new trailers for Wonder Woman 1984 and the Snyder Cut, but we also got world premiere first-looks at Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and the freshly announced Gotham Knights.
The last (and arguably biggest) reveal of the night came during the for The Batman, during which Matt Reeves gave an imioned speech in which he laid out his vision for his approach to the character as well as some plot details regarding the movie and the Gotham PD spinoff series. Before the concluded, Reeves and DC Entertainment shocked everyone by debuting the first teaser trailer for the movie, giving us a look at Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman, Paul Dano's unhinged new take on The Riddler, and Pattinson's Batman giving a bone-crunching beatdown to one unlucky thug.
There's a lot to analyze and breakdown in the trailer, but one particular point of interest has led to a lot of speculation. There's the possibility that an intentional Riddler card in the trailer, plus one of Reeves' statements about the movie's plot, might be teasing the presence of the horrific Court of Owls.
Batman's The Court of Owls Explained
The Court of Owls is a very recent addition to the Batman canon, having been introduced by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo in 2011, shortly after DC's New 52 relaunch. They are a secret society of wealthy politicians and Gotham elite who control the socio-economic conditions of the city through targeted violence and the stranglehold of fear and extend as far back into the city's history as Gotham's colonial period. As a child, Bruce Wayne believed them to be responsible for the murder of his parents until he grew out of believing in them, but during his crusade as Batman, the Court comes back on his radar after they send one of their assassins (or Talons) to murder Bruce Wayne.
After Bruce narrowly escapes the plot on his life by Talon, the Court decides to use all of the resources at their disposal to wipe Batman's influence out of Gotham once and for all. This is propelled by a desire to once again become the ruling legend of Gotham City, a position that Batman had unknowingly taken from them due to his war on crime. Not only does the mysterious society send dozens of Talons to finish Batman off in the Batcave, but they also send assassins to murder each individual member of the Batfamily, displaying their ruthless methods and near-endless reach of influence across Gotham and the world at large.
The Batman's Trailer May Tease The Court of Owls
The trailer for The Batman is packed with more than enough content for fans to analyze and speculate over, from Colin Farrell's totally unrecognizable appearance as The Riddler to the mysterious face-painted goons that Batman faces off against. However, the central focus of the teaser is Paul Dano's Riddler, and the mysterious conspiracy he's laying out for Batman to solve. One such breadcrumb that he leaves for our hero is a greeting card with a riddle inside, with the answer scrambled into a series of symbols. Since the trailer's release, the riddle itself has since been solved but the nature of the card has become a point of scrutiny, as the image on the front cover is none other than an owl. While it's totally possible that this greeting card may have been picked at random, Matt Reeves' deep appreciation for Batman's comic book history suggests that this might have been far too specific to be unintentional.
The Court of Owls Could Be The Batman's Real Villain
One of the crucial plot elements of the film that Matt Reeves specified is that the central mystery will involve the deeply-rooted corruption of Gotham City and the police department. Prior to the release of the trailer, most people simply assumed that this corruption would be related to organized crime, considering that John Turturro is playing Carmine Falcone in the movie. And while this could still very well be the case, there's also a possibility that the corruption Reeves is hinting at extends much further back than Gotham's crime families.
What if The Riddler somehow stumbled upon the existence of the Court of Owls in Gotham, and is trying to pick off people related to the organization in order to expose their presence? This would explain why one of his victims seems to be Gotham's mayor; the Court frequently uses their power and influence to sway political elections in their favor. Since The Riddler seems to be directly addressing Batman at each of his crime scenes, he might also be trying to tip Batman off to the existence to the Court, since he knows that Batman has positioned himself as a figure of justice within Gotham City.
What The Court of Owls Would Mean For The Batman's Story
While it's possible that the Court of Owls may be teased in The Batman, it's highly unlikely that they'll be the primary antagonist of the movie. Reeves seems pretty adamant about The Riddler being the main antagonist, and having the Court of Owls turn out to be the big bad would simply undermine Paul Dano's interpretation of the character. That being said, there's a strong chance that any hints teasing the Court could be setting up for a sequel, one in which Batman is now the one hunting them. Reeves has also stated that this first movie will be the "origin" for a lot of Batman's rogues gallery, so it's possible that the Court of Owls could be using their influence to manipulate these characters, like turning Oswald Cobblepot into the crime boss he'll eventually become. This could be their way of stacking the odds against Batman, giving him more challenges to face before he finally gets the chance to bring them down.
There also seems to be a pretty big hint at the end of the trailer that Bruce Wayne's family will be directly involved in The Riddler's conspiracy. There are many different storylines in which the Wayne Family is indirectly tied to some sort of corruption in Gotham City, such as The Long Halloween, in which Thomas Wayne reluctantly saves the life of Carmine Falcone after the latter is shot in a gang-related attack. However, the Court of Owls would be a perfect fit for the "deeply-rooted" corruption that Reeves is talking about, as the Wayne Family is partly connected to the Court of Owls in the original storyline. Alan Wayne (Bruce's great-grandfather) was murdered by the Court after trying to make changes to the infrastructure of Gotham City. On top of this, Lincoln March, a Gotham City mayoral candidate, is later discovered to be a Talon who claims to be the long-lost second son of Thomas and Martha Wayne.
Of course, none of this has been expressly confirmed by Reeves, meaning it might all just be wild conjecture on the part of fans. If that is the case, it's only further proof that The Batman is one of the most anticipated movies in DC's slate, and that the next few months will continue to be filled with analysis, theorizing, and speculation.
