The Batman: Matt Reeves’ Dark Knight is the new beacon of light

MILL VALLEY, CA - OCTOBER 05: Robert Pattinson appears at the 42nd Mill Valley Film Festival - Special Screenings Of "The Lighthouse" And "Harriet" on October 5, 2019 in Mill Valley, California. (Photo by Kimberly White/Getty Images)
MILL VALLEY, CA - OCTOBER 05: Robert Pattinson appears at the 42nd Mill Valley Film Festival - Special Screenings Of "The Lighthouse" And "Harriet" on October 5, 2019 in Mill Valley, California. (Photo by Kimberly White/Getty Images) /
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Matt Reeves’ The Batman brings a different kind of hope to the heroes of the DC films, as its Dark Knight could be the beacon of light.

There’s plenty of excitement in the air when it comes to Matt Reeves’ The Batman. We’ve known for some time that the film is a noir that features The Dark Knight as the World’s Greatest Detective. Rumors also suggest The Long Halloween is the DC Comics story that inspired Reeves’ script. Other rumors point to the Caped Crusader being in his second year as a crime fighter. With so many rumors, fans have impatiently waited to see how Robert Pattinson would look in the iconic Batsuit.

By now, you’ve probably seen the pictures and footage from Reeves’ camera test. If you haven’t, you may want to do yourself a solid and check it out. In those few seconds, one thing is immediately clear — this Batman differs from any big-screen interpretation we’ve ever seen. As a matter of fact, there’s already an elaborate fan theory about how the emblem worn on his chest is was forged from pieces of the gun that murdered his parents — let that sink in.

Imagine being Bruce Wayne, returning to a city after years of being away and training to be the symbol of fear and justice. But none of it can happen without solving the crime of your parents’ murder. What do you do? Well, you find the person responsible and wear the weapon as a constant symbol of remembrance of what made you. The theory isn’t unheard of if you’re a fan of the comics, specifically Detective Comics No. 1000.

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Aside from the obvious, there’s something vastly different about this cinematic Caped Crusader. If this fan theory proves true, Reeves’ Batman brings a different kind of hope to the heroes of the DCEU. Instead of Superman, it’s the Dark Knight who’s the beacon of light — something we hadn’t seen the DCEU.

Ben Affleck and Zack Snyder’s Batman was a Dark Knight who had to succumb to his dark side. Fans were first introduced to an unhinged, vengeful, and murderous Batman in Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice. And this was after Snyder introduced a Superman who snapped Zod’s neck. With both Batman and Superman having blood on their hands, there was no true example of the “no-killing rule” so famously employed by Batman.

With Reeves’ Batman, wearing that gun as his emblem could signal more than just a reminder of pain. It could serve as a badge of strength and self-control; a reminder to Batman that he doesn’t cross the line. With the DCEU changing directions, things shouldn’t be retconned with new actors in familiar roles. This new DCEU should retcon the morals of a hero who is known for brutal tactics but has the willpower to let even the most diabolical bad guys live.

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But again, none of this happens unless he finds his parents’ killers and lets them live. If this emblem was created from the weapons that murdered his mother and father, it gives us a unique tale about a hero we’ve seen depicted on the big screen more than a few times. Ultimately, we still can’t say for sure what happens with Bruce Wayne’s backstory, but Reeves and Pattinson are already on the right track. And there’s no doubt plenty of fans will line up to see The Batman when it opens in theaters on June 25, 2021.