I never knew H.R. Giger was pitched to design concepts for Batman Forever, but new images have leaked of a Batmobile design by the artist behind Alien's iconic Xenomorph. It's as disturbing as you'd imagine from the mind of a visionary artist whose work is dominated by sexual imaginary and biomechanical design.
The Swiss artist made his name in the 1970s but after Alien found regular work in Hollywood as the go-to artist when director's needed something, well, alien. You can catch-up on his work in our feature on H.R. Giger's iconic designs.
The artist's other movie designs include the alien on Species and work on the infamous unfilmed Dune adaptation by Alejandro Jodorowsky, which also included art from Mobius (Jean Giraud) and Chris Foss. But Batman Forever seems a stretch, although Batman's suit did have fake nipples, so perhaps the signs were there. Take a look at the H.R. Giger Batmobile designs below.
It's a peculiar design, and it in many ways shows restraint from the artist known for his sexualised imagery. The familiar mix of biological and mechanical elements are visible, as is an imaginative take on the famous vehicle. It's a car in all but name and Giger references using shears or scissors as a design motif in his sketches, revealing how concept art can play on familiar forms.
The design dates from 1994 when the artist was commissioned for his Batman Forever vision, and it's a design that includes legs and mandibles, retractable fins and organic spines. It's a creature not a car and feels about as Giger-like as you would imagine.
This design comes and goes out of the internet's conscience but this new set of images shows a basic 3D model (by Leon Cor) of then H.R. Giger Batmobile. The suggestion is Batman villain Scarecrow was meant to feature in Batman Forever and this version of the Caped Crusaders car would have been a nightmarish illusion. I actually really like the 'Gigermobile', though it's probably more suited to a video game than a mainstream movie.
If you want to read more on designing for film, read our features on 'How to break into movie concept art' and 'How to create a stellar concept art portfolio'. There's also the divisive James Cameron Spider-Man art for his cancelled web-slinger movie.
