The Batman Official Synopsis Calls Bruce Wayne A 'Disillusioned, Desperate Vigilante'
Imagine life as Batman. You're Bruce Wayne: wracked by PTSD, trying to do the right thing and clean up your city of rampant crime and corruption, flying around looking all cool and stuff in the middle of the night, and bam! You're suddenly condemned to a controversial public image where people sling around hurtful words like "disillusioned, desperate vigilante" at you all the time.
On second thought, some of this is probably a little self-inflicted. Fresh off last month's trailer reveal and the striking posters timed for the DC FanDome event, Warner Bros. has released a new and updated synopsis for "The Batman." Intuitive fans could discern quite a lot about the movie from the most recent footage, but a little extra plot description can't hurt to set the tone of what fans can expect out of this newest iteration of the Caped Crusader. Just make sure you don't repeat it around Batman himself. The poor fella tends to get a little sad and mopey sometimes.
Why So Serious?
As the crown jewel of DC superheroes (at least in terms of the big screen), every "Batman" movie seems to come with all sorts of demands and expectations about what it brings to the table that we haven't already seen before. Christopher Nolan famously revamped the franchise and brought it into a much more serious-minded light. Zack Snyder took the deconstructionist route, using Frank Miller's dark comics as inspiration to controversially push the character much farther into darkness than ever depicted for general audiences before. So what can Matt Reeves do that the last two major reboots haven't already covered? Check out the new synopsis (via Comic Book) and see for yourself.
The Batman is an edgy, action-packed thriller that depicts Batman in his early years, struggling to balance rage with righteousness as he investigates a disturbing mystery that has terrorized Gotham. Robert Pattinson delivers a raw, intense portrayal of Batman as a disillusioned, desperate vigilante awakened by the realization that the anger consuming him makes him no better than the ruthless serial killer he's hunting.
Yeah, yeah, I get it. Some fans will roll their eyes at this and claim that once you've heard one "Batman" synopsis, then you've likely heard all of them. It's true that the above plot description is just about what you'd expect from a modern and grounded take on the classic superhero, but the devil's in the details, folks! Even before this new information, I've been intrigued by how "The Batman" appears to blend the familiar Nolan aesthetic with a more heightened tone that reminds audiences that they are, in fact, watching a comic book movie. Now, this new description seems to confirm my inklings from the trailer that Robert Pattinson's Bruce Wayne is not as buttoned-up and in control as previous versions. He's a rookie (well, a sophomore at least) who doesn't quite understand just yet how his methods must differ from the criminals in his path. It's just different enough from Christian Bale's and Ben Affleck's versions to justify Pattinson's casting and, personally, I'm here for it.
"The Batman" flies into theaters on March 4, 2022.