Matt Reeves’ The Batman has had a long and painful road to theaters. First came post-Justice League woes as the project was retooled from Ben Affleck’s Batman to Robert Pattinson’s. Then the moment production was in full swing, the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Warner Bros. slammed on the brakes and, after multiple delays, it was eventually confirmed that the pic will premiere in March 2022.
But fans are keeping a Bat-Signal lit and though official images have been thin on the ground since the first trailer landed, we now have a tiny piece of new material. This comes courtesy of leaked promo art for the Hot Wheels Batmobile, which showcases the flame-spewing muscle car used in the movie as well as showing off a fresh look at Robert Pattinson’s Dark Knight, as you can see below.
Though we don’t know too much about the plot just yet, it’s clear that there’ll be a focus on vehicular action. One of the debut pics of this Batman showed him working on the Batmobile and we’ve seen many images from the location shoot indicating a big motorcycle chase scene. These have featured Bats, Catwoman, and the Penguin each atop their own rides, so expect some seriously cool chases throughout the movie.
Now that filming has concluded, The Batman will be heading into intensive post-production in advance of its release next year. Even so, it’s now obvious that Pattinson is going to have to share the cape. Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck are both returning in The Flash and as exploring the multiverse seems to be the sexy new thing in comic book movies, I suspect it won’t be long until this version of Gotham City crosses over with another.
In the meantime, let’s hope we get more of a substantial peek at The Batman before the hype machine kicks into gear later this year.
