It’s hard to believe that it will have been a decade next summer since Christopher Nolan ended his Batman trilogy with “The Dark Knight Rises.” While that movie has its detractors, Nolan’s films still successfully resurrected The Caped Crusader from the cinematic death-sentence of 1998’s “Batman & Robin.” Unfortunately, the DCEU‘s subsequent takes on Bruce Wayne and his crime-fighting alter-ego haven’t been quite as popular. But if this new “The Batman” trailer is any indication, things are about to change for the better.
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While Ben Affleck continues to wear Batman’s cloak and cowl in the upcoming “The Flash,” Matt Reeves‘ “The Batman” offers an alternative, grittier take on the character. Set adjacent to the DCEU, the Earth-2-set film explores Bruce Wayne’s early career as a masked vigilante as he tracks down The Riddler, a serial killer menacing the streets of Gotham City. Of course, Batman crosses paths with other villains in his rogue’s gallery along the way, The Penguin and Catwoman among them.
Robert Pattinson stars as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Paul Dano as The Riddler, Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman, and Colin Farell as Oswald Cobblepot/The Penguin. Other familiar faces of Gotham are in the film, as well. Jeffrey Wright plays a young Jim Gordon, Andy Serkis is Wayne’s trusted butler Alfred, and John Turturro is crime lord Carmine Falcone. Peter Sarsgaard, Barry Keoghan, Jayme Lawson, Alex Ferns, and Con O’Neill round out the main cast.
Reeves directs “The Batman” from a script he co-wrote with Peter Craig (“Top Gun: Maverick,” “Bad Boys For Life“) and Mattson Tomlin (“Little Fish“). Grieg Fraser, who worked with Reeves on 2010’s “Let Me In,” is the film’s director of photography. Long-time Reeves collaborator Michael Giacchino composes the film’s score.
Warner Bros. already has high expectations for Reeves’ dark, violent take on one of their most lucrative properties. There are plans for the new film to be the first in a trilogy. In addition, two HBO Max spin-offs are in the works: a police procedural that follows a corrupt cop in the GCPD, and a look at The Penguin’s rise through Gotham’s underworld. Colin Farrell has not officially signed on to the proposed show about The Penguin yet.
Will “The Batman” fare better with critics and at the box office than recent DCEU films? What about the juggernaut that is the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Find out on March 4, 2022, when the film comes to theaters everywhere. Check out the new trailer below.