Smoke Capsules were tools used by Batman. They were often employed to evade, incapacitate or distract enemies.
Functionality[]
The first capsules used by Batman were glass vials containing chemical components. When they were broken or smashed against an object, they would create thick white clouds of the smoke. These were often used to cover Batman's escapes or distract his enemies.
Usage History[]
Confrontation at Axis Chemicals[]
Batman throws a smoke capsule to escape the GCPD
When surrounded by police, Batman used a smoke capsule to create a smokescreen around him. This provided cover for him to use his grappling hook and escape into the upper pipeworks of the factory.
Incident at the Flugelheim[]
After rescuing Vicki Vale, Batman threw a smoke bomb down at the door to confuse the Joker Goons.
Appearances[]
Behind the Scenes[]
Ordway adaptation of escape alternate take
The capsules are based on both Gas and Smoke Capsules, which had been used by Batman since Detective Comics #29. Like their original comic depiction, they appear to glass vials containing a mixture of chemicals that, when broken, create a cloud of smoke as its components mix.
An alternate take of the escape sequence from Axis Chemicals showed Batman using two smoke capsules instead of one. Having been cornered by GCPD officers, he raised his hands, pretending to surrender, and flicked the capsules around him. The scene was reshot, likely at Jon Peters' request. However, the original depiction was kept in the comic book adaptation by Jerry Ordway.
In Sam Hamm's original script draft, Batman also used sleeping gas capsules in addition to smoke ones. Unlike the smoke capsules, these needed to be broken near the person's airways to be used effectively. Batman used the sleeping gas capsules on Vicki to hide the location of the Batcave, administering them as he took her there and before they left it. The latter use of the capsules was kept in Warren Skaaren's rewrites. In the final film, Batman covered Vale with his cape and it ambiguous how he rendered her unconscious, perhaps using chloroform or another agent through unseen means. However, the use of a sleeping gas capsule is kept in the comic adaptation. Since Julian Caldow's conceptual illustrations label them only as Smoke Capsules, it is assumed the use of knockout gas was dropped at some point in pre-production.
What remains of a Smoke Capsule prop was auctioned by ProfilesInHistory.com in 2019.
Smoke or other gas capsules did not appear in any of the later sequels to Batman. However, they did appear in Hamm's abandoned Batman II draft, though the vapor was described as black rather than white. Behind the scenes and tie-in material for Batman Returns also reveals that Batman uses green knockout gas capsules in addition to blue napalm variants. Daniel Waters conceived a new concept of four color-coded chemical tubes that could be mixed together to create a higher variable of effects.
Gallery[]
