The Batman Will Take Place During Bruce Wayne’s Second Year

Test footage providing our first look at Robert Pattinson outfitted as the Bat of Gotham has hit Vimeo, revealing the latest version of the vigilante’s iconic insignia in a tactically-functional suit that the world’s greatest detective will apparently wear in his sophomore year as the Caped Crusader.

The 55-second teaser also features the music of self-styled “nerd composer” Michael Giacchino, who has previously collaborated with The Batman director Matt Reeves on both Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and War for the Planet of the Apes, as well as producing scores for several Marvel Studios projects including Doctor Strange, Spider-Man: Homecoming, and Spider-Man: Far From Home.

Yes folks that’s my music in the video Matt just sent out. Enjoy!! https://t.co/IW5LNroojL

— Michael Giacchino (@m_giacchino) February 13, 2020

The promo has ignited fresh excitement for the forthcoming Dark Knight story that Reeves has described as “defining” and “very personal,” and sources close to the project have indicated that the film will focus on Bruce Wayne’s second year as Gotham City’s resident protector, unlike Frank Miller’s “Batman: Year One” storyline that spanned issues #404-407 of the Batman comic in the winter of 1987 or the 2005 opening chapter to Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, Batman Begins, which starred Christian Bale as the titular hero.

Pattison will be joined by Zoë Kravitz as Selina “Catwoman” Kyle, Paul Dano as Edward “The Riddler” Nashton, Colin Farrell as Oswald “The Penguin” Cobblepot, John Turturro as Carmine Falcone and Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth. The film will also feature Jeffrey Wright as Commissioner Jim Gordon, which means that, like last year’s Academy Award winning Joker, it will not take place in the DC Extended Universe, as Gordon was previously played in that franchise by J.K. Simmons in 2017’s Justice League.

Though no plot details have been rumored as yet, there is substantial precedent in print to draw from. DC Comics published a “Batman: Year Two” storyline, written by Mike W. Barr and drawn by Alan Davis, that spanned issues #574-578 of Detective Comics in the spring of 1987 and involved Batman facing the vicious Reaper.

In that story, he wound up confronting the villain using the same pistol that Joe Chill had used to murder Martha and Thomas Wayne, and some eagle-eyed viewers have already theorized that the symbol on Pattinson’s suit looks to be constructed from pieces of the grip of a handgun. And more recently, Tom King’s “War of Jokes and Riddles,” spanning issues #25-32 of Batman in 2017, included a city-wide battle between the Joker and the Riddler during Batman’s second year.

Whatever form its story ultimately takes, we’ll eventually get all the details when The Batman premieres on June 25th, 2021.