The Batman: 14 Huge Reveals From The Batsuit & Batmobile Images

In 2021, Batman returns to the big screen in a movie that should offer us a new, Elseworlds-like take on The Dark Knight that should blow the cobwebs off in some style. And if that sounds rather hyperbolic, it's important to realise that difference - and a refreshing change - is a huge part of this entire marketing campaign. So maybe get used to it.

There will be a lot more to come before The Batman is released, but the important thing is we've had the first key details officially released thanks to director Matt Reeves (and some enterprising photographers before him).

So, now we know exactly what the new Batman is going to look like - though we need a closer look, to be honest - and what he's going to drive and there's a lot of information packed into the details of both. You just have to look a little deeper...

14. He's A Symbol Of Loss, Rather Than Fear

The first big reveal of the Batsuit was the fact that Bruce Wayne appears to have used the gun that killed his parents retooled as the symbol of his heroism, emblazoned across his chest.

This is obviously important for a number of reasons, particularly in the context of the other Batmans we've seen on screen and in the comics. In Nolan's films, Batman used his iconography as an extension of his desire to channel fear, to become a monster who could protect Gotham by reputation and mythology alone. His adoption of the bat was key to that because of his own fear and the symbol on his chest proudly displayed that.

For Burton's Batman, and the comic book version - according to the canon explanation by Frank Miller - the yellow chest symbol was designed to be a target - a hard-point enemies would be drawn to attack. Clearly, Reeves has rejected that, but there is certainly symbolism here.

This "logo" is a new take - it's Bruce adopting his own loss as his symbol. A reminder of the scars that created him burnt into his chest, above his heart.

This also mirrors something that happened in the comics - specifically in Detective Comics 1000 - when Bruce took the gun that killed his parents (which he had briefly on show in the Batcave, weirdly), melted it down and used it as a means to protect himself as a breastplate...

It's worth celebrating the writing of that moment, because it's genius:

"It's not going into the trophy collection, Alfred. This gun was never fired at me, but it still scarred me for my life. I grew up broken and sad after this hunk of metal took everything from me. And who knows how many other lives it's ruined? Or ended. But after tonight, it's never going to hurt anyone again.

I'm going to make that metal pay for its sins. I'm going to burn the metal that killed my parents. And forge it into something useful. So the metal that broke my heart as a child? That same metal will protect my heart as a man. And That is justice."

But this isn't even quite the same as that. Batman isn't just using the gun for protection, he's doing what he didn't in the comics, he's made it a trophy, because this is Year Two Batman and he's very much not ready to give himself that closure. This is a raw Batman and proximity to that crime defines him so much it's written right across his heart. Figuratively and actually.