“The Batman” Funeral Scene Reveals the Riddler’s Deadly Obsession

Here it is, the first official scene from writer/director Matt Reeves’s upcoming The Batman. The brand new video, titled “Funeral Scene,” reveals Bruce Wayne (Robert Pattison) attending a funeral, while Bella Reál (Jayme Lawson), a Gotham City mayoral candidate, mentions to Bruce that unlike his parents before him, he’s made no recent contributions to the city’s charities. She hopes that’ll change when she’s elected mayor.

While Bella goes off to pay her respects to the family, Jim Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) reports to the Chief of the Gotham City Police that district attorney Gil Colson (Peter Sarsgaard) has gone missing. Bruce overhears this, and, considering he’s already in the second year of his vigilante work, we know he’ll now be on the hunt for the missing DA. This is when things get really interesting. There’s a sound outside, distant but growing, that materializes into screams. The tension inside the church mounts, until a lone figure standing in the balcony above seems to be staring directly at Bruce Wayne. That’s when all hell breaks loose.

An SUV comes crashing into the funeral, nearly killing the young boy who is there mourning his father. Luckily, Bruce Wayne is able to get the boy to safety at the last second. The police then surround the car. And who’s the driver who comes stumbling out? It’s the missing DA Gil Colson with a bomb taped around his neck and a phone taped to his hand. The phone rings. And just as Jim Gordon begins to clear the place out, Bruce Wayne sees the sign taped to Colson’s stomach, just below the bomb—”To the Batman.”

It’s a riveting scene, expertly paced, somber and tense. Everything about it, from the color palette to Bruce Wayne’s wordless intensity to composer Michael Giacchino’s subtle, menacing score speaks to the noir feel that Reeves and his team have created for their rebooted Batman franchise. There’s also the sadistic playfulness of the scene’s twist, set into motion by the Riddler (Paul Dano), a psychopath hellbent on unmasking Batman and terrorizing Gotham in the process.

Check out the scene below. The Batman hits theaters on March 4, 2022, with tickets on sale on February 10.

Here’s the official synopsis for The Batman:

Two years of stalking the streets as the Batman (Robert Pattinson), striking fear into the hearts of criminals, has led Bruce Wayne deep into the shadows of Gotham City. With only a few trusted allies—Alfred Pennyworth (Andy Serkis), Lt. James Gordon (Jeffrey Wright)—amongst the city’s corrupt network of officials and high-profile figures, the lone vigilante has established himself as the sole embodiment of vengeance amongst his fellow citizens.

When a killer targets Gotham’s elite with a series of sadistic machinations, a trail of cryptic clues sends the World’s Greatest Detective on an investigation into the underworld, where he encounters such characters as Selina Kyle/aka Catwoman (Zoë Kravitz), Oswald Cobblepot/aka the Penguin (Colin Farrell), Carmine Falcone (John Turturro), and Edward Nashton/aka the Riddler (Paul Dano). As the evidence begins to lead closer to home and the scale of the perpetrator’s plans becomes clear, Batman must forge new relationships, unmask the culprit, and bring justice to the abuse of power and corruption that has long plagued Gotham City.

For more on The Batman, check out these stories:

“The Batman” Drops New TV Spot Teasing the Riddler’s Deadly Game

“The Batman” Runtime Reveals one of the Longest Superhero Movies Ever

“The Batman” Drops Two New Posters Highlighting a Different Kind of Gotham

Robert Pattinson Hints His Batman Isn’t Straight-Up Heroic

“The Batman” New Images Includes the Riddler, the Penguin, & Catwoman

Featured image: Caption: ROBERT PATTINSON as Batman in Warner Bros. Pictures’ action adventure “THE BATMAN,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Jonathan Olley/™ & © DC Comics