Since his comic book debut in 1939, Batman has used hundreds of gadgets in his war on crime. Some of those gadgets, like the Batarang, are so popular that they’ve become commonplace in social lexicons. Batman’s never going to stop using the Batarang, even though they’re just fancy, bat-shaped shuriken.
Batman has a large array of “wonderful toys,” but for every relevant gadget that has survived to this day, there’s another that became obsolete. As real-world technology advances, DC Comics writers have created new Bat-themed gadgets to ensure that Batman is ahead of the curve. As a result, gadgets like miniature cassette recorders and communicators have been retired, while devices like underwater boot jets and sonic bat-beacons were only used a handful of times.
10 Lie Detectors Have Proven Unreliable
At points in the past, Batman not only kept a lie detector on him, but had an interrogation room as well. Batman relied on the room to get answers from his enemies, which wouldn’t get the approval of the Justice League. Psychologists have found that lie detectors can be beaten and shouldn’t be used as the sole method of detecting lies, so Batman has appropriately dropped it from his arsenal.
He might carry something in his suit’s onboard computer to read his enemies heartbeats, but he wouldn’t rely solely on that either. These days, Batman is able to read micro-reactions with his own two eyes easily enough to know when someone is lying.
9 Bat-Nets Haven’t Been Seen In Years
In Batman: Gotham After Midnight #2 by Steve Niles and Kelley Jones, some enemies tried to get the drop on Batman. Not only did they fail, but Batman responded with a new gadget. Batman deployed tiny tags that resembled Batarangs, and after a certain amount of time they exploded and covered the enemies in a giant net.
These nets were tight enough to make it nearly impossible to escape, but not so tight that the criminal couldn’t breathe. Though this would make an effective crowd control weapon, Bruce has seemingly retired this device, more commonly relying on a bolas to tie up opponents.
A beacon summoning bats through an ultrasonic sound frequency only they can hear sounds like a great idea, especially for a bat-themed vigilante. It intimidates the opponent and makes it easier for Batman to fight large groups of enemies. They likely believe he’s some kind of supernatural being.
Batman used this device to summon a legion of bats during Frank Miller’s “Year One” storyline, aiding his escape from Gotham’s police. The scene was also adapted in Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins, but the sonic, bat-summoning device hasn’t been seen in years. Perhaps Batman has simply resorted to less dramatic ways of scaring enemies or escaping fights.
7 Miniature Cameras Have Been Replaced By Livestream Cameras
For several decades, Batman used to keep a miniature camera within his utility belt for surveillance missions. Thanks to the evolution of cameras and cellphones, there’s no need for him to rely on anything as archaic as mini-cameras now.
His suit is so advanced it can live-stream footage back to the Batcave’s computer through his lenses. They probably even send the footage back in 4K, meaning he’ll be able to see whatever he needs in real-time in the highest-quality later. Matt Reeves’s The Batman film showcased these high-tech lenses that Batman always uses to record his nightly outings.
6 Micro-Cassette Recorders Don’t Even Exist Anymore
In the Dark Knight’s earliest adventures in comic books and television, Batman needed a way to listen in on conversations and record them. Listening back to prior conversations allowed him to crack cases and decipher clues even in exchanges that were using codewords.
It makes sense that Batman’s utility belt used to carry a mini cassette recorder, but modern-day Batman favors the sleekest, stealthiest technology available. Now, that technology isn’t just outdated, it’s non-existent. Good luck finding a place that even carries a tape recorder for playback, let alone creating cassettes at all.
5 Bat-Communicators Are Too Simplistic For The Modern Era
The ability for Batman to talk with Robin seems natural now, but that was far from the case in the 1940s. The only method people had to converse was via a landline, so being able to talk to someone from anywhere felt like something only a superhero could do.
Both Batman and Robin carried communicators that fit within their utility belts, making their belts larger and more prone to damage. These days, it’d be easier to just purchase a Bluetooth headset and install it in the cowl. Small communicators are so common that superheroes use them in team-up films without any explanations needed.
4 Batman’s Crayons Aren’t An Efficient Method Of Communication
It seems ridiculous that Batman would ever run around carrying crayons in his utility belt. But that’s exactly what happened back in the 1950s, which gave Batman a way to create signs or communicate with people without using words. The Silver Age was truly a strange and fascinating time for comic books.
Batman’s adventures have grown less campy since the 50s, so events like this would never come up, unless they were parodied by Bat-Mite. Moreover, crayons wouldn’t be durable enough to remain in the utility belt for long. Communicating via a phone or hacking into a video feed is more in line with Batman these days.
3 Flashlights Are Too Low-Tech For Batman
Versions of Batman were created to appeal to a mass audience. Some creators wanted Batman to seem more like a regular guy; anyone who can train like he does can actually be the Batman. So he often used low-tech items like flashlights or regular handcuffs.
A flashlight could help him read files in the dark, so it’d make sense for an average person. But Batman is a billionaire; he’d have incorporated special lenses into his cowl. Batman: The Animated Series was set in a fictional world that strangely sported high-tech devices while also featuring black-and-white televisions. Batman’s arsenal was the perfect blend of low and high-tech in that series.
2 Guns Go Against Batman’s Modern Code
Batman’s relationship with guns has been relatively the same for decades now. He refuses to use a gun in combat for any reason, considering it the “tool of the enemy.” But that wasn’t always the case. When the character was first introduced, he didn’t have any problems using firearms.
In the 1940s, after comics received stricter guidelines, creators took Batman’s gun away to satisfy censors. Narratively, the writers incorporated this change into Batman’s backstory and mindset. Joe Chill murdered his parents with a pistol, and Batman wanted to distance himself from that man and anyone else who used lethal force.
1 Underwater Boot Jets Were A Smart Addition To The Batsuit
During the popular “Hush” storyline, Batman and Catwoman were forced to flee underwater from a brainwashed Superman. Of course Batman carries multiple re-breathers in case of underwater situations, but escaping the Man of Steel was a different matter.
Fortunately for him, he happened to be wearing tiny jets that were incorporated into his boots, and thankfully they worked underwater. This was a gimmick that Bruce had never used before this comic, and he’s never gone back to them since. Considering how often Bruce finds himself underwater, it’s surprising this addition to the Batsuit wasn’t permanent.
