The first full trailer of Matt Reeves’ much-anticipated The Batman has been released after it began production in January of last year, shot on location throughout the UK and Chicago. Despite a few delays due to the pandemic, the film is set to hit cinemas next March: Batman’s back and he’s angrier than ever. 

The visuals hint at Reeve’s neo-noir take on the DC superhero, a vengeful and violent imagining lead by Robert Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne. Inspired by the works of Alfred Hitchcock and seminal 70s films such as Chinatown (1974) and Taxi Driver (1976), Reeves’ Gotham City mirrors that of a burning ancient empire swallowed by crime and depression. While a slowed version of Nirvana’s Something In The Way echoes through the trailer, we are introduced to Pattinson’s co-stars, getting the first glimpse of Zoë Kravitz as Selina Kyle/Catwoman, while Collin Farrell is unrecognisable as The Penguin and Paul Dano as The Riddler, taunting Batman and teasing us by never revealing his face.  

Although details of the plot remain scarce, it is said that Batman will be investigating corruption linking to his own family throughout Gotham City, Reeves focuses on the early days in Batman’s vigilante career before he became the character we all now know. Since there hasn’t been an instalment in the Batman series since Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises in 2012 (a high bar indeed), expectations are bubbling, but if the trailer is anything to go by it’s looking like we’re in for a wild ride.

The Batman is set for release 4th March, 2022.