MAJOR DETAILS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED IN ‘THE BATMAN’ TRAILER

A few days ago the first ever DC Fandome event hit us with a lot of announcements, news, trailers and footage of movies that are currently in the pipeline. Some are ready for release but unfortunately due to the corona-virus pandemic are still pending. While others are either still shooting or are wrapping up production. As for The Batman a teaser trailer was released along with various announcements. Only 25-30% of the movie has been shot but we got enough footage to get great two-minute trailer that is by far the best of the whole event. It is very appealing and this movie is definitely one to see in the opening weekend.

The Riddler

Now I want to break it all down not entirely by myself though, some of the insights of the hidden details and comic references were gotten from New Rockstars YouTube channel where Erik Voss broke down a lot of clues as well as solving Riddler’s first riddle for Batman. Director Matt Reeves had already said the hero who will be played by Robert Pattison is a year-two Batman and they won’t be re-visiting the origin story which isn’t a bad idea at all because we’ve seen it countless times even in last year’s Joker movie (at least the start of it).

Batman's Chest Emblem

The trailer opens up with the Warner Bros. logo and the DC logo get smaller and bigger respectively in a stagger similar to the when you peel or stretch duct tape and it gets bigger then stops then you apply force it opens up again, as this is going the sound of the Riddler stretching duct tape is playing in the background. We see the head of the victim fully wrapped in duct tape and "NO MORE LIES" written on duct taped face with blood and the killer is of course The Riddler / Edward Nashton (played by Paul Dano), In the next shot we see Gotham City Police Department (GCPD) Commissioner Gordon walking in and the camera is focused from the angle of the person behind him and this person (Batman) is getting a lot of dirty looks from members of the police, citing the resentment between the Police force and Batman as they both walk into the crime scene. In the next slide we see one of the victim’s hand has been cut off and covered with a paper bag unlike the last time we saw the dead body. It seems The Riddler had cut off one of his hand that a ring and a watch was strapped to, more emphasis on the ring which is probably an ornament indicating his involvement in some kind of secret organization.

Something in the way a song by American rock band Nirvana plays in the background and this song choice is very important because it has two very deep underlying meanings. First of all, the song was written by Kurt Cobain their lead singer who if you read the lyrics claimed he was living under a bridge at the time but biographers have said that it was practically impossible because the river tide would’ve been too high at that period in time and that he was probably sleeping at his friend’s place. This is an attribute of depression because he felt like being homeless was what he deserves similar to Batman who although is a billionaire is not happy and feels like he is so underserving he has to risk his life on a regular basis. Also, in some of the original pressings or Vinyl copies of the album Nevermind that contains this song Something in the way, this track is listed as the final track but if you wait exactly ten minutes after the acoustics fade you’ll get a surprise track named Endless, Nameless which if you’re not expecting hits you by surprise with its quite strong and violent beginning. Meaning the song before it is literally “something in the way” of a secret getting revealed and that secret is both "endless" and "nameless". Similar to Batman who is has to be patient before can uncover a secret and when he does uncover this secret it hits him with an unexpected and seemingly "endless" violence from a group of "nameless" people (the secret organisation with the ring comes to mind). I know some might say this this is just reaching but one thing I know is big movie trailers especially does of comic book characters or superheroes hardly throw random songs in without an underlying meaning.

We see Batman’s boots as he walks towards the body, so it likes we’re also filling his boots as this movie is going to be a thriller that we and Batman will be solving various clues and puzzles as the movie progresses. This version of Batman is expected to be the more investigative kind, unlike most of the live action Batman movies in recent times that are mostly the Superhero-type. On the next slide a wall of newspapers is shown and “LIES” written very boldly in blood. On the papers by Gotham Gazette and Gotham Times on the wall you see “Mayor Don Mitchel Jr. wins historic third term defeating opponent Bella Reál” Bella Reál is played by Jayme Lawson. This most likely means that the murder victim is the Mayor and it also explains why FBI agents were part of the investigation. The “LIES” written by The Riddler on the wall most likely means he thinks the Mayor rigged the elections or at least he thinks the Mayor did and he’s trying to expose this and other crimes.

Commissioner Gordon hands Batman an envelope with “To the Batman” written on it left by The Riddler as Gordon's voice is heard reading the contents in the background. The envelope contains a Halloween card with “From your secret friend whoo” on the front as well as the image of an owl and a skeleton. Inside on the right side of the card it says “haven’t a clue? Let’s play a game just me and you”. On the left side it says “what does a liar do when he’s dead?” then back to the right side there’s a Zodiac-style string of glyphs which Erik Voss brilliantly decoded on his YouTube page New Rockstars to be “He lies still”. Reading everything together we have “what does a liar do when he’s dead? He lies still” which is a fantastic wordplay akin to The Riddler meaning two things: first of all “he lies still” like a dead body does also it tells us that even after the Mayor’s death there are still more lies to be revealed.

Batman’s chest emblem seems to be somewhat mechanical maybe it’s his bat-a-rang or a retractable weapon, it isn’t just an emblem. We see Bruce looking from afar as who is believed to be Police Commissioner Pete Savage played by Alex Ferns makes an announcement and Gordon is beside him and looks quite worried while a woman weeps by their side (probably the mayor’s wife). Also Batman’s black eye makeup is shown which makes sense unlike past iterations when the black eye makeup magically disappears once he takes off his cowl. We see Bruce ride through a cemetery before reaching his Bat cave which looks like an abandoned underground tunnel, if you look closely you can see “Wayne Ter…” I’m assuming it’s terminal. Andy Serkis who plays Alfred is heard warning Bruce about his rise in popularity. The mayor’s funeral is crashed when a car drives in and everyone scatters except Bruce who saves a boy with most likely the woman from the previous scene besides them so it is probably her and the dead mayor’s son that he saves. The car is sectioned with duct tape and the letters DOA are written in the car which popularly means “Dead On Arrival” which is probably a message about the person that steps out of the car with a bomb, envelope and a phone duct taped to him which makes The Riddler deem him as ‘’Dead On Arrival”. You can also hear The Riddler saying “If you are justice, please do not lie” probably signaling the lies of the Mayor even after death, and what better day to lie that a bad person is actually good than on the day of their funeral? The Riddler would definitely not be happy about the eulogies which would be expectedly filled with lies.

In another shot we see Selena Kyle “Catwoman” played by Zoë Kravitz sneaking into the Mayor’s office and breaking into a safe before she is confronted by Batman. Do keep in mind she isn’t Catwoman yet according to Matt Reeves the director who says she’s just a cat burglar for now. Some kind of deal going down outside the city of gotham sanitation eastside depot, it ends in a shootout. In the rain is Oswald Cobblepot “The Penguin” played by Colin Farrell clearly beefed up and very unrecognizable he also has a scar from cheek to right below the nose. Although Matt Reeves previously said he’s not yet Penguin boss and as at now he doesn’t even really like being called the penguin. The next scene we see a gang with their faces painted like skulls with an extended smile some are saying it might be like disciples of the joker or something like that but hopefully they’re not. I mean I love The Joker although I can’t really say I loved the last Joker movie but I loved the character itself in that in the movie and previous ones, but I think’ we’ve seen enough Batman and Joker movies, there are a lot of villians that haven’t been explored yet we don’t need a new Joker. After that we see Batman get into a scuffle with GCPD officers and is held back by Commissioner Gordon.

Selena Kyle is shown in the next shot wearing a ski mask pointy corners similar to that of Catwoman, most of the mask is cut out with the rest just covering hear cheeks and nose. A theory is she has similar scars as The Penguin and that’s the only thing she really needs to hide so she won’t be recognized, seems far-fetched though but you never know. We go back to the funeral scene where the bomb detonates blowing up the man it was tapped to and flinging Batman away because he was close to the victim. In the overhead shot you can see a bomb defusing robot but The Riddler would probably have warned them against that over the phone as well as requesting for Batman. It might also be over said phone we hear everything The Riddler is saying in the background. These deaths would probably make some members of the GCPD just want to capture Batman and reveal his identity to avoid any more casualties, because obviously The Riddler because from all indications he mostly wants Batman’s attention.

Finally, Nashton (The Riddler) says “what is the price for your blind eye”, this is probably implying both the police’s and batman’s ignorance of crime in the city. Also, “blind” referring to the popular saying ‘blind as a bat’ due to the nature of bats to hunt and move around at night which is when they have the most advantage as predators like birds of prey (hawks, eagles etc.) are usually asleep by then. But of course the only other prey that they’re in danger of are owls as they also have amazing night vision as a matter of fact bats use echolocation at night which means they use the sounds produced while they fly which bounce off surrounding objects and returns to them as echoes to navigate. But owls actually use their eyes makes them more effective this knowledge as well as the owl on the cover of the card all point to the “court of owls”. An organization of rich and powerful people in Gotham who run the city in the shadows and wear owl masks in meeting to hide their identities and they’re Batman’s great nemesis. In some comics Batman’s parents are the only rich people in Gotham who aren’t members and are in fact antagonist but they are member in a few too. So when The Riddler tells Batman “You’re part of this” Batman replies with “How am I part of this?” then The Riddler says “you’ll see” it could be that Bruce Wayne’s dead parents weren’t as legitimate as they seemed something that Bruce would’ve had no knowledge of, Matt Reeves stated something similar to that at the event also. We do know there’s another villain in the movie but I guess we’ll find out who the person or people are going to be.

I guess that about wraps up most of the hidden details. Do ensure to leave a comment in case of any mistakes or additional information. Also, expect a similar video for some of the other trailers from the event except maybe Black Adam because I don’t know what they were thinking with that teaser. If you still want a breakdown of that though leave a comment.