Robert Pattinson brings a dark, messy vision of Bruce Wayne to The Batman

Big news for Batman fans broke this weekend, as DC shared a first trailer for the upcoming movie The Batman, starring Robert Pattinson in the titular role. The trailer was shown at DC’s online FanDome event on August 22 as part of The Batman panel with director Matt Reeves.

From the looks of the trailer, the movie seems to be dark, grimy, and grim, with most of the introduction focusing on a brutal crime scene with scribbled taunts to Batman and blood splattered on the walls. Fans of Westworld will recognize Jeffrey Wright as Commissioner Gordon from his role as Bernard, and there are also short glimpses of other characters including Zoe Kravtiz as Catwoman and John Turturro as Carmine Falcone, Gotham’s resident mob boss.

Much of the plot revealed in the trailer seems to revolve around The Riddler, played by Paul Dano, who in previous Batman stories has been portrayed most often as a goofy lover of mysteries who is desperate for Batman’s attention. But the version of Riddler in this movie looks to be considerably darker in tone, with him staging brutal murders and taunting Batman to figure out his identity.

And as for the Batman himself, perhaps the biggest surprise of the trailer is not the new version of the classic dark Batman costume or the sweet turbo-charged Batmobile, but Pattinson’s take on Bruce Wayne. In contrast to Christian Bale’s polished and charming playboy from the Dark Knight trilogy, this version of Wayne looks like a mess, unkempt and shaggy, and recalling that emo phase we all went through as teenagers.

Other names we can expect to see in the movie include Colin Farrell as classic Batman villain The Penguin, Andy Serkis as Bruce’s loyal butler Alfred Pennyworth, Peter Sarsgaard as Gotham District Attorney Gil Colson, and Jayme Lawson as Gotham City mayoral candidate Bella Reál. There have been rumors swirling around since the post-credits scene of Justice League that fan-favorite villain Deathstroke may make an appearance as well, but there’s no confirmation of this so far.

The movie had originally been slated for release next summer, but it had to be delayed due to the pandemic. The new release date is set for next year on October 1, 2021, and while you’re waiting you can check out everything we know about The Batman so far.

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