“The Batman” writer-director Matt Reeves unveiled the first trailer for the film during the final panel for the DC FanDome event on Saturday.
The moody teaser, set to Nirvana’s “Something in the Way,” focuses most on the presence of the Riddler (Paul Dano), who is leaving a series of deadly teasers for the Batman and Commissioner Gordon (Jeffery Wright). It also reveals a few quick glimpses of Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman, provides the first full look of Pattinson in the Batsuit and driving the Batmobile, and underlines this Batman’s brutal approach to fighting crime as he beats the crap out of a low-level hoodlum to make a point.
In the panel for the film, Reeves said “The Batman” won’t be an origin story per se, but it does start in “Year Two” of Batman’s emergence, in which Batman and several other iconic characters — Catwoman, the Riddler, and the Penguin (Colin Farrell) — are still in the early stages of their development. In exploring the corruption at the heart of the story, Batman also begins to uncover a larger story of corruption within the city, and how it may connect back to the vastly wealthy and powerful Wayne family.
Right before the panel debuted, Warner Bros. also released a series of first look images of Pattinson as Bruce Wayne and Batman from the film.
Reeves has been regularly teasing glimpses of his film, starting in February with a video of Pattinson wearing the Batsuit with a snippet of Michael Giacchino’s score for the film. A few weeks later, video and photos from the set leaked later of the Batcycle and a more complete look at the Batsuit, and in early March, Reeves tweeted an official first look at the Batmobile.
The film had to suspend production due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and is set to start filming again in early September. Reeves said he had shot just 25% of the film so far, and the delay pushed the official release date from June to Oct. 2021.
The movie also stars John Turturro, Peter Sarsgaard, Jayme Lawson and Andy Serkis.
Reeves is also working with Terence Winter (“The Sopranos”) on a spin-off “Gotham PD” TV series set a year before the events of “The Batman.” Reeves said in the panel that the show will focus on a corrupt cop during the first year of the emergence of Batman in Gotham City. HBO Max picked up the show with a series commitment.
“The Batman” panel capped off the first wave of DC FanDome events that unfolded in virtual panels throughout the day, most of them focusing on Warner Bros. upcoming slate of features based on DC Comics properties. A follow-up event largely focusing on TV will be held on Sept. 12.
Watch the official trailer below.