Robert Pattinson's 'The Batman': Will Jim Gordon find out that Bruce Wayne is the masked vigilante?
Filmmaker Matt Reeves' 'The Batman', where Robert Pattinson stars as the masked vigilante, is not an origin story.
The confirmation comes from Reeves who in an interview with Nerdist said, "I wanted to do not an origin tale, but a tale that would still acknowledge his origins, in that it formed who he is. Like this guy, he's majorly struggling, and this is how he's trying to rise above that struggle. But that doesn't mean that he even fully understands, you know. It's that whole idea of the shadow self and what's driving you, and how much of that you can incorporate, and how much of it you're doing that you're unaware of."
This has led to theories that the film would borrow elements from 'Batman: Year One' written by Frank Miller. It originally appeared in issues #404–407 of the comic book title 'Batman' in 1987 with the focus on Bruce Wayne in his formative year, while also shedding ample light on Jim Gordon's career with the Gotham City Police Department. In addition to how Batman and Gordon cross paths, the comic also captures the early struggles of Bruce as the masked vigilante.
In addition, the movie also sees the appearance of Selina Kyle as Cat Woman, another character seen in 'Year One'. While there are a slew of villains in Reeves' upcoming version, fans are speculating that the movie might end like the comic. The final issue sees Batman ditch the suit and save Gordon's newborn from the clutches of Johnny Vitti, Falcone's nephew, who holds Gordon's wife Barbara and their newborn baby hostage.
In a riveting action sequence, Gordon fired at Vitti's car tire on a bridge and follows it up with a fistfight with the thug. In the fight, Gordon loses his glasses. Before Vitti and the baby fall over the bridge, Bruce, now unmasked, saves the baby. While Gordon does realize that he's standing before Batman, he lets him go by saying he's practically blind without his glasses. Again, much of this is pure speculation.
Gordon has previously uncovered Batman's identity in 'The Dark Knight Rises', the third film from Christopher Nolan's 'Dark Knight' trilogy.
This still leaves the question of where Colin Farrell's Oswald Cobblepot/Penguin and Paul Dano's Edward Nashton/The Riddler fit in the storyline. Farrell's casting as the Penguin marks a serious break from what fans have grown to expect from the character, and how he fits in the scheme of things.
All things considered, it looks like this will be a very different movie having very little in common with previous adaptations of the 'Batman' comics. For the first time, we might just get a proper noir story out of Batman, something hardcore fans of the character have been begging for for years.