'The Batman' Official Trailer Reveals First Looks at Zoë Kravitz's Catwoman and Jeffrey Wright's Gordon

One of the more highly-anticipated upcoming film releases is The Batman film starring Robert Pattinson. It can be argued that Batman is the most popular, well-loved superhero of all time, and Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy helped cement the character as an awesome hero, with The Dark Knight being regarded by many as arguably the greatest superhero movie of all time. With all of that said, there was criticism about Zack Snyder's interpretation in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League. A new Batman movie with a new interpretation of the Caped Crusader is definitely something to look forward to, however. He has such a rich history between the comics, movies, video games, etc. He is a character you can take in a lot of directions while remaining faithful to previously released material.

It is not just Batman that allows for fluid interpretations and characterizations. Every character can be portrayed in one way or another. With the trailer for the new Batman movie, we finally got a glance at the latest interpretations of Batman's on-again, off-again ally/girlfriend Catwoman, as well as Commissioner Jim Gordon, his staunchest ally apart from Alfred Pennyworth.

Given what we have seen so far, it appears that this iteration of Batman will be set in the earlier days of his crimefighting career, something that, apart from the comics, we have not seen much of outside of a few things such as Nolan's Batman Begins or the Batman: Arkham Origins. According to the film's director, Matt Reeves, who previously worked on projects such as Dawn and War of the Planet of the Apes and the hit monster movie Cloverfield, this Batman will be more raw and untested than the batmen we are used to seeing in the Snyder and Nolan versions.

When Reeves talked about the upcoming movie in The Batman DC FanDome panel, he revealed that Kravitz will be playing Selina Kyle before her turn as Catwoman. As far as the films go, the character was previously played by Academy Award winner Anne Hathaway in The Dark Knight Rises. Anne Hathaway's performance was met with mixed reviews, though given that she was in a Nolan film, her take on the character is going to be the one at the forefront of people's minds, and there will inevitably be comparisons between Kravitz and Hathaway. Given that this is more of an origin story for Selina Kyle, it is possible that Kravitz will be able to distance herself from the Nolan film.

However, she will have an easier time of it than Jeffrey Wright's Jim Gordon. While J.K. Simmons previously portrayed the character in Justice League, he did not get much screentime. Before him, Academy Award winner Gary Oldman made Gordon into his own character, and he played Batman's ally in three films, which is more than Hathaway's one. Jeffrey Wright will have a much harder time avoiding comparisons between his performance and Oldman's. There may also be comparisons to Ben McKenzie's performance as Gordon in the TV show Gotham. Some movie fans, especially comic book movie fans, can be a...volatile bunch, and if Wright's performance does not measure up to their previous preference, it could hurt the film's perception, regardless of the actual objective quality of the film. However, people have turned around from their initial opinions regarding superhero film casting before. (See Michael Keaton as Batman and Heath Ledger as The Joker). So his performance will speak for itself.

In the trailer, it appears that Gordon and Batman are already allies, as opposed to many origin stories (such as the aformentioned Batman Arkham: Origins) where Gordon has to learn to trust Batman and work with him, accepting that Batman can do things outside of the law that he can't within it. However, they only interacted in the trailer for a few seconds, so that aspect could still be a part of the film.

Overall, it appears that we are in for a Batman film that is different from the past ones. The tone appears to be closer to Snyder's Batman than Nolan's, which was dark, but not as brutal. With a 2021 release date, it is difficult to tell at the moment. We will just have to wait and see.

Written by Tommy Durbin

Syndicated From Culture Slate