DC FanDome: ‘The Batman’ is Revealed in the Latest Trailer

DC FanDome has been a BLESSING all day today. But the greatest gift of all, has been this spectacular trailer for The Batman! It’s beginning to look like Matt Reeves is pulling out all the stops to turn this into a unique cinematic vision for the Caped Crusader than others before him (though perhaps skewing a bit closer to the Nolan vision than the others — not a bad thing by the way).

Robert Pattinson, Zoe Kravitz, and Reeves showed a bit of behind the scenes footage, speaking about how much this version of Batman differs from other live action interpretations. They also got on screen to virtually reunite and talk about how special and magical the experience was of making the film together. A few tidbits:

Pattinson did a screen test by himself and rocked the Val Kilmer Batsuit for his audition. He sweated. A lot.
This version of of Bruce Wayne will have a murkier delineation between the Batman and Bruce Wayne personas than other interpretations.
Kravitz’s focus was to create a real human being and not an “idea.”

As a really big fan of his work, from Let Me In to the Serkis-Apes series, I’m well aware that Reeves has a talent for blending grounded realism with the fantastical in a way not many filmmakers are able to do. He knows substance has to matter as much as style, and gives us characters that feel real, and multi-dimensional. You can’t say that Cesar (from the Apes saga) or Owen and Abby from Let Me In aren’t brilliantly developed or well executed characters. And that, in my opinion, is why he’s a perfect director to put his stamp on Batman. And this trailer showcases all of those strengths!

But enough about my opinion! You need to watch this trailer for yourself right now:

Okay now back to my opinion! I love this trailer. It’s freaking awesome! And as is tradition here for us at The Nerds of Color, when we love a trailer, we have to deconstruct every aspect of it into annoyingly painstaking detail to speculate about the movie forwards, backwards, inside, and out! Why? Because we’re nerds (and probably masochistic)! And this trailer deserves a breakdown! So let’s get right into it!

0:21 We get our first look at Dano’s Riddler, GCPD, and Wright’s Gordon. Everyone’s looking really great in this. And I need to find a coffee shop that will put question marks in my lattes.

0:38 We get our first look at look at the Bat-~~Signal~~ warning. It’s on a construction site, which sort of makes more sense than having it on the GCPD building if the police department is firmly anti-vigilante. I like this touch.

0:42 We get a clear awesome shot of Pattinson in the suit. We saw a few great shots of him in the first trailer, but I love that we’re getting more. I really like this batsuit!

0:46 A look at a “Joker” type gang. It really reminded me a lot of the Batman Beyond Jokerz. I’m pretty sure that’s not what Matt Reeves was going for. Most filmmakers (Snyder and Nolan, for instance) seemed not to care much about the amazingness of the Timm-verse sadly. But if it is a nod to them, that makes me love Reeves even more!

0:55 New look at Pattinson in action, and he has a bulletproof suit! Bale didn’t even have a bulletproof suit! This is insanely cool!

1:06 Obligatory Batman meets Riddler in jail scene. I do feel like this is the one part that’s sort of riffing off the legendary Bale/Ledger scene. I know I shouldn’t make that judgement call with one second of footage. And we’ll see where this goes. But I do hope it does play out differently.

1:14 A new look at Zoe Kravitz’s Selina Kyle looking amazing and kicking ass! Not only does she look just absolutely stunning, but, dear God! The chemistry here is through the roof! Her scenes with R-Batz are arguably my favorite part of this trailer!

1:18 Our best look at Colin Farrell’s Penguin and the amazing makeup job on him featuring a heavily scarred face. They’re definitely going for a Capone-inspired look for him, and it’s working!

1:20 Our first look at Andy Serkis’ Alfred. Dispensing some advice about Batman’s obsession. This is key to all aspects of the Bat-mythos, so I’m very glad they’re not neglecting this very important relationship here.

1:22 A look at a potential Riddler hideout or crime scene. Names like Colson and Mitchell called out. Pictures scattered everywhere. Along with phrases like “The Sins of my Father” and “Renewal is a Lie.” No clue what they mean.

1:32 More Penguin vs. Batman action! And more bulletproof suit!

1:38 Selina going undercover. Seems like a heavy Batman/Catwoman team up story. Again, this is a freaking awesome thing! And something we’ve never gotten in any Batman live action film to the extent that I think Reeves is going for.

1:44 Selina jumping off the construction site with Jim Gordon and Batman behind her. Seems to be the same location the Bat-Signal is located at. Maybe she lit the signal to lure Batman to the building for some reason?

1:45 Just a really awesome shot of Batman diving off a place that’s exploding. It really looks like something ripped right off the cover of a Batman comic book.

1:48 More shots of that awesome bulletproof suit and a cool dark/light fight scene. It sort of gave me Rogue One Vader scene vibes. I kind of love this!

1:54 Our best shot yet of the new awesome Batmobile. I think I actually love this more than the tumbler. It looks like a real Batmobile from comics not written or illustrated by Frank Miller for once. I mean honestly people. I say this as a huge Batman fan. Please stop mining Frank Miller as the only inspiration for Batman source material. There’s a million other authors out there who have made stellar Batman stories! Jeph Loeb. Grant Morrison. Brian Azzarello. Scott Snyder (NOT Zack Snyder!). For once, please look to those for inspiration!

1:58 A scene which looks like Batman about to paraglide off a clock tower. Admittedly a bit more “puffy” than Nolan’s sleeker cape glider. This I’m not as crazy about, but I get why. He just looks more like “Flying Squirrel Man” than Batman in this shot.

2:08 A look at Paul Dano in jail. Probably connects to the interrogation scene. My guess is the movie starts out with The Riddler getting arrested, and Batman needing to spend the movie figuring out how to stop something bad from happening that the Riddler’s already set in motion, in a Seven-ish sort of way. In other words, a classic Batman detective story! I’d love this!

2:09 A shot of Batman in an underground tunnel, looking like he’s leading a group of people out. They aren’t chasing him. So it’s safe to say they’re definitely following him. He’s gotta be saving them!