There is no shortage of villains that have appeared in the various Batman movies throughout the years, and Robert Pattinson's take on the hero in The Batman is one that is going to be exploring this extensive rogues gallery once again. However, with this new film taking a different approach and examining yet another era in Batman's decorated career as the World's Greatest Detective, there is a chance here to rectify one of the most common problems found in movies around one of DC's most famous heroes.
The character of Batman was first introduced to comic book readers back in May of 1939, featuring in Detective Comics #27 as a hero unlike any that had gone before. Throughout the years, Batman has come face to face with many of the terrifying villains that plague Gotham City and beyond, with familiar faces including the likes of Joker, Harley Quinn, Ra's Al Ghul, Bane, and Scarecrow to name but a few. The upcoming Matt Reeves-directed The Batman will feature the titular hero in his second year as a crime-fighting vigilante, and will showcase at least four key figures for Pattinson's Caped Crusader to face off against: The Penguin (Colin Farrell), Catwoman (Zoe Kravitz), Carmine Falcone (John Turturro), and The Riddler (Paul Dano) who may feature as the primary antagonist.
One of the key things that comes up time and time again in Batman movies throughout the years is that the villains are often far more interesting than the hero himself. Batman has been reinvented so many times through the eyes of so many directors that the best bit of casting news is now reserved for the villains themselves. Where The Batman can do things differently and solve this problem is by really putting Batman himself at the heart of the story. Pattinson's take on the Dark Knight is different from many others; it is not an origin story, and it presents a much darker version of the hero than audiences have previously seen. There are plenty of opportunities here to explore his psyche and dive into what makes the character so interesting.
Throughout his cinematic adaptations over the years, it could be argued that The Dark Knight has almost always played second fiddle to the villains he comes up against. Whether it be the chaotic Clown Prince of Crime himself, or the cunning cruelty of Catwoman, Batman can appear to be relatively two-dimensional in comparison to his criminal cinematic counterparts. Villains bring with them an assortment of issues that can be explored and toyed with, and some films have explored the journey of these characters towards villainy. However, early trailers and images of The Batman present an opportunity to change this through Robert Pattinson's iteration of Bruce Wayne.
Pattinson's take on Bruce Wayne is set during the hero's second year as the Dark Knight and thus is not a Batman origin story, but neither is this the seasoned hero that fans are familiar with. The character appears to be much darker, epitomized by the line from the trailer, "I'm vengeance." Rather than be another two-dimensional approach to a character that fans have seen over and over again throughout cinema history, Pattinson seems to be bringing a new level of depth to the psyche of Bruce Wayne and making him a more fascinating character than ever before. Where much of the emphasis has previously been on the character of Batman before now, Reeves' upcoming film has the chance to put the focus on Bruce Wayne and explore more of the hero's psyche than films that have gone before.
Of course, there is nothing wrong with having a villain who is brought to life in such a way that it engages audiences and pulls them in. However, now is the time for Batman and Bruce Wayne himself to step into the spotlight and become the focal point of a Batman movie. Fixing this problem does not mean getting rid of the villains, but rather shifting the focus to give more time and attention to Batman's mentality and psyche during his formative years as Gotham's defender. With a myriad of differences sure to come, including the Caped Crusader's famous voice, fans will have to wait and see whether Pattinson and Reeves can deliver the goods when The Batman hits theatres in 2022.
