Thoughts on The Batman trailer

Let me preface these thoughts with a simple statement: I love superheroes, and my favourite superhero is Batman. Also, this is not a brief review of a small teaser. I believe fans of Batman often straddle the line between being the hardest critics of the Caped Crusader while at the same time defending him and his lore against fairly reasonable criticisms. I want to take a broader look at the recent background of Batman's big screen appearances, and what this teaser might mean for the future. If you want nothing more than a fan's thoughts on the trailer, scroll till you see the signal and read from there. With all those vaguries in mind, onwards.

The first trailer for Matt Reeves' The Batman was released on the 22nd of August, 2020. It's two minutes and thirty three seconds and just the trailer itself has been long awaited. While Batman movies are one of the most popular franchises in Hollywood history, as perhaps only the second most rebooted superhero in film (top spot clearly going to a certain powerful, responsible teen), the cape and cowl clad detective has seen an insane amount of hype in recent years. In order to properly understand this hype we have to understand where it came from.

The Dark Knight changed the game for superhero movies. Released the same year as Marvel's prodigal son Iron Man, it created the Two-Face to Disney's Harvey Dent. Where Marvel was all about quips and fun, keeping the audience entertained without having to worry too much, the Dark Knight painted the grimy picture of one man's rage against a city that hated itself. It was small, personal, and perfect; both as a story and a movie. It was not just a great superhero movie, but a great movie.

Following this exceptional trilogy, Zack Snyder took the reigns and did something curious: he followed it. Sort of. The problem was, where Zack Snyder may have been the right choice for a Batman movie, given his familiarity with comic book movies (with mixed results) and fondness for literally dark settings, he didn't get the chance to make a Batman movie. He got to make a Superman movie. Y'know, Batman's character foil, who's all bright lights and justice and whatnot. Naturally, the pairing was not ideal and the movie was... a Superman movie. That is to say it didn't include any of the best parts of Batman, his unwavering mission, his all-to-apparent mortality, his distinct dual life. It was farmboy Clark but sort of murdery. Where Snyder did follow through though, was with Batman v Superman. And now, briefly, we must discuss that whole mess.

Batman was the good part of BvS. Perhaps not the only good part, but certainly the good part. Batfleck was grim, jacked, angry, and made the audience feel it. Were we supposed to root for him? Who knows, that's the fun part about Batman. BvS actually almost did a decent job of walking the line between hero and vigilante, when taking justice into your own hands may be the wrong thing. It also did a wonderful job of pulling from Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns" graphic novels. The obvious problem is that awesome mix made up essentially none of the movie. The morality was bland, the fight was short, and the ending was, well, it was a lot of things. But, Zack Snyder had gotten Batman right.

Cut to a huge number of DC fuckups. Suicide Squad was laughed at and Justice League was mired by production troubles and then forgotten. Marvel stole the market and everyone's favourite gravel voiced rich-boy slipped back into cameos, lego and video game appearances for a little while. But there were rumours of a standalone Batman movie. And finally, we can talk about the trailer.

This is the signal

First, the bad.

Or rather, the concerns, because after all, the enjoyment of a trailer has little to do with how well the trailer itself performs and much to do with what it tells you about the movie. As some might say, it's all about the antici--

The Concerns

Batman has many faces in popular media. Clearly, the face that will be shown in The Batman is one of his dark ones. Why is this a concern? Wasn't the Dark Knight super dark? Yes, but it is something that was counterbalanced by two things. First: Bruce Wayne, and second: the Joker.

The Joker was not funny in the sense that he made you laugh, although to be fair sometimes he kind of did, he was funny in his blatant disregard for Batman's seriousness. Rather than raging against the machine he simply laughed at it, forcing the audience to see the ridiculousness of the whole situation, from a man in a cape to the corrupt cops who bent to his will. All to be undone by a few barrels of gas.

Bruce Wayne, in the Dark Knight, was a quiping idiot who stepped fascinatingly in and out of his ignorance. He threw lavish parties and fell in love with his childhood friend. He was a broken boy who lost his parents, and then suddenly was a ruthless machine of justice. In the blink of an eye.

In these ways the dark side of Batman was both justified and balanced. Clearly Batman in The Batman is going to be a violent, young vigilante. Will there be a counterbalance? Or will The Batman become the needlessly edgy member of the cinematic family who wears a long black coat and everyone makes fun of?

The Amazing Spiderman 2 was awful because there was far too much going on. Too many villains, too many people we didn't care about, and too little of the good stuff. No meat. I adore the cast of The Batman, but already we have confirmed Penguin, Riddler, Falcone and Catwoman. Each is a villain or lover in their own right, and each has enough content and backstory for feature length films. I am concerned that they will try to complete each's arc in this one film. It may be unfounded, as clearly the Riddler is going to serve as the main course, but I have seen it happen before.

The backstory. There was little to no hint within the trailer that this will be another rehash of dead parents behind a theatre, and yet already the internet has leapt on the idea of re-re-re-re(re?)watching Thomas and Martha Wayne gunned down in the street. For some reason we saw it in Joker. For some reason we saw it in BvS. We don't need to see it again, and yet we might be forced to.

The date.

The trailer admits to the movie still being in production, something I've never seen before. Are we living in unprecedented times? Sure. But I don't want production struggles to halt this movie or push it another bunch of years into the future. Don't tease me that much, teaser.

Getting back up (AKA the Good)

"I'm Vengeance."

We've done away with the childlike name Batman, we've done away with shaky-cam action and quick cuts (hopefully), we've done away with the timid old-timer who keeps wanting to retire. We're here for one thing, and one thing only.

Vengeance.

Which is to say that I loved the vast majority of the trailer.

I love the Riddler being the villain, as I think he is often underutilized (though sometimes very cleverly used). As long as he can provide a proper counterbalance to Batman's dark crusade rather than draw him deeper into gross stuff and brooding, the Riddler should be the perfect choice of nemesis.

I love the action scene, for reasons previously specified.

I love the cast. I was visibly upset when informed that Robert Pattinson was going to be the next Batman, but this has been the case before and we've had good Batmans (Batmen?) despite it. And this teaser sold me. He's angry, he's violent, he wants to understand the dark cruel world and bend it back into recognizable shape. Bobby Pat the vamp sold it to me in this trailer, and I hope he does in the movie too. I also love that Andy Serkis is finally getting roles that we'll be able to see his face in, because the guy deserves at least that much.

Batmobile? Pretty neat.

A lil disturbing? Check.

Hope? Intact.

I really hope this movie is good. I think it can be.