The Batman trailer: Robert Pattinson brings fear and explosions in 2022

A little more than a year ago, director Matt Reeves took the virtual stage at DC FanDome to introduce a reimagined Batman universe with Robert Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne at the center. It was a pandemic that decimated the population. Batman’s release date, but finally, on Saturday, just a few months before the DC comic book movie bows in theaters, Reeves returned to FanDome to show off a new full trailer for the film, which gives a shadowy-but-clearer look at how a younger Bruce Wayne is dealing with the rise of Riddler (Paul Dano), Penguin (Colin Farrell), and Catwoman (Zoe Kravitz).

Squarely located in Gotham City Batman finds Bruce — complete with throwback Batmobile, a speedier Bat-bike, and a costume that might made of guns? — charting the waters of a crime-infested world. At the top of the film, The Riddler seems to be on a murder kick, and as Reeves and cowriter Mattson Tomlin have said many times, the serial killer streak will likely put Batman’s detective skills to use.

“No one has ever ground it the way Year one does,” Reeves said at the FanDome panel, referring to Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli’s highly influential comic. “To come right in to a young Batman, not be an origin tale but refer to his origins, and shake him to his core”

For Pattinson, what fascinated him about this version of the character was “the delineation over when he’s Batman and when he’s Bruce. In other versions, he really knows what he’s doing when he puts on the cowl. He’s a bit out of control. He hasn’t really defined what Batman is. It is on him every night. He isn’t sleeping. He’s becoming this sort of odd creature.”

Warner Bros. Pictures

From there we got lots of glimpses of this new style of Batman, which differs greatly from the wide-screen spectacle of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy and Zack Snyder’s more mythic take on the character. Reeves shot his Batman in extremely widescreen with almost black-and white film quality. When a burst of sun or splash of fire breaks through later in the trailer, the entire frame can be consumed by oranges — whatever this movie delivers, there’ll be no shortage of piercing visuals.

While the story is dark and grim, it’s balanced by the absurdity of the villains. Two crimelords, and Selina Kyle (ahem), give the film the same feeling. Batman: The Animated Series This could be intentional: Tomlin told Polygon that BTASReeves found his way to Batman by stealing Batman’s original creation Bruce Timm. Reeves plans a spiritual sequel, which he will be collaborating with J.J. Abrams.

If the trailer is low on anything, it’s clues to the bigger picture of this movie and potential new franchise. We don’t know much about this new Bruce or the villains motivation or the direction the plot’s ultimately going. But here’s what we do know: This ain’t your grandpappy’s Batsignal. “It’s not just a call,” Pattinson’s Batman says in the trailer. “It’s a warning.”

Batman On March 4, 2022, hits theatres and theaters only