draw from "" (1996–97) and its sequel "" (1999–2000) by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale, featuring Batman hunting a serial killer who "would reveal this cooperation between the people who are legitimate pillars in the city and the criminal element in the city". He decided to use the Riddler after noting parallels between the character and the Zodiac Killer, a costumed serial killer who operated in California in the 1960s, while reading "" (1995). Reeves imagined that Batman's investigation would have him encounter other figures from the comic book mythos, leading to the introduction of characters like Catwoman, the Penguin, and Carmine Falcone. However, Reeves sought to ensure that Batman remained the story's focus, and tried to include him in every scene.


title: The Batman (film)

text: Reeves re-read his favorite Batman comics, but did not base the film on a specific storyline. Particular influence came from "" (1987) by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli, "" (2000) by Darwyn Cooke, and "" (2013–14) by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo, as well as Bob Kane, Bill Finger, and Neal Adams' runs on the character. Reeves drew from the depiction of a young, inexperienced Batman in "Year One", Catwoman's relationship to Falcone in "The Long Halloween" and "Dark Victory", the exploration of Batman's psychology and his transition from exacting vengeance to inspiring hope in "Ego", and the Riddler's plot to flood Gotham in "Zero Year". Other elements, such as Alfred's characterization, Thomas Wayne's mayoral campaign, and Martha Wayne being part of the Arkham family, came from "" (2012) by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank, while the theme of vengeance was inspired by Kevin Conroy's "I am vengeance, I am the night" speech from "" (1992–1999). The film also features references to other comic storylines, including "" (1999) and "" (2002–03).


title: The Batman (film)

text: In portraying Bruce Wayne, Reeves wanted to depart from the traditional playboy and socialite; because he listened to the Nirvana song "Something in the Way" (1991) as he wrote the first act, he decided to base Bruce on reclusive Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain. He took inspiration from the film "Last Days" (2005), which features a fictionalized version of Cobain living in a "decaying manor". The "Godfather" (1972) character Michael Corleone also influenced Reeves' take on Bruce. Reeves sought to make Batman relatable while honoring what people love about him, and described his Batman as "still trying to figure out how to do this, how to be effective, and he's not necessarily succeeding. He's broken and driven." Although it does not depict Batman's origin—in which he witnesses the murder of his parents—"The Batman" still explores the emotional cost that it has on the character, with Reeves stating Batman is "emotionally stunted at being 10 years old, because that's a trauma you don't get past".


title: The Batman (film)

text: Unlike previous "Batman" films, "The Batman" focuses on Batman's detective skills, with Reeves describing it as an "almost-noir driven, detective version of Batman" emphasizing the character's heart and mind. He said the film blended the detective, action, horror, and psychological thriller genres, which he felt hewed closer to the comics than previous adaptations had. He also felt this approach made it the most frightening "Batman" film. Reeves looked to films and filmmakers from the New Hollywood era for inspiration, including "The French Connection" (1971), "Klute" (1971), "Chinatown" (1974), "All the President's Men" (1976), and "Taxi Driver" (1976), as well as the works of Alfred Hitchcock and Wong Kar-wai's short film "The Hand" (2004). "Chinatown" and "All the President's Men" influenced "The Batman" depiction of a corrupt, decaying Gotham, while the relationship between Donald Sutherland and Jane Fonda's characters in "Klute" inspired the dynamic between Batman and Catwoman. Reeves said that he blended the inspirations to "inform the story, motivation, imagery, and tone" while also "conjur[ing] something... evocative and unique". To convey Batman's insecurity, Reeves added a scene, inspired by "Manhunter" (1986), featuring him visiting the Joker to profile the Riddler. Reeves also intended for the Joker's appearance to signify that Gotham's troubles would not end after the Riddler is captured.


title: The Batman (film)

text: The film contains a number of historical allusions, which Reeves felt would make it more believable. Two characters—Mayor Don Mitchell Jr. and District Attorney Gil Colson—share surnames with Watergate scandal figures John N. Mitchell and Charles Colson, and the Riddler's murder of Colson mirrors the death of Brian Wells. Additionally, Reeves based Falcone on Winter Hill Gang leader Whitey Bulger, citing the documentary "" (2014) as an influence; a number of plot elements mirror events from Bulger's life, including Falcone serving as an informant and bribing city officials.


title: The Batman (film)

text: Robert Pattinson, Nicholas Hoult, Armie Hammer, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson were on the shortlist to replace Affleck as Batman, with Pattinson the frontrunner. Reeves wrote the script with Pattinson in mind after seeing his performance in "Good Time" (2017), but was unsure if he would be interested. Pattinson had eschewed major Hollywood franchise films since his work on the "Twilight" series (2008–2012), as he found those roles dull and wanted to avoid paparazzi attention. This meant he had not appeared in Marvel Studios' Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), which made him desirable to Warner Bros. The other major contender, Hoult, appeared in the Marvel Comics-based "X-Men" films, but those are separate from the MCU and Hoult was unrecognizable for much of them due to prosthetics and makeup.


title: The Batman (film)

text: Pattinson became interested in the role a year in advance and "kept obsessively checking up on it". A longtime Batman fan, he had ideas about how to bring a unique portrayal of the relationship between Batman's superhero activities and his identity as Bruce compared to previous film adaptations, and was interested in the character's lack of superpowers. Reeves spent hours reviewing Pattinson's and Hoult's previous work before meeting with them in April 2019. They were the only contenders for the role by May 20, and both flew to Burbank, California, for a screen test. Pattinson wore Val Kilmer's Batsuit from "Batman Forever" (1995) during his test since it was the only existing costume that fit him. The audition was challenging because the suit was small and difficult to move in, but Pattinson and Reeves found it a "transformative" experience. Pattinson was cast on May 31, with a salary of $3million.


title: The Batman (film)

text: Pattinson's casting was met with backlash from some Batman fans, with a Change.org petition calling to reverse the decision. Pattinson said he found the response less vitriolic than he had expected, and felt that being an underdog meant he did not have expectations to meet in his performance. Christian Bale, who played Batman in "The Dark Knight Trilogy" (2005–2012), supported Pattinson, encouraging him to "make [the role] his own" and ignore critics. Bale likened the fan revolt to the backlash that Heath Ledger experienced when he was cast as the Joker in "The Dark Knight" (2008). To prepare, Pattinson studied Batman's history, reading comics spanning from the Golden Age of Comic Books to writer Tom King's 2016–2019 run on "Batman". He trained in Brazilian jiu-jitsu with instructor Rigan Machado, wanting to undergo physical change in a similar way to superhero actors like Chris Hemsworth, Dwayne Johnson, Robert Downey Jr., and Chris Evans. He received advice from the "Dark Knight Trilogy" director Christopher Nolan while working with him on "Tenet" (2020).


title: The Batman (film)

text: Jeffrey Wright is the first actor of color to portray Gordon; he felt his casting reflected how diverse America has become since Batman's introduction in 1939, and said none of Gordon's qualities "require that he be white". In preparation, Wright read Batman comics, including "The Long Halloween." He looked to Golden Age comics because he felt there was "long arc for Gordon from then until today", which inspired his performance. He also based his performance on police officer-turned-Mayor of New York City Eric Adams.


title: The Batman (film)

text: Jonah Hill initially entered negotiations to play either the Riddler or the Penguin, but exited negotiations after a month. According to "Variety" Justin Kroll, Hill wanted $10million—more than double the amount Pattinson would earn—while Kit reported that Warner Bros. and Hill could not decide which role he would take. Paul Dano was cast as the Riddler after Hill exited talks. To prepare, Dano researched serial killers and chose to read this material in public places since he found it disturbing and did not want to read it alone. He used the Beach Boys' founder Brian Wilson, whom he had portrayed in the 2014 biopic "Love & Mercy", as the basis of his performance, and was also influenced by Nirvana's songs. Reeves himself wrote the Riddler's character with Dano's portrayal of Wilson in mind. Dano thought about the Riddler's motivations and the sense of power the character feels when wearing a mask, and worked with a mask expert to figure out how to approach the role in costume.


title: The Batman (film)

text: Zoë Kravitz was cast as Catwoman following a screen test with Pattinson; she had previously voiced the character in "The Lego Batman Movie" (2017). Casting director Cindy Tolan suggested Kravitz, and Reeves chose her over actresses such as Ana de Armas, Ella Balinska, and Eiza González, who also auditioned for the role, as well as Zazie Beetz, Alicia Vikander, Hannah John-Kamen, and Nathalie Emmanuel. Kravitz was reluctant to join another superhero film after working on "" (2011), but was a fan of the Catwoman character and felt "connected to her emotionally and also aesthetically"; she felt that her honesty with Reeves played a large part in her selection, and explained that she wanted Reeves to know what working with her would be like. She provided advice on how to develop Catwoman's character, and began training with instructor David Higgins two months before shooting. Kravitz also studied footage of cats and lions fighting to develop her movements while practicing with stunt coordinator Rob Alonzo. She drew inspiration from "Year One" and Michelle Pfeiffer's portrayal of Catwoman in "Batman Returns" (1992).


title: The Batman (film)

text: Reeves approached Andy Serkis regarding the role of Alfred during post-production on "War for the Planet of the Apes", and he was eager to work with Reeves again. Colin Farrell and John Turturro were respectively cast as the Penguin and Carmine Falcone. Farrell looked to the "Godfather" character Fredo Corleone for inspiration and worked with dialect coach Jessica Drake to develop the Penguin's voice, while Turturro collaborated with his son Amadeo, who is an editor at DC Comics, and Reeves to develop Falcone and his mannerisms. Turturro drew inspiration from warnings his father gave him about the Mafia as a child growing up in New York City. Other cast members include Jayme Lawson, Peter Sarsgaard, Gil Perez-Abraham, twins Charlie and Max Carver, Rupert Penry-Jones, Jay Lycurgo, and Con O'Neill. Lycurgo, who portrays a criminal, shot his scenes a year before he joined the DC series "Titans" as Tim Drake.


title: The Batman (film)

text: Reeves was unsure if the Joker's appearance would be kept in the theatrical release, or if the actor playing him would be able to reprise the role in the future. Consequently, he felt the actor who played the Joker needed to be "fearless". Reeves met with Barry Keoghan, who was eager to take up the offer. The production team attempted to keep Keoghan's role a secret by announcing that he was portraying the "Year One" character Stanley Merkel when he was cast, but Keoghan's brother revealed the truth on social media ahead of the film's release.


title: The Batman (film)

text: The design team began working on the Batcave and Batmobile designs before the script was finished, as Reeves had a clear vision of what "The Batman" world would look like and wanted the three to reflect each other. The Batcave was based on the train station beneath New York's Waldorf Astoria Hotel and private underground railways in New York City that wealthy families used around the early 1900s. Reeves said this was a way to "root all these things in things that feel real, but also extraordinary". The Batcave, a partial set build on the Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden, also serves as the foundation of the film's depiction of Wayne Manor, which Reeves described as decaying, representing Batman's uninterest in his family's wealth. The Gotham City Hall set was built in a hangar at Cardington Airfield; the hangar also had a soundproof room that was set up for Dano to record certain Riddler scenes. Eight blocks of Gotham were designed in Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden.


title: The Batman (film)

text: Reeves and production designer James Chinlund envisioned a realistic Gotham City and drew inspiration from various locations, such as Chicago and Pittsburgh. During pre-production, Chinlund had designed virtual sets using VR headsets and showed them to Reeves and Fraser, which allowed them to plan for various logistics for filming in the actual sets depicted in the headsets. He had described it as allowing Reeves to storyboard "the whole film himself", with the shots being incorporated in the film. Reeves had used screengrabs from the headset for inspiration when storyboarding the Batmobile chase sequence, explaining "I set all of these shots basically beforehand, and we made this crazy storyboard that was made of screengrabs from VR, from the lenses we had found. And so it was an incredibly involved process". Fraser had also said that this had helped the crew plan the positions of the cameras, though he noted that "VR doesn’t give you the emotionality of lenses - it just gives you the mathematics of the field of view".


title: The Batman (film)

text: Chinlund took inspiration from David Fincher's films and blended several architectural styles together, such as those of buildings from the 1920s to 1940s. Since the failed economic revivals of Gotham left unfinished architecture, Chinlund "litter[ed] the skyline with these unfinished skyscrapers" to show the "grit up there". Wayne Tower, which serves as Wayne's mausoleum, was inspired by the Hearst Castle; he described it as baroque, Gothic, and ornate. The Iceberg Lounge's aesthetics were inspired by the works of Robert Moses. Fraser said that Gotham City was inspired by the depiction of cities from "Chinatown" and that of the New York City streets in "Klute". While Fraser had chose a "broader palette, which skewed towards dour and gloom", Chinlund had chose to use a different color palette when designing Selina Kyle's residence in the red-light district. He was inspired by Wong Kar-Wai's films and called it a "romantic palette in some of those movies that we loved, like neon and a lot of colour from the light in the street. Our world is grim in a lot of places, and that was an environment where we could let some colour pop".


title: The Batman (film)

text: Reeves envisioned a grounded, handmade design for the Batmobile, with Chinlund and concept artist Ash Thorp designing the vehicle's engine to resemble a bat. Reeves wanted the Batmobile to feel like a "wild beast" and move away from the tank-like design popularized by Nolan's "Dark Knight" films in favor of one that looked like a muscle car. He looked to Stephen King's novel "Christine" (1983), which is about a car possessed by supernatural forces, for inspiration: "I liked the idea of the car itself as a horror figure, making an animalistic appearance to really scare the hell out of the people Batman's pursuing." Reeves and Chinlund wanted the Batmobile to feel like its own character, and Chinlund prioritized function which reflected Batman's "single-minded focus on the mission". Chinlund used a steel bumper for the frame, so Batman could "push his way through any obstacle", as well as the roof of a 1969 Dodge Charger; he left the back open since it did not require protection. Four Batmobile units were built, with the primary driving unit powered by a 650bhp Chevrolet V8 engine constructed from over 3000 machined parts, and the other units being equipped with gimbals, water dispensers, and an electronic version for usability. Another unit was built on a Tesla chassis for indoor and night shots.


title: The Batman (film)

text: The Batsuit was designed by supervisor Dave Crossman and concept artist Glyn Dillon over the course of a year. The team took body scans of Pattinson's body while he was filming "Tenet" and used them in reference with concept arts drawn by Dillon. They printed out a rough copy of each element after refining it using digital software, before it was molded by supervising costume effects modeler Piere Bohmaned. Further modifications were made to each piece until Reeves examined the final suit for approval. The team created over 20 suits for use in filming. The cowl was printed after being sculpted digitally and was created from polyurethane rubber.


title: The Batman (film)

text: Reeves wanted the Batsuit to feel as if Batman used spare parts to create it on his own, and the production team sought to evoke the iconography of the comics and balance the Batsuit's darkness without making it difficult to see. Details like bloodstains, nicks, and ricochets from bullets were added, and the color was chosen after consultation with Reeves, cinematographer Greig Fraser, and the costume team. The team used different shades of dark gray for the body armor with some green and yellow coloring; Crossman noted that the grays allowed Batman to be more visible. Batman's utility belt was changed from yellow to black since the team felt it was more practical and realistic. The design team looked to tactical gear from the Vietnam War for inspiration. Particular inspiration came from Lee Bermejo's art in comics like "" (2011) and "" (2018–19), as Reeves was impressed by Bermejo's riot gear-esque design while reading "Damned", which he felt suited the realistic tone. Bermejo was not consulted regarding the design, but was proud to see a Batsuit similar to his in a film. A port was added towards the end of filming for a scene in which Batman injects himself with adrenaline.


title: The Batman (film)

text: The Batsuit was designed with two pillars: first, it needed to "look the part", balancing light and dark while not detracting from Pattinson's emotion. Second, it had to be flexible; Pattinson wanted to be able to move and fight in it, inspired by the depiction of Batman in the "" storyline "Shaman" (1989) by O'Neil and Edward Hannigan. Pattinson also asked Bale for advice during the design process, and he jokingly advised to "make sure you're gonna be able to relieve yourself" while wearing the suit. The final suit is more flexible than previous Batsuits, to the point that Pattinson "immediately started doing somersaults in it just because you could" when he put on the first prototype.


title: The Batman (film)

text: The cowl was intended to resemble leather; the stitching around the forehead and the nose patches were influenced by Adam West's costume from the 1960s "Batman" television series. Dillon added that he wanted Batman to feel like the "Grim Reaper" with a skull-like cowl. The cape was created using artificial Japanese leather, as it was impractical to use real leather due to its weight. Batman's wingsuit was created by a Seattle-based wingsuit company using the Batsuit material. The boots were inspired from Austrian combat boots while Ian Jones, the costume prop maker, added a leather gator on top to embellish fight scenes and scenes when Batman rides a motorbike. A special port was also added to the Batsuit towards the end of filming by the costume prop department to aid a scene in which Batman injects himself with adrenaline. Batman's grapple gun, which can slide out via a hidden contraption in his arm, was influenced by Travis Bickle's gun from "Taxi Driver" (1976). The bat symbol on his chest also serves as a knife; Dillon felt it was unrealistic for the symbol to be leather, so the team decided to make it a weapon.


title: The Batman (film)

text: Costume design was led by Jacqueline Durran. Makeup artist Maria Donne modeled Bruce Wayne's hairstyle after Cobain, while his eyeliner when suiting up as Batman featured a mix of pigments and products that would sustain rain and sweating.


title: The Batman (film)

text: To portray the Penguin, Farrell wore prosthetics and a fat suit created by makeup artist Mike Marino. Reeves described it as "almost like a throwback Warner Bros. gangster" similar to actors John Cazale, Sydney Greenstreet, and Bob Hoskins. Farrell chose to wear a fat suit over gaining weight because he had suffered health problems when he gained weight for the television series "The North Water" (2021). Farrell's costume does not feature the Penguin's traditional monocle and top hat, and Warner Bros. disallowed him from smoking tobacco as he does in the comics. Farrell fought to allow him to carry a cigar instead of cigarettes, but Warner Bros. would not relent. Farrell was frequently described as "unrecognizable" in costume, to the point that Wright and Penry-Jones initially did not recognize him on set. Reeves was hesitant to make Farrell unrecognizable, as he wanted the Penguin's design to reflect the realistic tone, but accepted the design after seeing makeup tests. It took between two and four hours to apply the prosthetics, and Farrell tested the costume at a Burbank Starbucks where he "got a couple of stares" ordering a latte in-character. He described wearing the costume as "absolute liberation", adding, "When the piece moves as well as the piece that was designed for the Penguin moved, my eyebrows moved to my cheeks and my smile, it was fucking insane. I didn't have any fear that Colin could be seen through."


title: The Batman (film)

text: The Riddler's costume was based on sketches of the Zodiac Killer; it retains the character's traditional green coat while adding a combat mask, which Dano wanted to show that the Riddler "probably felt a lot of shame or self-hatred or pain". Dano also covered himself in plastic wrap since he felt the Riddler would take extreme precautions to avoid leaving DNA at crime scenes. He became concerned about the effect this costume was having on him during filming since his head was "throbbing with heat... It was like compressed from the sweat and the heat and the lack of oxygen." Catwoman's costume was designed to lay a foundation for what would become her comic book outfit while feeling "as practical as possible". Marino also designed the facial prosthetics that Keoghan used to portray the Joker; although the Joker only appears in silhouette in the final cut, Reeves still had Marino develop a full design. Reeves wanted him to resemble Conrad Veidt's "The Man Who Laughs" (1928) character Gwynplaine that inspired the Joker's original portrayal in the comics. Reeves made the Joker's perpetual grin the result of a biological condition, rather than a facial scar as in previous films, to distinguish the new incarnation.


title: The Batman (film)

text: Principal photography began in January 2020 in London, under the working title "Vengeance", and wrapped on March 13, 2021. Second unit filming took place in December 2019. Greig Fraser served as cinematographer; he previously worked with Reeves on "Let Me In" (2010). Cemetery scenes were filmed at the Glasgow Necropolis in Scotland in mid-February 2020, before relocating to Liverpool in March. Filming in London took place at the O2 Arena, Printworks nightclub, Kingsway tramway subway, the Two Temple Place, the Somerset House, and areas near the River Thames. Filming in Liverpool took place at St George's Hall, Anfield Cemetery, Walker Art Gallery, Wellington Square, County Sessions House, and the Royal Liver Building. One scene was filmed at the abandoned Hartwood Hospital in Shotts, Scotland, while some exterior shots and stunts were filmed in Chicago.


title: The Batman (film)

text: Fraser used digital capture on Arri Alexa LF cameras, with custom ALFA anamorphic lenses. Fraser cited cinematographer Gordon Willis' lighting work on "Klute", "The Godfather", and "All the Presidents' Men", as well as photographer Todd Hido, as inspiration, and at Reeves' suggestion attempted to convey the film from Batman's point of view. He described shooting the film as "one of the most challenging lighting jobs I've ever done"; filming Pattinson in the Batsuit was particularly difficult since he did not want shadows to obscure the costume's details. Pattinson broke his wrist performing a stunt towards the beginning of production, and described feeling "very much alone" while filming due to the insular nature of nighttime filming and his inability to take off his costume off-set.


title: The Batman (film)

text: Reeves was a meticulous director and described "The Batman" as "the most intricate narrative I have ever, ever tried to tackle". Pattinson said Reeves asked for many retakes and adjusting to such an approach took some time. Kravitz described Reeves as "the most specific person and director I've ever worked with", citing a particular instance in which he told her not to close her mouth since he thought it needed to be open to convey a certain emotion. Reeves showed the different takes to the actors after filming to illustrate the "make-or-break nuances" he had seen. One scene, in which Batman and the Riddler communicate via videotelephony, took over 200 takes. Pattinson guessed that Reeves was "editing the entire movie, every single take", which Reeves said was correct and not something that other actors he had worked with had observed. Reeves developed this style of filming, in which he spent more time on fewer angles, while directing the television series "Felicity".