5 Classy Ways To Incorporate Batman Into Your Home Decor

The character of Batman has earned its place on the Mount Rushmore of comic book superheroes. Per Outlook, the caped crusader has appeared in more than 6,500 comic book issues, 10 movies, and 50 games since he started taking down the criminals of Gotham City (Detective Comics #27, March 1939.) Through all of these adaptations, not to mention the iconic TV shows and cartoons, the way Batman and Gotham itself have been portrayed varies from the zany to the gritty, from a 1940s golden age that never really was to hi-tech futurism that hasn't yet come to pass.

This gamut of different Batman styles to be inspired by means that you have many options for bringing the Bat into your home decoration plans. It also helps that the hero's secret identity is a billionaire playboy with an unlimited budget, so he tends to have quite cool stuff. The good news is that you don't need the backing of Wayne Enterprises to create living spaces inspired by the World's Greatest Detective!

Frank Miller, the visionary comic book writer whose works are the basis of Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy, as well as 300 and Sin City, once explained "Metropolis [Superman's home city] is New York in the daytime; Gotham City is New York at night." (via Barry Popik). Fans of Miller's iconic, gritty, brooding style won't be surprised by this, but heeding his advice doesn't necessarily mean things need to be dark and rainy.

It's a classic juxtaposition of modern urban stories that the darker the city, the brighter the party scene. We see this in scenes that explore Bruce Wayne's playboy persona, and of course, the infamous villain The Penguin has a lucrative nightclub as his base of operations. As Town & Country explained, New York City in the 1920s was the epicenter of modern nightlife and the Big Apple's melting pot continued to be at the forefront of after-dark entertainment throughout the Depression, Prohibition, the Disco boom, the birth of Punk and Hip Hop, and right up to the modern day.

Nightlife locations come and go, but the global impact of venues like The Stonewall Inn, Studio 54, and CBGB is hard to overstate. Incorporating aesthetic tributes to NYC in the 20th Century truly earning the title of 'The City That Never Sleeps' is a real-world, real-stylish way to give your home a Batman-themed edge.

In the geology beneath Wayne Manor, the Wayne Family billions were put to use creating his iconic secret base. According to Screenrant, the Batcave has been around almost as long as Batman, and although the exact specifications have shifted throughout the years, this subterranean secret garage remains one of the most inspirational parts of the franchise.

Before we discuss some simpler solutions to creating your own Batcave at home, it is worth alerting all Batfans that if you run out of parking space at your giant mansion, creating a Dark Knight-inspired underground car park is possible, at least in Melbourne (via Core77). However, if you're short a mansion, car collection, and a tennis court to hide them beneath — there are easier routes to creating your personal grotto of glory.

The Bioneer advocated the idea of your Batcave as a space that allows your best self to shine. If you're totally obsessed with the Caped Crusader, then fill your cave with memorabilia and inspirational Robin quotes — it should reflect your interests. Whatever you do, try to avoid turning the space into a museum. The Batcave is Batman's office. It's where the hard yards get put in before heading out to take on the world outside. It is optimized to make him a nightmare for those who oppose him, and a miracle to those he helps. Your Batcave can be covered in flowers and kittens... if it has that effect on you, it's still a Batcave.

Batman: Arkham City is the most critically acclaimed superhero game ever, according to Guinness World Records, a title it claimed from the previous installment, Arkham Asylum. The location is inspired by the Arkham Sanitorium, a location that was based on the real-life Danvers State Hospital in Massachusetts.

It was originally known as the State Lunatic Hospital at Danvers and it was at the cutting edge of modern psychiatry when it opened in 1878 (via Danvers State Hospital). Part of the treatment plan was fresh air — the idea was to get patients out of cities, to facilities with at least 100 acres of land. The hospital also grew famous for its architecture and stunning pleasure gardens. These were for their therapeutic benefit to the patients but also can't have hurt the tourist reputation of Danvers. The hospital reported over 12,000 visitors a year in the 1880s.

After a few decades, the hospital began a decline that inspired more creepy stories than it's possible to list here. However, the power of gardens to improve your mental health is well documented, even if you're not an experienced gardener. Per Thrive, there is a lot of scientific backing for the idea that spending time in gardens and green spaces improves mental health. According to Growace, even indoor gardens or images of green spaces can have positive effects, though being more involved does have extra benefits.

The story of how Bruce Wayne goes from spoilt rich kid to vigilante of the night has been reimagined many times. In some stories he repurposes his phobia of bats into the identity of Batman, in others, at his lowest point, a chance encounter with a bat inspires him to take up the cowl for justice, and sometimes it's just a side effect of building his superhero lair in a cave full of bats (via CBR). But in all of them, he picks the bat.

The classic black-and-yellow bat icon is always an option. It's instantly recognizable to fans and non-fans alike, but if you've grown up with Batman, the logo is more of a symbol of Batman than it is a representation of bats as an animal. If you, like Mr Wayne, are inspired by these amazing creatures and want to showcase them, there are some better options.

For one, simply search for art including the name Chiroptera, which is the order including all bat species. Society6 has an amazing range of art and anatomical prints that showcase the weird and wonderful nature of these flying mammals.

Bats are prominent in folklore across the world, and many Native American cultures celebrate bats' dualities through stories and art. Per Kachina House, the exact symbolism varies from tribe to tribe, but there's no doubt that honoring the old myths can lend true beauty and gravitas to your bat-themed decor schemes.

Gotham city is a place that has to be timeless, but still have a history. To that end, Art Deco, Art Nouveau, and gothic styles are all mixed together to create an urban landscape that has layers and can feel familiar to folks who have never been to the Big Apple. Per Surface, Batman co-creator Bill Finger said that they adopted the name Gotham, instead of New York specifically because they wanted anybody in any city to be able to identify with it.

According to Barbara Ling, production designer for the films Batman Forever and Batman & Robin, this layering and reimagining of Gotham by each different Batman interpretation means "There is no definitive Gotham, the excitement is reinventing with each new vision" (via The Ringer). Christopher Nolan filmed a lot of his movies in Chicago, Zach Synder went to Detroit, and the latest Batman film, directed by Matt Reeves, takes a New York skyline and adds elements of London and other UK cities to really hammer home the idea of faded grandeur, according to IndieWire.

If you're a fan of the Gotham aesthetic, you should definitely not copy other people's Gothams — you should create your own! Find images and references to the cities that you love, the cities with meaning to you, the cities that inspire you, and when the amalgamation of these forms starts to take on a life of its own — you've created your own personal Gotham City vibe.