The Batman

The Batman is a 2022 American superhero film based on the DC Comics character Batman. Produced by DC Films, 6th & Idaho, and Dylan Clark Productions, and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, it is a reboot of the Batman film franchise. The film was directed by Matt Reeves, who wrote the screenplay with Peter Craig. It stars Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne / Batman alongside Zoë Kravitz, Paul Dano, Jeffrey Wright, John Turturro, Peter Sarsgaard, Andy Serkis, and Colin Farrell. The film sees Batman, who has been fighting crime in Gotham City for two years, uncover corruption while pursuing the Riddler (Dano), a serial killer who targets Gotham's elite.
Development began after Ben Affleck was cast as Batman in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) in 2013. Affleck signed on to direct, produce, co-write, and star in The Batman, but had reservations about the project and dropped out. Reeves took over and reworked the story, removing the DCEU connections. He sought to explore Batman's detective side more than previous films, drawing inspiration from the films of Alfred Hitchcock and the New Hollywood era, and comics such as Year One (1987), The Long Halloween (1996–97), and Ego (2000). Pattinson was cast in May 2019, with further casting in late 2019. Filming began in the United Kingdom in January 2020, but was halted in March by the COVID-19 pandemic. It resumed later in the year and concluded in Chicago in March 2021.
Following two pandemic-related delays to its original June 2021 release date, The Batman premiered at the Lincoln Center in Manhattan on March 1, 2022, and was theatrically released worldwide on March 4. The film was a commercial success, and grossed over $770 million against a $185–200 million budget, making it the seventh-highest-grossing film of 2022. It received positive reviews from critics, with praise for the performances, musical score, cinematography, Reeves' direction, editing, visual style, action sequences, and story, although the runtime received some criticism. At the 95th Academy Awards, it received nominations for Best Sound, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, and Best Visual Effects.
The Batman is intended to launch a Batman shared universe, with two sequels planned and two spin-off television series in development for HBO Max. The first sequel, The Batman Part II, is scheduled for release on October 3, 2025.
==Plot==
Around the turn of October and November, Gotham City is holding elections. There are two major candidates for the position of mayor: the current one, Don Mitchell Jr. and Bella Reál. While watching a broadcast of a debate between him and Reál, Mitchell is having a conversation on a phone with one of his advisors. As soon as he hangs up and turns his TV off, the mayor is killed by a mysterious zealot, calling himself The Riddler.
Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne is patrolling the city incognito, searching for his next prey. As Batman, he targets a group of skinheads who try to murder a random citizens. He beats them all up and saves the citizen. Yet the man, instead of showing gratitude, cowers in fear. Before Batman can react to that properly, he witnesses his Batsignal lighting up the night sky. He soon arrives at Don Mitchell Jr's house, where he is welcomed by his old acquaintance, Lieutanant James Gordon, as well as Commissioner Pete Savage. Gordon finds a message from the Riddler to Batman, and gives it to him. Savage, not willing to work with the vigilante on the case, tells the Caped Crusader to leave. Soon, he is killed by the Riddler, and yet another message for Batman is attached.
With the help of his loyal butler Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce deciphers the message. Together with Gordon, they discover a thumb drive in Mitchell's car, which contains photos of the mayor with Annika, a young woman working in the Iceberg Lounge, a night club, who is run by Oswald Cobblepot, the Penguin, one of Carmine Falcone's (Gotham's most powerful mob boss) most trusted lieutanants. Batman enters the club, beats some bouncers up, and finally stops as Cobblepot intervenes. Bruce tries to question him, but gets nothing. Instead, he follows Selina Kyle, one of Iceberg's waitresses and Annika's friend. He sends her back to the Lounge (monitoring her actions through earpieces and a contact lens with a built-in camera) as she questions various powerful people having fun there. It turns out that Savage was on Falcone's payroll, as is district attorney Gil Colson, one of the guests Selina manages to get information from.
Her and Colson part their ways at the exit. Shortly after she leaves in a taxi, the attorney is kidnapped by the Riddler. Next day, Bruce attends Mitchell's funeral, with Reál, Oswald, Falcone and Selina being present as well. Suddenly, a car enters the church where the funeral's being held in and stops, nearly killing some of the mourners. The driver turns out to be Colson, who was forced to do the Riddler's bidding via being threatened with activating a timed bomb collar strapped to his neck. The police clear the place as Bruce dons the armor and tries to get rid of the collar. The Riddler phones him and asks him and Colson questions. The first two are answered quickly, but during the third Colson refuses to tell the name of the informant who enabled the GCPD to bust Salvatore Maroni's drug business. The Riddler detonates the collar and knocks Bruce unconscious. He wakes up at the GCPD precinct, where the new commissioner, Mackenzie Bock, tries to press charges against him for interfering with the investigation. Gordon tells everyone to leave him and Wayne alone. In private they discuss what to do next. Batman agrees to temporarily become a persona non grata. He "hits" Gordon and flees the precinct, using a wingsuit to glide off the building, but ultimately falls and takes some damage.
After recovering, Bruce meets up with Gordon. Thinking Penguin may be the rat who gave away Maroni, they watch him during a drug deal money exchange. They deduce that the bust never actually happened, and there are a lot more GCPD officers involved. Selina suddenly arrives in an attempt to steal the money, giving their presence away. Penguin and the mobsters open fire at the two, as Batman quietly makes his way into his secretly parked Batmobile nearby. He forces Oswald to flee as Selina snatches the money from a corrupt cop named Kenzie and leaves as well. During the chase between Wayne and Cobblepot, Batman flips the latter's car and brings him to Gordon. It turns out he was not the rat.
Later, the two detectives follow the Riddler's trail to an orphanage operated by Bruce's parents, Thomas and Martha. They learn that the Riddler's main target is the Wayne family, as the Renewal Fund created by Thomas to help the poor of Gotham was instead used somewhere else. When Bruce arrives back home, he learns a bomb sent by the Riddler, supposed to kill him, maimed Alfred instead. Shortly afterwards the Riddler reveals on the TV that Thomas Wayne had Carmine Falcone kill a journalist, who was planning to spread information about Martha Wayne's mental illness and her mother's murder of her father. In a hospital, Bruce asks Alfred about all this, and though the butler confirms that Thomas didn't want the truth to be revealed, he immediately turned to the police after learning of the assassination, which in turned led to his and Martha's deaths.
During his subsequent meeting with Selina, Batman learns she stole the money due to Falcone being her father. She needed something for all those years of being neglected and uncared for. The Dark Knight agrees to help her get back at Falcone as long as she finds Kenzie, the corrupt cop. Batman, Selina and Gordon interrogate Kenzie, who tells them about the Renewal being burglarized and eaten away by the corrupt elites and the Maroni bust being essentially Falcone's rise to power as the true ruler of Gotham. Selina also shows a recording from Kenzie's phone which reveals that Falcone killed Annika after she heard from Mitchell he was the rat. Blinded with her desire for vengeance, Selina travels to Iceberg Lounge in an attempt to execute Falcone. Bruce follows her and manages to prevent her from killing the mobster, calming her down afterwards. Then he apprehends the gangster, who is shocked to see that the GCPD isn't wholly corrupt. They try to take him into custody, but all of a sudden the Riddler shoots him dead from a nearby building. The police capture him in a nearby cafeteria and learn that his true identity is Edward Nashton, a forensics accountant.
Nashton is put in the Arkham State Hospital. When visited by Batman, he mistakenly thinks that the vigilante has been his accomplice the whole time, and that they did great in uncovering the city's true face. When Batman denies any desire to have ever worked with him, the Riddler flies into a rage and breaks down, but lightens up when he realizes the Caped Crusader doesn't know what his final step is, which in turn makes Bruce mad, but he's unable to extract any information from Edward.
As suggested by one of the cops, Martinez, Batman uses Nashton's carpet cutting tool to unravel the Riddler's plan's final stage - breaking the Sea Wall and flooding Gotham. The flood soon begins, and the citizens start gathering in an indoor arena. It turns out the Riddler has formed an army of terrorists, all dressed just like him. They try to assassinate mayor elect Reál, but Bruce intervenes in time and thwarts their plans. Then he lights up the flare and leads the survivors into safety.
As the National Guard arrives, Wayne is still helping rescue the surviving citizens. He now knows he must inspire hope, and not vengeance. However, Selina does not share his enthusiasm and leaves for Bludhaven instead.
==Cast==
* Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne / Batman:
A reclusive billionaire who protects Gotham City as a masked vigilante. Batman is around 30 years old and is not yet an experienced crime fighter, as director Matt Reeves wanted to explore the character before he becomes "fully formed". Reeves and Pattinson described Batman as an insomniac who cannot delineate between the Batman persona and his "recluse rockstar" public identity as Wayne. Pattinson said the film would question the nature of heroism, as Batman is more flawed than traditional superheroes and unable to control himself, seeking to work out his rage and "inflect his kind of justice".
*Zoë Kravitz as Selina Kyle / Catwoman
A nightclub worker and cat burglar who meets Batman while searching for her missing friend. Kravitz said Catwoman is becoming a femme fatale and "figuring out who she is, beyond just someone trying to survive." She described Catwoman as a mysterious character with unclear motivations, who represents femininity in contrast to Batman's masculinity. She said the pair are "partner[s] in crime", drawn together by their desire to fight for vulnerable people. Kravitz focused more on Kyle than her Catwoman persona because she did not want to distract from the character's emotional journey.
*Paul Dano as Edward Nashton / Riddler
A serial killer who targets elite Gotham citizens and livestreams his crimes. The Riddler seeks to "unmask the truth" about" Gotham, and taunts Batman (whose identity he has deduced) and law enforcement with riddles. Reeves likened the Riddler to the Zodiac Killer, who he felt was the "real-life" Riddler for his practice of communicating with ciphers and riddles, while Dano said his performance balanced the real-life basis with the Batman franchise's theatricality.
*Jeffrey Wright as James Gordon
An ally of Batman in the Gotham City Police Department (GCPD). Similar to Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Trilogy (2005–2012), Gordon begins as the GCPD lieutenant in The Batman, allowing his progression to commissioner to be depicted in subsequent films. Wright described Gordon as "relative to Gotham City, to the Gotham City Police Department, to Batman, to justice and to corruption".
* John Turturro as Carmine Falcone: A Gotham City crime lord.
* Peter Sarsgaard as Gil Colson: Gotham's district attorney.
*Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth: Batman's butler and mentor. Pattinson described Pennyworth as Wayne's only confidant, even though Pennyworth "thinks he's gone insane!"
* Colin Farrell as Oswald "Oz" Cobblepot / Penguin:
A disfigured, rising crime lord. Cobblepot is not yet the crime kingpin he is depicted as in the comics, and dislikes being referred to as the Penguin. Reeves explained that Cobblepot is a "mid-level mobster guy and he's got a bit of showmanship to him, but you can see that he wants more and that he's been underestimated."
Additionally, Jayme Lawson portrays Bella Reál, a mayoral candidate for Gotham City; Barry Keoghan portrays Stanley Merkel, a GCPD officer; Alex Ferns portrays Commissioner Pete Savage; and Rupert Penry-Jones portrays Don Mitchell Jr., Gotham's mayor. Gil Perez-Abraham, twins Charlie and Max Carver, and Con O'Neill have been cast in undisclosed roles.
== Production ==
The Batman officially wrapped production on March 13, 2021."‘The Batman’ Has Officially Wrapped Production", The Hollywood Reporter, March 13, 2021 (link obtained through MSN Entertainment)
=== Marketing ===
On February 13, 2020, Reeves released "moody, red-saturated" test footage revealing Pattinson in his Batman costume and Giacchino's theme. The one-minute video generated a great deal of speculation and discussion of what approach the film would take in depicting Batman's world. Chris Evangelista of /Film thought Pattinson "looks much different than any onscreen Batman we’ve seen before", while Richard Newby of The Hollywood Reporter identified the Batsuit's various references to previous incarnations. Newby also noted that the bat emblem on the costume's chest bore a resemblance to a pistol, and wondered if it was the pistol used to kill Batman's parents in his origin story. The use of the color red also led to discussion of how The Batman would differ tonally from previous Batman adaptations. On March 4, 2020, Reeves released an image of the film's Batmobile. Dino-Ray Ramos of Deadline Hollywood opined that it "seems sexier and more streamlined than Batmobiles from the past" and "gives off some serious James Bond-meets-Fast and Furious energy and seems right on point for Pattinson."
== Release ==
The Batman is scheduled to be released by Warner Bros. Pictures in the United States on March 4, 2022, and will be available to stream on HBO Max 45 days later. It was originally set for release on June 25, 2021, before it was pushed back to October 1, 2021, and then to the March 2022 date, both times after Warner Bros. adjusted its release schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
== Reception ==
On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, The Batman holds an approval rating of 85% based on 508 reviews, with an average rating of 7.7/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "A grim, gritty, and gripping super-noir, The Batman ranks among the Dark Knight's bleakest – and most thrillingly ambitious – live-action outings." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 72 out of 100, based on 68 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave it an 87% positive score (with an average 4.5 out of 5 stars), with 71% saying they would definitely recommend it.
== Thematic analysis ==
=== Class conflict and inequality ===
Class conflict is a central concept featured in The Batman, with Marco Vito Oddo of Collider asserting that the main theme is social inequality. Three of the primary characters — Batman, the Riddler, and Catwoman — are orphans from different economic backgrounds. Whereas Batman grew up in privilege, the Riddler only knew torment, while Catwoman experienced hardship. The Riddler's frustration with his upbringing leads to him lashing out against the wealthy, reflecting that criminality is born from desperation. JM Mutore of The A.V. Club and Susana Polo of Polygon said the Riddler falls into "the trap of villains who are right", opining that he is correct to expose corruption that has harmed the unfortunate. Chrishaun Baker of Inverse added that the film never frames the Riddler's frustration as wrong, though Brandon Zachary of Comic Book Resources argued that the Riddler is "inherently wrong" to think that change can be achieved through violence even if his motivations are understandable.
Zachary wrote that Batman, Catwoman, and the Riddler's upbringings give each character a different worldview: Batman's is narrow and binary, the Riddler adopts a "bitter and cruel" method to fight corruption that harms innocents, and Catwoman acknowledges the corrupting power of wealth but only becomes violent when her friends are harmed. The film draws parallels between the three characters, reflecting a popular notion that Batman is similar to his adversaries. Adam Nayman of The Ringer felt the film highlighted the themes of duality between Batman and his foes, and opined that Batman and the Riddler feel like "secret siblings" rather than "two different case studies in forlorn orphan psychology". Catwoman and the Riddler make Batman realize that poverty and inequality are the roots of Gotham's troubles, and inspire him to become an agent of hope and use his wealth to prevent social inequality. Baker wrote that the film ends with Batman realizing he "has to fight for the will of the people, amongst the people, against the very same institutions that make hollow promises to protect them".
=== Depiction of Batman ===
Baker said that previous Batman films tend to reflect right-wing themes, with Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan's adaptations respectively featuring libertarian and "vaguely authoritarian" depictions of Batman. The Batman departs by questioning Batman's ethics and focusing on his material wealth. The film highlights that Batman's wealth does not alleviate his suffering and explores the idea that he should be more philanthropic; initially, Batman does not realize he is taking his wealth for granted and could be using it to help Gotham. Mutore felt The Batman was more direct in addressing the issue than previous Batman films, but "circumvents this argument" by portraying Thomas Wayne's attempt at philanthropy as only leading to corruption, while Baker felt the film directly addresses the issue by having progressive mayoral candidate Bella Réal confront Bruce about his wealth. Conversely, Nayman argued the film does not focus on his class as much as previous films did, as he is depicted as a recluse in the film.
The Batman also explores grief, trauma, and the "horror" of living with post-traumatic stress disorder through Batman. Batman's initial antagonism towards Alfred and apathy towards Catwoman's situation stems from the death of his parents and his inability to communicate with people due to his fear of suffering more emotional pain. His obsession with solving the Riddler case is a method of coping with the trauma of losing his parents, while his obsession with being Batman is the result of channeling his rage into what Marcus Shorter of Bloody Disgusting called a "dogmatic dedication to his chosen crimefighting craft". The film ends with Batman realizing that he must process his trauma to help improve Gotham.
Batman's relationship with the police differs from previous Batman films. Burton's films depict the police as an incompetent force that Batman supersedes and Nolan's depict them bending the law to assist Batman. The Batman shows Batman having a hostile relationship with Gotham police, who see him as a criminal. Baker said that "[e]very time Batman interacts with the police, there's a palpable sense of discomfort; to them, Batman represents a level of oversight that they're not used to having to contend with." Baker called this "timely" given the contemporary American sociopolitical context including increased awareness of police brutality.
== Future ==
=== Sequels ===
The Batman is intended to be the first of a new Batman film trilogy and establish a Batman-focused shared universe separate from the DCEU. Key cast members had signed on for future films by November 2019. In December 2021, Pattinson said he had ideas for developing Batman's character in further films, while Clark said The Batman would lay a foundation for future films to build upon. Pattinson and Reeves expressed interest in introducing Robin and featuring the Court of Owls, Calendar Man, Mr. Freeze, or Hush as villains in a sequel, while Nicolas Cage expressed interest in portraying Egghead in a future film. A sequel was announced at CinemaCon in April 2022, with Pattinson and Reeves set to return. In August 2022, Mattson Tomlin was confirmed to be co-writing the sequel script with Reeves. The first sequel was revealed to be titled The Batman Part II in January 2023, and is scheduled to be released on October 3, 2025.
=== Spin-off series ===
==== Untitled GCPD series ====
In July 2020, HBO Max gave a series commitment to a police procedural television series centered on the Gotham City Police Department (GCPD), with Terence Winter set to write and serve as showrunner. Reeves, Winter, Clark, Daniel Pipski, and Adam Kassan were executive producing the series. In August, Reeves said the series would be a prequel to The Batman, taking place during the first year of Batman's career and focusing on the corruption in Gotham and the GCPD. He said the series would be told from the perspective of one particular crooked cop, with the story being a "battle for his soul", taking inspiration from Prince of the City (1981).
In November 2020, Winter left the project due to creative differences, and Joe Barton was hired to replace him in January 2021. HBO still had creative issues with the project, especially with its protagonist being a corrupt cop, and they encouraged Reeves to focus on existing comics characters instead. In March 2022, Reeves said the series was on an indefinite hold, though he hoped to revisit the premise in the future. Wright revealed there had been discussions about him appearing in the series but he did not entertain the idea before the film's release. Variety later reported in October that the show was still in development.
==== The Penguin ====
By September 2021, HBO Max was developing a spin-off series focused on the Penguin. Lauren LeFranc was hired as showrunner, with Reeves and Clark serving as executive producers. Farrell signed on to reprise his role and executive produce in December. Reeves compared the series to The Long Good Friday (1980) and Scarface (1983), charting Penguin's rise to power in Gotham's criminal underworld following the events of the film. The spin-off was the furthest along in development by March 2022, and Reeves said it would come before a sequel to The Batman. HBO Max ordered The Penguin as a limited series that month. In October, Craig Zobel was hired to direct the first two episodes of the series and to serve as an executive producer. The series totals approximately six-to-eight hours of content and is set one week following the events of The Batman.
==== Untitled Arkham series ====
When revealing that the GCPD spin-off series was not moving forward in March 2022, Reeves explained that it had led to work on a new idea based on Arkham State Hospital. He said the series would build upon Arkham's introduction in the film and explore the origins of different characters related to it. He envisioned a horror tone, with Arkham being depicted as a haunted house. That October, Antonio Campos was hired as a showrunner for the series, in addition to serving as director and an executive producer.
=== Other potential projects ===
In October 2022, The Hollywood Reporter stated that Reeves was meeting with writers and directors regarding additional films and television series centered around Batman's rogues gallery. Various projects focusing on Scarecrow, Clayface, and Professor Pyg are in early stages of development.
== Videos ==
The Batman - DC FanDome Teaser
THE BATMAN - Main Trailer
== External Link==
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==References==
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