Besides Christian Bale’s tremendous performance as Batman in The Dark Knight Trilogy, if there was one thing that absolutely stood out in an entirely unique and mind-blowing way, it was his Batmobile, ‘The Tumbler’. Because of its exceptionally elevated design like never before, it even managed to fool many into believing it was an alien spaceship–the same way it did to a drunk man.
As Christian Bale himself revealed, his Batmobile was created so stunningly that people couldn’t guess what it was before Batman Begins hit the theatres; even when it once got crashed into by a “poor, drunken” driver, who ended up perceiving it to be a vehicle through which “aliens were landing” on Earth!
Christian Bale’s Batmobile got Crashed Into by a Drunk Driver who Thought It Was an Alien Spaceship
Since the Batmobile for The Dark Knight Trilogy was designed so uniquely and even ran down the street to shoot the scenes, most people who saw it failed to realize what it was; like how Christian Bale shared their reaction: “You see that thing just going down the street and everybody’s stopping looking like, ‘What the hell is this?'”
This was revealed during the WonderCon event in San Francisco for Batman Begins, along with another story — which was notably a rather hilarious one — of when a drunk driver crashed into the car while they were out and about with it. Sharing the entire story of what happened to it, Bale said (via Comics Continuum):
“There was even this guy that crashed into it. This poor, drunken guy who didn’t have a license who said he got so panicked when he saw the car he thought aliens were landing. And he put the pedal to the metal. I wasn’t in it at the time; it was the stunt driver. And he sideswiped it.”
During another appearance to promote the masterpiece that was Batman Begins, Bale echoed a similar story while sharing what was one of his most memorable moments that notably took place on a Chicago street. As quoted by World Entertainment News Network (via anecdotage.com), the Batman portrayer said:
“The Batmobile was being driven down the street, and there were huge police escorts on either side of it. But one poor drunk managed to ram sidelong into the Batmobile, and he actually got hauled off to jail. I would’ve liked to hear his story to his fellow inmates that night: ‘What did you do?’ ‘Oh well, I hit Batman’s car.’ ‘Yeah, right—and I hit Superman!'”
As unbelievable as all these stories might be, they actually happened in real, and Christian Bale got to have a good laugh at the same. But what was even more fascinating to the protagonist of Christopher Nolan‘s The Dark Knight Trilogy was the actual effect his fan-favorite ‘Tumbler’ initially had on the people.
Christian Bale “Loved” The Effect His Batman Gadgets Had On People
While Christian Bale admitted that it was indeed unfortunate for all the people who crashed into his Tumbler while drunk driving, he also let out just how much he loved the effect that the extraordinarily fine vehicle had on the people. Continuing to share at the WonderCon, he said:
“I love this affect it has on people. I just loved how it’s indicative of the way we are making the movie as a whole. It looks nothing like any Batmobile that has come before it, and it completely has pratical applications that are explained. Very smart and makes complete sense. That’s indicative of everything we’ve done with the movie, including the explanation of the suit, the cowl and all the different gadgets he comes up with and where he comes to them.”
Well, the effect that The Tumbler had on people was truly magnificent indeed, considering just how many people have been so mesmerized by it that they even managed to recreate the masterpiece in their own significant ways!
