Warner Bros. Pictures
This weekend’s virtual convention DC FanDome featured a host of panels stacked with big names, including Robert Pattinson and director Matt Reeves at The Batman panel. Boy, did they deliver, with The Batman’s first major trailer for the DC Comics movie slated for the end of next year.
The new DC FanDome footage is dark, brutal and, yep, mysterious. We see in one scene that Pattinson’s Dark Knight will bring a violent, unrelenting fighting style. Trying to figure out his role in battling the evil of Gotham, he’s unsure how he fits into helping Gotham PD.
“We will see Batman grow, make mistakes… and be flawed,” Reeves said during the panel. “We also get to see him being the world’s greatest detective.”
We also snatched glimpses of Zoe Kravitz playing Catwoman, John Turturro as Gotham mob boss Carmine Falcone, Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth (well, we hear his voice, at least), Paul Dano as Riddler and Jeffrey Wright as Commissioner Gordon.
The cast also includes Colin Farrell as Penguin (who we don’t see in the trailer), Peter Sarsgaard as Gotham district attorney Gil Colson and Jayme Lawson as Gotham mayoral candidate Bella Real.
Warner Bros. Pictures
Reeves said during the panel that all the villains are just starting out, so we’ll see Catwoman, Penguin and Riddler in the early stages of their criminal endeavors.
Plot-wise, the trailer hints Batman will hunt a shadowy killer, following the noir-influenced The Long Halloween comic book storyline that sees Falcone hiring the Rogues Gallery of Batman villains, including Catwoman and Penguin, to take him down.
We’ll also find Batman in his early years — Year Two, to be exact. It’s worth noting that the movie will not take place on the same Earth as other DC movies like Justice League, Wonder Woman and Aquaman.
Reeves, best known for The Planet of the Apes movies, dropped a screen test of Pattinson rocking the cape earlier this year.
In the panel, Reeves also briefly talked about the upcoming HBO Max spinoff series that centers on Year One when Gotham’s police department is embedded with corruption. The series will be from the point of view from a cop grappling with right and wrong, while trying to save his own soul.
