A new era for The Batman
During DC Comics’ FanDome event, Warner Bros. Pictures released the first trailer for Matt Reeves’ The Batman, starring Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne/Batman.
In the trailer, which featured a haunting version of Nirvana’s “Something in The Way,” Pattinson is seen as a much grittier Bruce Wayne, one with dark eyeliner and a serious demeanor. Also, fans saw the first look at Zoë Kravitz as Selina Kyle/Catwoman.
“It’s about the early days of him being Batman and he’s very far from being perfect,” direct Reeves said during the FanDome event on Saturday.
“One of the things that are interesting is learning how to be Batman. It’s a criminological experiment. He’s trying to figure out what he can do to change this place. He’s seeing he’s not having any of the effect he wants to have. That’s when the murders start to happen … and it opens up a whole new world of corruption. Without being an origin tale, it ends up touching on his origins,” he said. “It’s a detective story, a mystery, it’s got, of course, action, and it’s incredibly personal for him. He’s kind of a growing legend and [criminals] are afraid of him. He’s not a symbol of hope yet. One of the things he has to deal with is how he’s perceived … What was exciting for me was not doing the origin [story] but to meet him in the middle and to see him make mistakes and grow and fail and be heroic in a way that felt very human and very flawed.”
Reeves added, “In a weird way, it is the origin of a lot of Rogue’s Gallery. Selina isn’t Catwoman yet. Oswald isn’t the Penguin yet — in fact, he doesn’t like being called the Penguin.”
…more… to come… #TheBatman #DCFanDome https://t.co/qCzcnrSAhR
— Matt Reeves (@mattreevesLA) August 22, 2020
The Batman began filming in January, with the director announcing the news on Twitter with a photo of a clapperboard revealing the movie’s all-red logo.
The film will resume shooting in early September in the U.K. after having to halt production in March due to the coronavirus pandemic. At the time, the movie was only seven weeks into production.
The film — which was originally slated to premiere in June 2021 — has now been given an October release date.
“Currently in production,” read the final scene in the trailer.
The Batman is planned to be part of a trilogy. The movie will also star Andy Serkis, Peter Sarsgaard, Jeffrey Wright and Colin Farrell.
The idea for the films is “very much a point of view-driven, noir Batman tale,” Reeves told THR, adding, “It’s more Batman in his detective mode that we’ve seen in the films.
Earlier this week, Reeves revealed the film’s first poster on Twitter, saying the drop was “for the fans.”
“Excited to share the very first look at our official #TheBatman logo, and some very cool additional #DCFanDome artwork by the amazing @jimlee,” Reeves tweeted.
The poster and logo reveal a black and red theme that tap into a noir aesthetic — something Reeves has previously said is the genre of this iteration of Batman films.
Reeves gave fans a first look at what Pattinson looked like in the Batsuit in February, sharing a red and black video against a snippet of Michael Giacchino’s score for the film.
In early March, Reeves hinted at what the iconic Batmobile would look like in the movie.
The Batman is slated to open in theaters on Oct. 1, 2021.
