For moviegoers who don’t pay close attention to trailers or TV spots, let alone development and casting news, a distinctive enough poster can entice them to check out a certain movie. In the months leading up to The Dark Knight’s release in the summer of 2008, some of its posters stood out by covering the original designs with graffiti from Heath Ledger’s Joker, which included scrawling the phrase “Why so serious?” Well, some new posters for Matt Reeves’ The Batman have arrived, and they’re giving off those same kind of “serious” vibes.
However, instead of the graffiti being used for ridicule and mockery as was the case with The Dark Knight, it’s repeating a specific phrase tied to The Batman’s main villain, The Riddler. You can see what I mean by looking at the below poster of Robert Pattinson’s Caped Crusader.
The last time we saw Batman fighting Riddler in a live-action movie was Batman Forever, with Jim Carrey playing the latter role. Well, instead of being a goofball criminal mastermind like in 1995, Paul Dano’s Riddler in The Batman is a Zodiac Killer-inspired antagonist who’s targeting Gotham City’s elite citizens in his efforts to expose corruption. In other words, his ultimate goal is to “unmask the truth,” and the riddles serve as an unnerving way for him to taunt Batman and the GCPD.
Although The Batman won’t rehash Bruce Wayne’s origin story, it will be set in his second year of crimefighting, meaning he’s still getting the hang of keeping Gotham City safe. Luckily, Batman won’t be alone in battling Riddler, his most dangerous opponent yet. He’ll be aided by Zoë Kravitz’s Selina Kyle, a.k.a. Catwoman, a nightclub worker and cat burglar whose interests end up aligning with her hometown’s masked vigilante.
Finally, although Riddler is The Batman’s main villain, he won’t be the only member of the Dark Knight’s rogues gallery causing trouble in the movie. Colin Farrell’s Godfather-inspired Oswald Cobblepot, a.k.a. The Penguin, will also appear, although it remains to be seen if he’ll be allied with Riddler in any way or if Paul Dano’s character will target him too.
With a little over a month to go until The Batman’s release, these posters certainly do their job of teasing Matt Reeves’ entry in the DC movies canon as something special. The main cast also includes Jeffrey Wright as James Gordon, Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth, John Turturro as Carmine Falcone, Peter Sarsgaard as Gil Colson, Jayme Lawson as Bella Reál and Barry Keoghan as Officer Stanley Merkel. In addition to his directing duties, Matt Reeves also co-wrote the script with Peter Craig. Along with it being likely that The Batman will get a sequel, if not a trilogy (though to be clear, such projects haven’t been greenlit yet), there are also shows centered on the GCPD and The Penguin in development for HBO Max to expand this corner of the DC multiverse.
You can see how The Batman turned out when it arrives in theaters on March 4. Until then, keep checking back with CinemaBlend for more news about this blockbuster and other upcoming movies.
