The Batman fans are discovering a treat on Google one week ahead of the film’s release to theaters.
On Friday, Reddit user u/frodenhefnf posted to the r/DC_Cinematic subreddit that when you search the word “Gotham” in Google, the Bat-Signal appears on your screen.
A small, rotating animation of the actual supercharged spotlight appears next to the word of the search result. We were able to confirm the Easter egg for ourselves and discovered that when you click on the light, the shadow that it creates appears on the screen, followed by an animation of the silhouette of the Dark Knight himself using a grappling hook to propel himself to his next crime-fighting adventure.
It’s a neat little nod to the Caped Crusader that we love to see and gets us pumped for the Matt Reeves-directed The Batman, which has a runtime of almost three hours and features Robert Pattinson as the billionaire heir-turned-vigilante in almost every scene.
A brand new, self-contained universe taking place in Gotham City is also a welcome return to cinema screens, considering a proper live-action solo Batman film hasn’t graced theaters for about a decade, with Christopher Nolan’s 2012 effort The Dark Knight Rises.
After Christian Bale hung up his cape, Ben Affleck was the next actor to don the cowl. And while he did a great job in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Zach Snyder’s Justice League, he unfortunately never got a chance to shine in a solo film.
Returning to a more grounded and realistic interpretation of Gotham is a welcome change of pace that we’re looking forward to seeing.
The Batman comes to theaters March 4.
