The Batman was a hit with a ton of different audiences. On top of being a solid and enjoyable film, the newest cinematic Caped Crusader brought back elements of the character that were downplayed over the years. Sequels tend to increase in scale, so is it possible for The Batman 2 to retain its mystery aspects?

Batman is a character that a lot of people enjoy for different reasons. Two randomly ordained fans could pitch their ideal take on the franchise and end up with nearly opposite products. Keeping everyone happy is a fool's errand, but some pieces of the source material are more fundamental than others.

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In this world of superhero fatigue, every big name needs something to set itself apart. There have been some big shifts in popularity between the comics and the films, but the biggest players still rule the show. Batman is one of the most beloved comic book characters, so he's mostly in competition with other versions of himself. Every new iteration can't escape being compared to every old one. From Keaton to Affleck, Pattinson competes with everybody's existing favorite Bruce Wayne. The gradually darkening tone over the years makes some differences, but they aren't always positive. One of the other gradual changes has been a shift towards high-tech gadgetry and physical violence as Batman's defining traits. Surely one of the things that make the character special is the level of brainpower he puts in before he starts punching.

Robert Pattinson In The Batman

A shocking amount of the runtime of The Batman occurs without the eponymous hero knowing who the enemy he's trying to stop is. The goal for most of the story is to determine the identity of a masked serial killer. The Bat interrogates people, searches for clues, solves the Riddler's little puzzles, and occasionally makes time to beat up criminals. Elements of the plot even give Bruce false directions to follow. He gets caught up chasing down personal leads amid his main goal. The film's structure is superhero action wrapped around classic neo-noir mystery. Batman is a detective again. He doesn't just plug a flash drive into a local server or use a huge public surveillance machine to solve all of his problems. As is often the case, however, once the superhero action comes to a head, the detective drama is over. The sudden increase in scale spells the end of the cerebral investigation. The film can't do both, which raises questions about the sequel.

Little is known about the plot of The Batman 2, but the tease at the end of the first movie implies a much bigger villain for the sequel. Barry Keoghan's brief appearance as The Joker is all the setup fans have for the upcoming film. Matt Reeves's take on The Riddler was fairly extreme, it's hard to imagine him going more subtle for the most iconic comic book villain in the business. Detective movies live and die on the fine details. The Batman 2 is almost guaranteed to go much bigger than its predecessor, and it could be tough to keep up the murder mystery vibe. The structure of the film might force Pattinson into more superhero action than tense interrogation scenes. On a larger scale, that's been the gradual path of the Batman franchise as a whole. Going bigger than the last film has regularly resulted in the death of subtlety. In the film just before The Batman, the character spent most of his non-suited time pounding a tire with a sledgehammer.

Matt Reeves's Joker will be starting from within Arkham State Hospital. His identity rarely matters, so a prolonged search to determine who he really is doesn't make much sense. Traditional detective tactics don't offer much against someone like The Joker, but one film has managed to make it work. The Dark Knight allowed Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne to do some detective work occasionally. He primarily did so with gadgets that instantly solved his problems and weren't much fun to watch, but there were mysteries to solve. Pattinson's Batman is far from a Luddite, but he doesn't turn over all his thinking to high-tech machines. It's entirely possible to inject murder mystery elements into The Batman 2, but it won't be as easy as it was the first time.

The Batman deleted Joker scene

Matt Reeves can still make gritty neo-noir work within the structure of the sequel. Going too big and flashy could ruin everything so special about the original film, and maintaining the elements of mystery could be a key connecting element. The World's Greatest Detective needs to earn that title, and the gritty world Matt Reeves envisions for Gotham City is the perfect one for him to show off. The Batman 2 doesn't have to be a retread of the first film, but some elements of the character feel right for the iteration, and the murder mystery format is a bold decision.

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