There is plenty to suggest that The Batman is not going to be a bright and happy affair, and Robert Pattinson has doubled down on the idea of a dark time coming for the Dark Knight in the Matt Reeves movie. Speaking as part of an interview with Scotland’s The Daily Record, Pattinson said that fans shouldn’t expect his iteration of the Gotham protector to be “a straight-up hero.” The Batman is just over a month and half away, and it is holding strong as one of the most anticipated movies of the year. With marketing having ramped up over the last few weeks, Warner Bros. will be hoping that its March release date sticks amid current Covid concerns.

Having recently received a PG-13 rating for violence and disturbing content, it is clear that The Batman has set out its stall as the next superhero movie bringing the darker side of DC comics to screen and is certainly more in line with Chris Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy than some of the lighter entries in the series. The film will deliver the youngest ever big screen interpretation of Bruce Wayne, going back to his first years as Batman as he finds his feet as the defender of Gotham in a corrupt and violent world. That violence is something that Batman himself will be getting involved in, and Pattinson hinted that there is a lot more than meets the eye with this version. He said:

“I needed to know about as much of the history of the character as possible to see what hadn’t really been done ... People see Batman as this straight-up heroic character but in our story it really questions what the nature of a hero is and it gives a lot of different angles to it.”

The Batman Depicts Bruce Wayne As A Frustrated Vigilante

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Warner Bros. Pictures

Robert Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne has only been donning the cowl for two years when the events of The Batman take place, and with The Riddler terrorizing the city it is understandable that the character seems increasingly frustrated as his inability to make a difference with his Caped Crusader persona. In addition, criminal villains like Falconi and The Penguin are not lightening his mood, meaning that the up upon hero is burdened in many of the previews and trailers seen so far, and that in turn usually leads to violent consequences.

With the exact plot details under wraps, it has been hinted that there is a dark family connection between Bruce and at least some of the underhanded and disturbing events happening within Gotham. While Batman has killed villains in the past, whether this iteration will take him to a new extreme is something that will – barring any further delays – be revealed when the movie arrives in cinemas on March 4th. As one of the most hyped movies of the year, and having suffered similar lengthy Covid delays to Spider-Man: No Way Home, many parts of the industry will be watching the box office performance of The Batman with interest.