The Batman trailer revealed at DC FanDome last month gave us much to chew on, as it was our first look at the upcoming reboot of the Dark Knight’s mythos. We got our first glimpses of Zoe Kravitz’s Catwoman, Colin Farrell’s Penguin, Paul Dano’s Riddler and, of course, Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne. Much of the plot is still being kept under wraps, unfortunately, but a sly easter egg hidden in the teaser may have revealed the movie’s main villains: the Court of Owls.
You can catch the trailer in the player above and if you pause the video at the 0:42 mark, you’ll catch a glimpse of the greeting card that Riddler addresses to Batman. While the coded contents of the card are what’s meant to grab our attention, the fact that there’s an owl on its cover could be a big clue as to the twists and turns of the film. Will The Batman see the hero uncover the secret society that runs Gotham City from behind the scenes?
ScreenRant has put this theory forward, and it actually holds a lot of water. From the trailer, we can tell that the Riddler is trying to expose some giant conspiracy and appears to be killing members of Gotham’s high society. In the comics, the Court is made up of the city’s wealthy and powerful and it’s possible that the genius criminal has uncovered their existence and, with this card, is trying to point the Caped Crusader in the right direction, too.
Director Matt Reeves has spoken a lot about how The Batman will focus on the deep-set corruption of Gotham. Given the presence of John Turturro’s Carmine Falcone, we assumed he was referring to the crime gangs that vie for control of the city. However, the corruption could go even further than that, all the way up to the Court of Owls, a society that has been around since Gotham’s beginnings and has ties to the Wayne family.
The Batman is due to swoop into cinemas on October 1st, 2021. In the meantime, let us know if you think this theory could be onto something in the comments.