The Batman: First Look at Pattinson Suited Up

Yesterday, The Batman director Matt Reeves posted a camera test of Robert Pattinson in the cape and cowl and while it remains to be seen what he and the suit will look like in action, the little teaser did its job. Sporting a new chest emblem and completely sans Bat-nipples, the latest to take on the mantle of the bat does indeed look pretty bad ass.

While many have been more than slightly trepidatious regarding the former Twilight star taking on such an iconic role, the announced rogues gallery for the film has given them a little hope. Colin Farrell is onboard to play Penguin, Zoë Kravitz will be Catwoman, Paul Dano is Riddler, and John Turturro is mob leader Carmine Falcone, and there’s been rumors that there could be a couple more villains added before it’s all said and done.

And I don’t know about you, but Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth has me stoked!

DC’s Next Move

While it was initially promoted as a one-shot standalone movie, with its massive box office and awards success it was no surprise, especially to those that read my article back in November, that Joker has been slatted for a sequel. Joaquin Phoenix’s brilliant performance really left them no choice, he owned that version of Joker and in doing so, may have shown DC the way to success. Finally!

Sure, the awards and accolades are great, but don’t be fooled. The head honchos at Warner Bros and DC would most definitely trade that Oscar and every other award for a Justice League movie that faired as well as Marvel’s Avengers. They tried to mimic that formula of intertwining movies and characters into a grand finale and failed – miserably.

Wonder Woman is fantastic of course and many of us are looking forward to the sequel, but do we want to see her team up with Aquaman, Flash, and Batman again? Erm, not so much. Not without some writers that are actually fans, some recasting, and some sort of multiverse or time travel slant or something.

So as I said in that Joker article, they’d be stupid not to expand on Joker.

Not only with a straight sequel with Joaquin, but additional origin stories. Set them in the same “universe” and perhaps have Joker be a part of their origin. Imagine him messing with a new version of Riddler or a lesser known character like Ventriloquist and his little buddy Scarface. And they must, without question, be rated R.

That’s the way to DC’s success. Gritty, dark, swear-laden, adult-themed movies that take a new look at characters both familiar and new. Gotham is the natural starting point, it’s rife with characters perfect for the big screen (with the right writers and directors), but I could see this expanding into Metropolis as well. Lex Luthor done right could be a fantastic movie.

However, we still don’t know what rating they’re going for on The Batman and while it’s rumored to be a “dark” take on the detective side of the Batman / Bruce, it remains to be seen just how dark they’re going to allow this one to go.

Still well over a year away from its June 2021 release, the sneak peek of The Batman so soon after the release of Birds of Prey has Batfans like me eagerly awaiting the next bit of news out of Gotham.