The Batman Director Releases Sneak Peek Clip in 4K

The reclusive Bruce Wayne (Robert Pattinson) pays his respects as the enigmatic Riddler (Paul Dano) surfaces in a scene from The Batman. In the clip, which first appeared online in low-quality last week, mayoral candidate Bella Reál (Jayme Lawson) approaches Wayne at the funeral for Gotham City Mayor Don Mitchell (Rupert Penry-Jones). “You really could be doing more for this city. Your family has a history of philanthropy,” Reál says of the late Martha and Thomas Wayne, “but as far as I can tell, you’re not doing anything.” Just then, Bruce springs into action to save the mayor’s son as missing D.A. Gil Colson (Peter Sarsgaard) crashes a car into the funeral, rigged to blow with a message from the Riddler to the Batman. 

On Vimeo, director Matt Reeves shared the “funeral scene” clip in 4K quality and announced The Batman tickets go on sale February 10. 

“Many of you may have seen this scene from @TheBatman floating around online, so I decided to put it on my vimeo in 4k,” Reeves tweeted. “#AdvanceTickets go on sale 2/10! In the meantime, hope you enjoy this sneak peek… #TheBatman comes out #OnlyInTheaters on March 4th!”

In Reeves’ noir detective tale taking place in Bruce’s second year of costumed crime-fighting, the Riddler is a Zodiac-type sadistic serial killer leaving ciphers for Batman as he targets the elite of the corrupt Gotham City.

“I started thinking of the Zodiac Killer, because he did create a costume for himself and he wore a black hood, he had his own insignia. He was an early anti-superhero, a scary figure who terrorized California,” Reeves told Esquire. “That immediately made me think, oh, that could be a brand-new version of the Riddler.”  

Trailers for The Batman have the Riddler working to unmask the truth about Gotham — and its Dark Knight — hinting at a childhood connection between Bruce and Riddler, real name Edward Nashton. 

“I read quite a bit about serial killers in general, which wasn’t light reading. I found it so challenging that I had to go to the coffee shop and read. I just needed more friendly surroundings to read that stuff,” Dano told Esquire. “I realized Batman is born in trauma. And so are some of the ‘villains.’” 

The Batman is playing only in movie theaters on March 4. The Batman tickets go on sale in February.