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The Batman: Watch the dark, brutal new trailer featuring Robert Pattinson

DC set the internet on fire with the first big look at his cast, including Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman.

Bonnie Burton
Journalist Bonnie Burton writes about movies, TV shows, comics, science and robots. She is the author of the books Live or Die: Survival Hacks, Wizarding World: Movie Magic Amazing Artifacts, The Star Wars Craft Book, Girls Against Girls, Draw Star Wars, Planets in Peril and more! E-mail Bonnie.
Jennifer Bisset Former Senior Editor / Culture
Jennifer Bisset was a senior editor for CNET. She covered film and TV news and reviews. The movie that inspired her to want a career in film is Lost in Translation. She won Best New Journalist in 2019 at the Australian IT Journalism Awards.
Expertise Film and TV Credentials
  • Best New Journalist 2019 Australian IT Journalism Awards
Bonnie Burton
Jennifer Bisset
2 min read
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Robert Pattinson looks like he's seen some things in The Batman.

Warner Bros. Pictures

DC FanDome featured big names over the weekend, including Robert Pattinson and director Matt Reeves at The Batman panel. They delivered massively, showing The Batman's first major trailer for the DC Comics movie slated for the end of 2021.

The new DC FanDome footage is dark, brutal and, yep, mysterious. We see in one scene that Pattinson's Dark Knight will bring a violent, unrelenting fighting style. Trying to figure out his role in battling the evil of Gotham, he's unsure how he fits into helping Gotham PD.

"We will see Batman grow, make mistakes ... and be flawed," Reeves said during the panel. "We also get to see him being the world's greatest detective."

We also snatched glimpses of Zoe Kravitz playing Catwoman, John Turturro as Gotham mob boss Carmine Falcone, Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth (well, we hear his voice), Paul Dano as Riddler and Jeffrey Wright as Commissioner Gordon

The cast also includes Colin Farrell as Penguin (a complete transformation it turns out we briefly see in the trailer), Peter Sarsgaard as Gotham district attorney Gil Colson and Jayme Lawson as Gotham mayoral candidate Bella Reál.

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Batman's control center doesn't look like the sophisticated Batcave fans might be used to. 

Warner Bros. Pictures

Reeves said all the villains are just starting out, so we'll see Catwoman, Penguin and Riddler in the early stages of their criminal endeavors. 

Plot-wise, the trailer hints Batman will hunt a shadowy killer, following the noir-influenced The Long Halloween comic book storyline that sees Falcone hiring the Rogues Gallery of Batman villains, including Catwoman and Penguin, to take him down.

We'll also find Batman in his early years -- Year Two, to be exact. It's worth noting that the movie will not take place on the same Earth as other DC movies like Justice League, Wonder Woman and Aquaman.

Reeves, best known for The Planet of the Apes movies, dropped a screen test of Pattinson rocking the cape earlier this year.

In the panel, Reeves also briefly talked about the upcoming HBO Max spinoff series that centers on Year One when Gotham's police department is embedded with corruption. The series will be from the point of view from a cop grappling with right and wrong, while trying to save his own soul.

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