I had posted this in the other thread but since I'm discussing
all the various reproductions and the prop in general, I thought it might make more sense to have it here.
Batarang stuff I was thinking about during my rewatch.
Development and production seems to have produced various iterations of this item that may not have necessarily made it to the final screen.
Even the movie itself appears internally inconsistent about whether the two halves separate or not. Different props and different needs produce different results.
As far as my eyes could tell,
during the movie the batarang never folds straight, the two pieces don't separate from each other (despite the connector piece seemingly
vanishing while attached on the chest), and the wings remain curved following the shape of the chest even while in-hand (never
noticed a scene depicting them flattening out, but you can see a scene with them remaining curved in Batman's hand in
NZ17's post).
But obviously they must have been experimenting with various iterations, and due to the necessities of manufacturing provided official reference and files that may not necessarily match what eventually appeared on screen in the final edit. We see it with toy production all the time, earlier iterations making it to shelves. Factory Entertainment seems to have been hit hardest by this because their replica is locked into a straight position that doesn't seem to appear at all on-screen. The Zavvi Exclusive Dust batarang fared a bit better with a center connector holding them in the correct position. The WB Studio Store version did the same. Meanwhile Paragon FX appears similar to how it does when worn on the chest, where in the movie it loses the center connector. However none of these replicas are curved along the chest the way it appeared to me during the movie.
I don't think there are actually any ideal replicas of this item being produced right now, but I don't think that's the fault of the manufacturers themselves. They're working off the reference they were sent and the movie itself isn't even consistent, as is often the case.
I think the closest thing to an idealized hero of this thing would include the center connector (holding it in bat logo orientation, not straightened out) and include the curve of the chest. Because its usage throughout the movie makes it appear functionally connected (as depicted by some of the
props and replicas), and in
the scene that most
clearly features the batarang in-hand, the wings appear to remain curved like the chest.
Will have to take another close look once it comes out on HBO next week.
paragonfxgroup.com
www.therpf.com
