The Batman Featurette Contains New Footage, A Familiar Villain, And A Weird Promotional Tie-In

Every "Batman" movie comes with a certain set of non-negotiable expectations: kickass Bat costume, an actor with a strong chin, all the usual supporting cast of comic book characters and classic members of his rogues' gallery, and ... Little Caesar's pizza tie-ins?

Look, I realize that superhero movies and overt commercialization go together like peanut butter and jelly — that's just the way it is and always will be, especially for a hero who adds the "Bat" branding to every item he uses. Yet I can't help but feel like we've reached yet another level in the marketing blitz when studios just start handing out otherwise straightforward featurettes to popular pizza chains, with no other real relevance to the aforementioned pizza chain other than a brief tag at the end. Seriously, there's quite a bit of new, never-before-seen footage here and plenty of interesting insights from star Robert Pattinson and others in here, but not a single actual pizza in sight! That said, you may remember a certain unholy, bat-shaped calzone/pizza concoction making the rounds and going moderately viral on social media, tricking enthusiastic fans to consume highly questionable fast food in exchange for ... well, I still haven't really figured that part out just yet. Welcome to the new normal, people.

In any case, unexpected source aside, this is a surprisingly fascinating new look at the upcoming "The Batman." At this point in the press cycle, it's actually quite difficult to release any new footage from the movie that hasn't already been analyzed to death. Leave it to Little Caesar's to come through for us in the clutch, I guess! 

Check out the new featurette below.

Our latest glimpse into "The Batman" comes from, as you know, Little Caesar's. The pizza chain posted the footage earlier today on Twitter, with the mischievous parting shot that "...if you need more Batman in your life now, we heard ordering The Batman Calzony will help." I suppose we can't really argue with that logic? Amusingly enough, a little sleuth work reveals that the company actually took part in some Riddler-esque antics of their own, posting a vague, teasing tweet the day before to promote this featurette. It mostly comes across like that infamous promotional strategy for "The Snowman," but what do I know?

Batman fans, have you got a clue…
What is caught on screen but never seen?
Check back tomorrow and you’ll know what we mean.

— Little Caesars Pizza (@littlecaesars) February 17, 2022

"This is by far the most major adversary he's come across."

Anyway, as for the actual footage, it's all about the antagonist of the movie, Paul Dano's Riddler. It certainly seems like the clue-obsessed villain brings the city of Gotham to its knees, driving cops like James Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) to seek out Batman's help from sheer "desperation," as Wright puts it in the featurette. "He wants to end up punishing the Riddler," Pattinson explains about Batman's motivations behind exposing the serial killer, "because he's being a mirror to Bruce's secrets." The cast and crew have already spoken plenty about the real-life inspirations that have gone into the Riddler and all the ways the overarching plot will tie together all the disparate figures living in Gotham City, from Zoë Kravitz's Selina Kyle/Catwoman and Colin Farrell's Oswald Cobblepot/Penguin to John Turturro's Carmine Falconi.

We're mere weeks away from when we can finally stop munching on our Bat-branded calzony dinners and head out to the theaters. "The Batman" will arrive on March 4, 2022.

Batman ventures into Gotham City's underworld when a sadistic killer leaves behind a trail of cryptic clues. As the evidence begins to lead closer to home and the scale of the perpetrator's plans become clear, he must forge new relationships, unmask the culprit and bring justice to the abuse of power and corruption that has long plagued the metropolis.