In Sebastian Magnani’s Pepsi Cola (2025) from the Daily Bat series, Batman stands beside a sleek black car beneath the glow of a towering Coca-Cola billboard, its red and white lights flooding the night. The scene fuses pop culture iconography with cinematic noir, casting the hero in a world ruled not by villains but by advertising and consumerism. Magnani’s choice of setting replaces Gotham’s menace with the modern city’s fluorescent seduction, creating a new kind of urban tension.
The composition is bold and graphic — crimson neon against the cool blue of the headlights — evoking both nostalgia and irony. Batman’s posture is calm yet detached, as if surveying a world that has commodified the very symbols he represents. The contrast between the mythic costume and the mundane act of refueling or waiting heightens the surreal quality that defines Magnani’s work.
Through Pepsi Cola, Magnani continues his exploration of identity, spectacle, and stillness, transforming the superhero into a reflective figure caught within the glow of modern life. The piece captures the absurd beauty of a world where even Batman pauses beneath the hum of corporate light, surrounded by the quiet pulse of the city.