Matt Reeves’ The Batman is a movie that I am both incredibly excited for and one that I have a lot riding on. I’ve been waiting for a gritty movie about Batman that both embraces the absurd nature of his villains while putting his detective skills at the forefront—and every trailer we’ve gotten for the film has seemed to be right on board with that. But this latest trailer also gave specific fans something to love and look forward to: Bat/Cat.
The relationship between Selina Kyle and Bruce Wayne is one that comic and movie fans flock to, and getting to see them on screen in any capacity is a delight. But it does seem as if the latest trailer for The Batman is giving us a Batman and a Catwoman who are absolutely infatuated with each other and thank god for my Bat/Cat loving heart. It’s about time my Bruce/Selina self had some good news. It’s been a year.
Why we’re excited
I, personally, have not felt like we’ve ever really gotten detective Bruce Wayne on the big screen. Sure, he’s solved some crime and he’s done some detective work, but he’s labeled as the World’s Greatest Detective and I’ve yet to see a real detective story for the Bat play out. While the Christopher Nolan movies got close, he was doing the work too much with Alfred Pennyworth (which I loved) and it wasn’t the Batman story I was looking for. This film? That’s the kind of Batman story I want to see.
The reason that many of our modern superhero adaptations are “darker” in some form or another could be attributed back to Batman. He’s dark and twisted, but he tries to fight for justice with a dignity that keeps him away from guns and killing people. Granted, he does pack a mean punch, but his intention is not to kill and that’s what makes him interesting as just a dedicated man trying to fight alongside the likes of Superman and Wonder Woman. (Sure, it helps that he’s a billionaire in terms of cool tech to use, but there are limits to what he can do, which always raises the stakes.)
For the most part, there haven’t been that many Batman movies that I stand completely in awe of. I love the Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher movies for the campy comic book adaptations that they are and I loved Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne most of all. Christian Bale is a good Batman, but the Christopher Nolan movies are so rooted in “reality” that you lose the absurdity of some of Batman’s Rogues Gallery. While Batman might be a jaded vigilante, he’s also got some incredibly colorful characters in his universe, and sometimes they shine the most by being over-the-top.
I did like BatFleck (Ben Affleck’s Batman) better by the time we got the Snyder Cut of Justice League, he still doesn’t rank that high for me (he does give me gray temples Batman which is my favorite aesthetic, though). And with Affleck seemingly done donning the cowl, it seems a perfect time for a new Batman to rise.
So heading into The Batman with a brooding young Bruce Wayne in the midst of his detective era, a host of scenery-chomping villains, and a heated romance? That’s exactly what I want out of Matt Reeves’ The Batman and that seems to be exactly what I am getting.
(image: Warner Bros.)
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