HR Giger Designed A Batmobile For ‘Batman Forever’–And It’s As Strange As You’d Expect

H.R. Giger is best known for his unsettling biomechanical designs in Alien. Even director Ridley Scott admits, the film would probably not exist without the Swiss artist’s designs. Whether it’s the horrific design of the monstrous Xenomorph, or the visceral, ribbed biomechanical exteriors and interiors of The Engineers’ derelict alien craft, Giger helped elevate Alien into one of the creepiest entries in space-based horror. 

Giger, with his nausea-inducing design, is a perfect fit for Alien, but not Batman. During the early days of pre-production on Batman Forever, Giger submitted a batmobile design for director Joel Schumacher. Schumacher, who most likely wanted to put his own unique stamp on the franchise after Tim Burton stepped down, got a design to match. But the design, featuring Giger’s characteristic mix of biology and technology, proved to be more at home in the Alien universe than patrolling the streets of Gotham City.

Reminiscent of a large mechanical chromosome on wheels, his giant “X-shaped design was,” according to Batmobile Art, “to include articulated legs/mandibles, retractable fins, and Gatling gun emplacements on each of the four pods on the sides of the vehicle. The design also combined side and forward intake ports with organic spines and a central pod connecting the four legs.”

It barely looks like a car let alone a Batmobile, but Joel Schumacher said in various interviews that he wanted his Batmobile to feel alive. From this standpoint, Giger’s biomechnical designs made sense. But in the end, Schumacher went with Barbara Ling’s Batmobile design, which is heavily influenced by the best Batmobile design by Anton Furst in Batman (1989).