First images of new Robocop

The first shots of the armour worn by the new 'Robocop' have emerged online.

Appearing to be taking its cues from Christopher Nolan's incarnation of Batman, the suit is a sleak black number, as opposed to the shiny metallic gear worn by Peter Weller in the original 1987 film.

[Related story: Robocop takes on al-Qaeda in new film?]

The pictures were uncovered by movie site Coming Soon, and show Swedish-American actor Joel Kinnaman for the first time as the robotic law enforcer, under the direction of Brazilian José Padilha.

Filming is underway in Toronto, with the likes of Gary Oldman, Samuel L. Jackson, Jackie Earle Haley, Jay Baruchel, Abbie Cornish, Michael Keaton and Michael K. Williams among the cast.

But it's been reported that the process of making the film so far has been problematic, with a director friend of Padilha, Fernando Meirelles, saying that 'for every ten ideas [Jose] has, nine are cut. Whatever he wants, he has to fight [for]', adding that the shoot was 'hell'.

But Padilha set straight the rumours, saying: “We deal with those difficulties with coolness and familiarity. I have a script I’m happy with, and I got the cast I have picked.”

The film is set in 2029, and hangs once more around the proliferation of the conglomerate OmniCorp, maker of combat technology.

The company uses its technology to save the life of Detroit cop Alex Murphy, critically injured in the line of duty.

It's set for release in August, 2013.