The Batman trailer

[lucean]

Greetings one and all,

The DC Fan Panel show just ended with the new Batman trailer and I just could not wanting to share it with everyone. I just recommend everyone to watch it.

Watch on YouTube

There's a lot that could be said about it, but I will just end with two things. First of all the cinematography in that trailer is off the charts and those actions sequences seem like just leveling up. Second, and more importantly, the hints of Bruce Wayne we get here is something truly spectacular as you can just feel all the things that make him such an iconic character. By grounding him, Reeves managed to make him feel like that terrifying force.

Comments

[cyberghostface]

IDK...

I'm not saying they should go back to Schumacher but I am a little tired of completely grimdark Batman. Gotham for example had a pretty good blend of darkness and camp. Their Riddler was pretty twisted but he was still clearly the Riddler, not some Jigsaw wannabe with a gimp mask.

I do wonder if Colin Farrell will get any flack for wearing a fat suit like Sarah Paulson currently is for playing Linda Tripp. The guy looks so much like Richard Kind I have to wonder why not just cast Richard Kind? Or just have Colin Farrell as himself with maybe some greasy hair and beaky nose like Gotham did (can you tell how much I miss Gotham?).

[onsokumaru]

That looks absolutely boring. Just another generic Batman thing, with nothing new, at least in the trailer.

[beyondthefringe]

Yup, that's a Batman film all right. Not the best, not the worst I've ever seen, at least judging by the trailer. Pattinson looks like a passable Batman, but this doesn't exactly excite me.

[iamrman]

Are critics going to jerk off over this like they did the Dark Knight trilogy?

[cricharddavies]

I hope so, as this is clearly an undesirable outcome for you. And I hope you always get undesirable outcomes.

Mod Note! First Official Warning

[icon_uk]

Seriously? Straight to the nasty personal insults?

Okay then, so I think we'll go straight to: This is your FIRST OFFICIAL WARNING. Please note that if you receive two further warnings you will lose the ability to post on this community persmanently.

Re: Mod Note! First Official Warning

[cricharddavies]

You already gave me a FIRST OFFICIAL WARNING. This would be my SECOND OFFICIAL WARNING.

Mod Note! Second Official Warning

[icon_uk]

You are correct. I thought that had been more than six months ago now, but it was only July.

So, whilst your honesty is appreciated, this is your SECOND OFFICIAL WARNING. This is what they call a "second strike" and you are now suspended from the community for the next fourteen days, after which you will be allowed to return. Please note that if you receive one further warning you will lose the ability to post on this community."

[mazway_75]

"When that light hits the sky, it's not just a calling...it's a warning."

THAT is a damn good line.

[raiden29o9]

i dont know.. It doesn't look bad, but it just isn't grabbing me quite like the Dark Knight Trilogy movie trailers did back in the day, it... just feels so Samey to me

I guess i was kinda just hoping to move on from solo batman movies and maybe start eventually introducing other bat Family members on the big screen (Robin, Nightwing, Batgirl, Spoiler... Someone)

[bradygirl_12]

I'll echo others here. Doesn't look like anything new, and I'd love to see some Nightwing.

[owlbrigade1]

I'm just gonna link to a Twitter thread here:
Dark and Gritty Batman's superpower is violating people's legal rights:
https://twitter.com/StorySlug/status/1297996912822493196

I really do recommend reading the entire thread, because it explains so much better than I can why current Bat-trends, in cinema anyway, are not great. Also, Schumacher actually really was the only director that really understood Batman; but that is a different thread entirely.

[supercapo16]

A lot of that was compelling but for two things.

Really lost me with his Jim Gordon bit. I have no interest in any Batman that takes these characters and runs them through the mud. He didn't even include a redemption arc for the character. Just assassinated him. Hard stop there.

Also, while it's an interesting take, and saying important things, this idea only works for a standalone one-off, and completely precludes other things Batman fans want to see... i.e. other Batman villains, they can't all be cops.

That said, the idea of Joe Chill as Commissioner? That's fantastic.

I just think any good Batman movie with ideas like this needs to find a middle ground between Batman vs Bad Cops and also including Mobsters and such.

[owlbrigade1]

Thing is, though, our increased knowledge of how systemic police corruption works has been the thing that has thrown a light on Gordon's complicitness within the system. He either stays in it, covering for the active bad ones, or he leaves it and blows the whistle. We know this now, there are no good cops in a bad system. And every incarnation of Batman, save the '66 series, has been at pains to show that the Gotham system is hopelessly corrupt beyond measure. A cop within that system is either passively corrupt by virtue of silence and inaction, hence coward because Gordon is silent and passive while still saying he considers himself honest, or actively corrupt in it. We know this from how it has been explained and demonstrated IRL these last few years. It is not doing Gordon down, just showing what we know the character to be. If you want a real and grounded Batman, that is where it starts.

If we want a heroic look at Gordon then it has to be down the '66 route (and Schumacher) going all in on the campy supervillains. That is the only way we can have anything except a bad cop Gordon.

[cyberghostface]

Well no, we've seen Gordon doing his part to fight police corruption in various iterations. His Year One origin was all about him trying to purge the GCPD of corrupt officers. He's never been passive.

[supercapo16]

As pointed out, that's not true.

In Year One, Gordon is literally fighting bad cops. In Batman Begins he points out that Gotham is so corrupt that he doesn't have anyone he can report abuses to.

You can easily make a story of a Corrupt Gotham, but Jim Gordon as the lone good cop. You have him attempt to inform his superiors, only to find himself threatened and demoted. You can have him attempt to whistle blow to the press, only to find that they won't run his story for fear of reprisals from the police/city.

And then you get to show the utility of Batman because he comes along and suddenly Jim has an ally. Jim can pass along information to Batman about crooked deals or particularly bad cops about to hurt people.

Hell, like I said, you can give him a freaking Redemption Arc where he realizes he wasn't doing enough to change things.

All of that works within the framework of this proposed take on Batman. It just has in mind to honor a character rather than using him as a punching bag to make a point.

Which, the more that I've thought about it, the more I've concluded that, that's my overall problem with this guy's take. It suffers from zealotry. It has a point it wants to make and that overwhelms all other aspects.

It reads like a "Defund the Police" version of a Chick Tract.

While I agree with the overall message, I also think that that message gets lost by overstating it. A movie like that would get anybody that agreed with it cheering, but wouldn't convince anybody. People on the opposite side of the debate would listen to Fox News decry it as "destroying Batman" and not watch it, and not let their kids watch it.

Again I think elements of this are brilliant and would love to see them included in a Batman movie, just not necessarily one that is so interested in making it's point that it runs beloved characters through the mud and precludes any other elements to come into play.

That said... this guys take on Superman? Brilliant. I love everything about it and would want it done pretty much exactly as he's saying.

[cyberghostface]

You nailed it with the "chick tract" comparison.

[supercapo16]

I'm glad it's not just me.

The pendulum on Batman needs to swing the other way so hard.

I'm just so tired of Batman being so one note for the last couple of decades. The Dark Knight Trilogy was a great few films, but pretty much everything that the hyper "realistic", gritty Batman can say, has been said without just turning the character into the Punisher with a bat instead of the skull.

Pretty much the only thing interesting in this trailer to me is Colin Farrel's Penguin, but that's because he looks like the only part of this that's any fun.

[lucean]

Just a few things.

First of all, it's the internet, so it's never just you.

Second, I'm not going to argue how tired you are of this take on the character. That is a personal take. However, at the same time as much as you are claiming that it needs to go the other way, the reception for this trailer has been overwhelmingly positive. Now that isn't an inherent sign of quality, but is a rather strong argument against some idea that there impetus for them to do what you want.

Third, and this is more of a general comment, what is the larger pop culture appeal fo the character is that he is a tragic figure. So surprsingly, the big movie leans on that.

Fourth, on that same DC Fan Panel, they talked about the two new Batman animated series that are happening. First is from Bruce Timm and is in the spirit of Batman: TAS, using the noir aesthetic and with the focus on being even more in the spirit of the original show. The second is the Batman Family show that is happening focusing on the various fun of the Bat-Clan. So it's like they multiple projects that showcase different aspects of the character. Meaning that if you don't want the dark version, there's some good news. You can choose one of those. Or go and watch Lego Batman again.

[janegray]

The second is the Batman Family show that is happening focusing on the various fun of the Bat-Clan.

I thought that one had been canceled? They were supposed to release a trailer, but didn't, and DC has been distancing itself from the show.

https://www.murphysmultiverse.com/live-action-adaption-of-wayne-family-adventures-currently-awol/

[lucean]

They showed the trailer for it at the Fan Panel, didn't they? Unless I had moment of delusion?

[janegray]

Yeah, but that was more of a teaser. I think? I'm not sure, but I think there was supposed to be a second, more in-dept trailer that was supposed to drop, but didn't. And then DC started going all "we have nothing to do with this show" and it definitely looked like a red flag to me.

[lucean]

I mean I'm not that in depth familiar with the project, but I mean they ran a trailer/teaser/whatever for it during a huge promotional event for their different cross-media projects. So probably should count for something, shouldn't it?

[shakalooloo]

The Batman is high-tech enough to have utterly bulletproof armour, yet his Batmobile is just a car.

[tinygaylaura]

I think this looks pretty damn cool

Reminds me a lot of the Telltale Games version of Batman which I liked a lot

[cyberghostface]

I really miss the Telltale Batman games. I wish they could have done more.

[tinygaylaura]

I would have loved a third season :(

[mrwalker]

I need a third season! So many loose ends, particularly that cliffhanger ending...

[tinygaylaura]

The only thing that would make me sad is that the only way to really continue it would be having Alfred pass away between seasons :(

[steverodgers5]

Yeah, I loved the tell tale games. Some good storytelling and innovative characters turns there.

[numeronone]

Why, it's so...visually distinctive!

[thanekos]

It'll be fun to see what the " painted like clowns " gang turns out to be - so far, they just seem like " Hey, look - Joker, maybe? Think about that! "

[icon_uk]

Say what you will about Burton and Schumacher, they made Gotham an INTERESTING looking city, Burton with his Gothic-ness and Schumacher with his sometimes headache inducing neon-demented-stylings.

This looks like just another grimy, urban sprawl that's too scared to have an actual colour palette and too dark to see clearly.

[lucean]

...I mean are they? The Burton movie Gotham is essentially a collection of dark alleys with a few gothic looking buildings. On the other hand the Schumacher Gotham is just bizarre collection of weird looking buildings that doesn't really have a sense of a city. You can say that you found Gotham to look interesting in them, but I can say just as much that they were so superficial in their attempts that there really wasn't any true identity there.

This actually looks like the Gotham that we get in the comics. If you don't like that, tha'ts fine, but I also find it a weird criticism that the movie is faithful the visual tone of the current comics.

[icon_uk]

You're right that it looks like Gotham in the comics, but that's been drab for decades too IMHO, and the comics at least have a much more varied colour palette than this looks to have.

I also think I'd have to demur, especially on Burton's Gotham which, thanks to Anton Furst, was a deranged Gothic nightmare of a city and looked it, even when shot in daylight on busy streets.

You can't really look at a photo of the Gotham sets from Batman '89 or Batman Returns and confuse it for any other city in a movie.

[lucean]

On the last question, sure you can. Just look at any other Burton movie. Or actually any movie that leans on the Gothic undertone. It's not Batman specific and I'd argue it at a certain point takes away from the tone as it doesn't feel like a city.

The Burton movie had this heightened fairy tale sense to them, which is fine and I enjoyed them. But it also limited what those stories could be. This movie is about Bruce struggling to not be swallowed by that festering rage within, so the sets and this city suits that. You couldn't do that with the Burton sets without it seeming ridiculous.

Also you are getting the Gotham you want in the new animated series. So why does the movie need to have that?

[angelophile]

I mean, it's Liverpool, so that's not far wrong. ;)

[thatnickguy]

I don't know. On the one hand, it feels like it's really aping Nolan's style. I was hoping for a bigger departure from that. Not full on Adam West or Joel Schumacher camp, but something more different.

On the other hand, I think Pattinson will kill it in the role. He's a great, underappreciate actor and I think he's got the chops here. Plus, I loved Matt Reeves' work on the Planet of the Apes movies. So while the trailer looks...fine, I guess?...it's mostly those involved that makes me hope this will be worth seeing.