The latest trailer for The Batman was unleashed on an unsuspecting (ok, suspecting) public at the DC FanDome event in October 2021. Starring Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Zoë Kravitz as Selina Kyle/Catwoman, Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth, Paul Dano as Edward Nashton/Riddler, Colin Farrell as Oswald Cobblepot/Penguin, and Jeffrey Wright as Commissioner James Gordon, the trailer has been a massive success online, racking up more than 33 million views since its debut. In The Batman trailer, the intense, dark fight scenes of the caped vigilante make the latest rendition of Bruce Wayne look like the grittiest, most tortured version of the character to grace the screen to date.

The latest look at Wright and Pattinson from the upcoming film does nothing to disabuse fans of that notion. It comes from the special features of the new Batman Year One Commemorative Edition release, with screenshots of the footage spreading on social media.

Produced by DC Films, 6th & Idaho, and Dylan Clark Productions, The Batman is scheduled to come out March 4, 2022. Directed by Matt Reeves (Felicity, Cloverfield, War for the Planet of the Apes), the reboot of the Batman film franchise is based on a screenplay by Peter Craig (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Top Gun: Maverick) and offers a new take on the classic comic book character. Although Reeves initially planned on keeping The Batman in the DCEU, the story was eventually reworked as a standalone story that focuses on Bruce Wayne as a young vigilante.

In an interview on YouTube, "Chinese Filmmaker Lu Chuan Conversation with The Batman Cast", Reeves discussed how real-world villains, such as serial killers, inspired his interpretation of Batman. During the conversation, Reeves said that he wanted to explore the question of how the Batman mythos could exist in the real world, and decided to use the Riddler as the main villain because of the parallels with the infamous Zodiac Killer. Joining the Riddler, are several other classic Batman villains, Catwoman and Penguin, making the film a real who's who of DC villainy. Describing the film as a blend of the detective, action, and psychological thriller genres, the director noted that he believes that those film genres hewed closer to the comic book version of the Caped Crusader than the previous film adaptation.

In addition to Robert Pattinson as Batman, the caped vigilante has assembled a team of hero wannabes to face off against the team of DC villains, including Serkis' Alfred Pennyworth (Wayne's faithful butler) and Wright's Commissioner James Gordon (Wayne's unlikely partner-in-crime). In the recently released movie still image, the classic reluctant ally to the Dark Knight, Commissioner Gordon, is seen working alongside Batman to solve some sort of mystery. Depending on what stage of his career the character is in during The Batman, Jim Gordon will either be the police commissioner or a detective at the Gotham City Police Department, but no matter what his role, he will be helping Batman solve the crime by dinner time.

The first trailer for The Batman movie was unveiled at the first annual DC FanDome in 2020, but the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and a certain Twilight actor coming down with the virus just days before production was supposed to begin, pushed back the release date to March 4th, 2022. At the moment, the studio has decided to copy Disney's theatrical release-to-streaming model, and The Batman will be released exclusively in movie theaters for at least 45 days. However, for the high-risk fans out there, Warner Bros. is releasing two Batman-adjacent spin-off shows for HBO Max, one of which reportedly focuses on the cops of Gotham PD.

Check out the latest trailer for The Batman below.