This episode we’re breaking down all of the leaked images for the upcoming 2021 film: The Batman.
The photos which dropped earlier this week confirm some big fan theories, give us our first look at Robert Pattinson and the time setting for the movie.
We’re gonna be discussing everything that you need to know about them and giving our thoughts about how they leave the door open to tie into the larger DCEU.
Obviously there will be heavy spoilers here so if you don’t want anything potentially ruined about the movie then I highly suggest that you turn off now.
With that out the way I just wanna give a huge thank you for clicking this video, now let’s get into our breakdown of all of the leaked Batman images.
Blimp And Funeral Photo
Ok so the first photos that leaked online for The Batman 2021 actually happened over the Christmas and New Year holidays and they give off a lot about the general aesthetic of the film.
The images that were posted on the 30th of December showcase a Cathedral set being built as well as a number of blimps floating around it.
This is important for a number of reasons, firstly The Cathedral itself indicates that there will be a big funeral scene in the film.
No points for guessing who’s that is.
We do know that this film will be a reinvention of The Dark Knight from the recent portrayal by Ben Affleck in Batman V Superman and Justice League and therefore it makes sense to showcase his origin story in some way.
The Wayne’s Funeral
Though we all know the batman origin story as it’s been done to death, like the Waynes, we’ve never actually seen the characters funerals on screen. This leaves a wealth of possibilities open for character appearances that I haven’t really seen anyone talking about.
You have to understand that the death of the Waynes would have brought many people together for this occasion and thus it is possible that some of the big names from the underworld could be in attendance. This could include a number of big and notable criminals such as Carmine Falcone who has been cast as John Turturro.
Falcone is a big player in the graphic novel The Long Halloween which the movie is reportedly based upon so I believe that this event will showcase his ties with the Waynes which we discover in the book and also perhaps introduce his henchmen, potentially the Penguin and many more. The funeral will provide an amazing place to set up the key players in the city and I think it’s an inspired choice to finally show this on screen.
The Blimps
Outside of the set we can also see that it’s surrounded by Blimps, shoutouts the 90s kids that remember blimps.
In case you don’t they were a huge aesthetic to the Gotham Skyline in the Batman Animated Series from the 90s. They added an almost timeless feel to the work at the time and it’s clear that Matt Reeves is apeing them in some ways.
In addition to this, the set shows that it’s been painted black throughout, perhaps teasing that this could be a nighttime setting or even a way to darken the environment. The animators for the animated series themselves used to draw on black paper rather than white as this darkened the colours and this could perhaps be a way to mirror that stylistically.
Or it could just be to block out light from outside, I dunno.
Anyway, I have seen some people complain that the blimps are a bit low budget looking but often in movie production, place holders are put onto sets so that actors have something to bounce off of. They also allow visual effects artists to understand positioning and lighting so it is possible that they could be polished up one the film has wrapped and it’s moved onto the next stage of production.
Gotham News Vans
The photos that followed after that were taken by twitter user 100Jordanlee and they actually confirm a lot of things about the film including it’s time setting and a possible crime scene.
Initially, they seem rather Blaise, just showing news vans and police cars but due to some tiny details, they actually confirm a lot of things about the film.
Firstly the news vehicles have HD written on the side of them so all of the theories that the movie will be set in the 90s are now out the window. However, News Stations haven’t really bragged about filming in HD for at least ten years now so this confirms that the film will be set in the early to mid-2000s.
The fact that the Gotham Police Department are also riding round in old Crown Victorias shows the difference between funding for the police services and the media. Clearly Gotham PD isn’t really getting the money that they should be and this could also explain why crime and corruption is so high.
In order to require a Batman, the city needs to have a reason for his existence and this does hint that the police simply aren’t equipped to deal with the darker side of the city.
There is someone who looks like they could be The Commissioner so this might cement that Gordon is still a Captain or lower ranking officer that similar to the Dark Knight must work his way up.
Jeffrey Right has himself confirmed that he will be in the movie so it looks like he will be taking on the role of Commissioner Gordon as we reported last year.
There’s also an easter egg to Gotham Action News which was a station in the 1989 film Batman, directed by Tim Burton so it’s nice that Reeves is once more paying homage to the visions that came before.
The Penguin
Not long after these photos were posted, twitter user WadeGrav dropped some images that they had taken from outside of their office that looks like what appears to be The Penguin.
The penguin is of course known for his signature collection of weaponized umbrellas so this definitely fits the character…though it could just be Rihanna…I’m sorry that joke was terrible.
Anyway, the internet correctly guessed that this was Colin Farrel and director Matt Reeves confirmed this on Twitter this morning by posting a gif of the actor with the caption ‘Wait – is that you Oz’ and a bat symbol after it.
Looks-wise it seems like the design team is mirroring the design of Emperor Penguin from the comic books and though this was not Oswald Cobblepot, it looks like they’ve made some creative leaps. The penguin has never looked like this on screen before but personally I’m really liking it.
This comes off the back of talks with Jonah Hill coming to an end after he wanted ten million dollars for the role. This is double what Robert Pattinson wanted and I’m glad that they’ve filled the characters shoes with someone that I think will deliver better than Hill ever could.
I did see a couple of people say that a Batman villain getting paid more than Batman himself is crazy but yeah do your research, the Villains on the whole always tend to get paid more than the actor playing Batman does…but yeah Hill isn’t of the same caliber as Jack Nicholson, Jim Carrey and Arnie in the 90’s anyway…
Just my opinion but I think Farell is far more sinister than Hill is.
Robert Pattinson
The photos that followed this then showed our first look at Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne. Heavily masked and hidden he is sat on a bike, observing what could potentially be this crime scene that has brought the police, news van and Penguin together.
There was also a helmet photo posted later that, if you notice the different pants was actually a stunt man so we could get some moments where Bruce speeds away on his bike.
Either way, he is observing the scene closely and the costume actually has a lot of similarities to the Batman Zero Year graphic novel in which the character appeared on top of a bike, backpack and all.
Not to say they’re taking directly from this but I do think that there are some similarities that will be more apparent when we see how the framing is shot from the same sort of angles as the panel.
The Scene Itself
Bringing all these images together you actually have a lot of added subtext to the film. There are theories floating about that the Penguin will be the mayor of Gotham City as he was in Batman Earth One and it makes sense for him to be at this location of what is clearly a big crime scene. Whether he caused it or is just observing it we don’t know but there’s a lot going on here.
It also shows that crime is high in the city and that Bruce has noticed this and has begun studying the ins and outs of Gotham’s underbelly.
Batsuit
Now before we get into the fan theories I just wanna shut down a photo that was posted recently by We Got This Covered that claimed to be showing the design of The Batsuit.
This was actually revealed to be an FX Prop so yeah, just incase you think we’ve seen the first Batsuit image, we haven’t but I can imagine it coming out in the next couple of weeks as I’m sure DC will want our first look to be a good image rather than one taken by someone on a street corner.
Fan Theories
So weighing up the time setting, I actually think that this is being set up to not only tie into the recent Joker film but also it’s been made as a way to leave the door open should DC wish to tie it into their extended universe.
Firstly Joker was set in the mid 80s and the film culminates in the death of The Wayne’s in crime alley. Bruce Wayne is roughly about ten years old in this so by the time he aged up for the 2000s he would be roughly the same age that Pattinson is in the film.
Thomas Wayne was running for Mayor in that movie, so with him no longer being in place, that could leave the door open for Penguin to step in and start ruling the city.
Now it has been widely published that Joker was a standalone movie that won’t be connected, however since that statement, even Phoenix himself has come out and said that he would be interested in returning for the role.
The movie grossed a billion dollars, Pheonix is already winning best actor awards left, right and centre so it does make sense for Warner Bros to get the creative team back at any cost.
I personally believe that they will be doing whatever they can behind the scenes to at least leave some ties here so that one day, possibly in the sequel to this Batman film that we could see the two go head to head. If The Batman does well then this could be a massive massive film and obviously fan hype will be there to make sure it’s worth it.
Now what the time setting does is that it also leaves the door open for tieing this version of Batman in with the larger DCEU.
Though Batman V Superman and Justice League underperformed, characters like Aquaman, Wonder Woman and Shazam have gone on to have great success. Birds of Prey is still going ahead and so on so it is possible that DC could want to tie everything together so they have a streamlined universe with the recasts.
We do know that the Batman in BVS had been operating for about 20 years and with this movie being set in the 2000s, there is potential that this younger version of the character could tie into the one that we later see.
Anyway there’s a lot of food for thought there and I do think that these time settings leave a lot of wiggle room for the studio to begin bringing everything together.
Who knows, we might end up finding out that the Joker from Suicide Squad was a version of Jason Todd as was theorised but yeah keep your eyes peeled.
Your Thoughts
Now obviously I’d love to hear your thoughts on these photos and if you agree with my theory. Comment below and let me know!
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