First trailer for The Batman sees Robert Pattinson transform into the Dark Knight

Robert Pattinson’s upcoming Batman movie, The Batman, is one of the most anticipated DC movies. Today, director Matt Reeves debuted a first look at Pattinson’s take on the Dark Knight.

Maybe surprising to some, it’s a good sized teaser trailer. Production on the film shut down by the pandemic, but the footage Reeves brought to DC’s FanDome virtual convention is a pretty good glance at what fans of the caped crusader should expect. Like always in Gotham City, crime is running rampant, and some nefarious force is trying to get to Batman. The story takes place about two years into Bruce Wayne’s career as Batman, a period when he’s still just a masked vigilante. Reeves stressed that Batman isn’t Batman yet, and there are people “who are afraid of him, quite frankly.”

The trailer also introduces a few key characters, including Jeffrey Wright’s James Gordon and Zoe Kravitz’s Catwoman. Andy Serkis’ Alfred can also be heard. Reeves stressed that many of these characters are still coming into themselves; Selina Kyle is not Catwoman yet, for example. Both The Riddler and The Penguin are also early into their own criminal careers.

Arguably the most shocking part of the trailer isn’t Pattinson and Reeves’ take on Batman but on Bruce Wayne. This doesn’t look like the well-kept, put together playboy version of Bruce Wayne that fans of Christian Bale, Michael Keaton, and even Ben Affleck’s portrayals may expect. Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne is a little more unkempt, a little more goth; consider me intrigued.

“Without being an origin story for him, it’s something that touches upon his origins,” Reeves said.

Reeves has shared a few details over the last few months, including a previous first look at Pattinson’s Batman costume and images of the new Batmobile. The film was originally supposed to be released on June 21st, 2021, but because of the pandemic affecting production and other film’s releases this year, The Batman was pushed to October 1st, 2021. The delay sucks for any Batman fan, but based on the imagery we’ve seen so far, being released during the month of Halloween seems pretty perfect.