Like, even in the middle of apprehending some burglars he can’t help himself from glancing up a few times, in case
I think the first Bat Radio debuted in the 1966 TV Show, so from that point onwards the signal really has served no practical communications purpose.
It has however, always been canon that the signal is not just about communicating to Batman, but also about communicating to criminals that Batman is out and on the loose. It’s more psychological warfare than communication device … Though why Gordon isn’t allowed to use the Bat Radio and has to go on the roof in the rain to turn on a high voltage spot light is never fully explained. I assume he lost his privileges for a reason.
Wouldn’t it work the other way, too? If the bat signal is off, it’s crime time, my fellow criminal goons!
In the Adam West TV show Gordon just picked up the red phone.
“Hey Batman, I have Bruce Wayne on the other line, he’s got some information, you should talk to him.”
Yes, this is a scene that actually did happen in the Adam West Batman show.
Kinda makes me curious about the logistics. You can’t exactly mark it as ‘read’.
Do they just keep it on until he shows up? What if there’s more than one crime happening? How long will they wait for some sort of response?
In the movie The Dark Knight, Gordon says Batman often doesn’t show up when the bat signal is on, he mostly turns it on to to remind criminals that Batman is out there.
In the comic The Dark Knight Returns, Gordon says there’s about a dozen different ways Gordon could contact Batman, but he uses the Bat Signal for similar reasons.
So it’s mostly just for theatrics, if it were a real emergency Gordon would phone up Batman. But I guess it’s a way to indicate to Batman “let’s talk whenever you’re not busy”.
I didn’t catch it, despite watching 1989 Batman several times, until someone pointed out that Bruce in his mansion was looking bored and listless, until the bat signal turned on, and he looked very much animated.
It would be a hoot if Bruce Wayne got a notification on his smart watch in the next movie.
Since Batman doesn’t wear glasses and has a mask, I feel like it’s just as likely he’d have a like a smart glasses type thing built into his mask. So he really wouldn’t have to look anywhere but the notification would just be a translucent overlay.
Or maybe full coverage heat retardant smart contacts, so they protect his eyes from any debris/explosions. Kind of like what Tom Cruise wore to perform the outside the plane stunt in the last mission impossible movie. Covers the whole outside of the eyeball so the wind does dry out your eye or make it so you can’t see.
Didn’t see the movie, but heard about the stunt
It’s probably Alfred stuck watching for the signal, really.
Nah the bat signal light is a red herring, when the light turns on, it just sends an email to Batman. The light is more about keeping criminals afraid cause you know, Batman likes to scare people.
