No explanation of the nature of the green liquid is provided in the discussion. Batman fans started speculating as to what ties that needle might have to existing Batman mythos because it was clear that it contained some form of adrenaline-boosting substance, but there was no specific description on camera. The prevailing opinion was that venom was inside the needle. The muscle-building drug employed by the supervillain Bane in the Batman comic books is a fictional, ultra-powerful steroid, not the alien black goop monster that lives inside Tom Hardy in the film “Venom.”
A thorough concept sketch of the needle prop used on the set by Pattinson can be found in James Field’s book “The Art of the Batman,” which is currently in stores. In the illustration, it is made clear that Batman did not administer Venom to himself; instead, he administered common epinephrine, an adrenal hormone that is frequently used to control breathing but also has the potential to increase adrenaline levels and give one a surge of energy. In the past, movies like “Pulp Fiction,” “The Rock,” and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” have used adrenaline shots.
Venom
At the beginning of the 1997 movie “Batman & Robin,” a small, spindly criminal received an injection of the steroid Venom, which caused the criminal to enlarge and transform into the muscular monster Bane. That portrayal of the character was very different from his comic book counterpart, a recurring foe in Batman’s rogues gallery who frequently uses copious amounts of Venom to transform himself into a five-foot-wide behemoth. Tom Hardy’s portrayal of Bane in 2012’s “The Dark Knight Rises” never showed him using the made-up substance. In other words, while the prospect of Bane finally being properly portrayed on the big screen is alluring, fans might have jumped the gun.
The vial in Batman’s epi-pen is not Venom; rather, it contains epinephrine, as is shown in the image from the book. Jamie Wilkinson, who oversaw the creation of the props for “The Batman” and a number of other big-budget movies, agrees:
“In emergencies, if he himself of somebody might need an adrenaline shot in a situation, this would be pumped in, and a shot of adrenaline straight into the system.”
Sorry to the fan theories that this particular Batman would immediately engage in a fistfight with his equivalent version of Bane after Venom’s debut. An extra-canonical, expanded universe document has definitively refuted this theory. Let’s instead concentrate on how Pattinson’s portrayal of Batman will deal with Bat Mite.
