By what was now almost four years into the DCU, the early screenings that began with Superman were being called by fans and even within the company Adler Screenings. Selected hardcore fans and major content creators and influencers in the comic book and movie critic space were invited to watch the movie three or four days before the official release. Since I was always at those screenings, of course the name Adler Screenings stuck.
"This was a very hard movie to make," I said, giving the pre-movie speech. In front of me was a packed room, some in cosplay, many in superhero-themed clothes. This being the most hyped movie of the year, yes, even with Age of fucking Ultron releasing this year, the atmosphere in the room was electric.
"The decision to make this movie was made about four months into The Dark Knight's post-production," I continued. "And we knew we had to really do it perfectly. A mistake could have derailed the entire DCU."
Applause erupted.
"Thankfully, it went well. And you guys get back-to-back Batman movies."
"YEAH!" someone yelled, and more applause followed.
I ended the speech. "You're approaching the end of this first saga of the DCU. Enjoy tonight. Thank you for all your support. And I promise to bring you movies of the same quality as we have so far."
Big applause. Some people yelled that they loved me. Others cheered.
"WE LOVE YOU, DANIEL!"
"Thank you, thank you."
I smiled, waved, and walked back up to the last row where my friends were waiting. John and Matt were always with me during these screenings; that was how it was. With us tonight was Matt's girlfriend, Jess.
I sat down. I was sure this movie wouldn't get as much critical acclaim as the last one. The Dark Knight was very special. That, and the first one, were pure Nolan projects. This one needed to be the movie to set up a lot of upcoming films. Nolan was very hesitant at first. But we had a deal—he understood how this movie would open many branches for the upcoming second saga of the DCU.
We worked together to make sure we were both happy with the end result, but I was sure he wouldn't be coming back to direct any more projects. I was thankful he agreed to be a producer on future Batman movies and on any films the character would be involved in.
The lights dimmed as a huge cheer exploded through the room.
The screen flickers to life.
The DC logo appears, with an old comic version of Batman grappling inside as the music swells.
The movie begins immediately, opening with Mayor Hamilton Hill being watched by an unknown person as he returns to his house, the eerie strains of Ave Maria playing softly in the background.
The scene continues with unsettling stillness as Hamilton watches TV, a replay of a debate between himself and his opponent for the upcoming election, Marion Grange. He looks tired, distracted. Then he hears the sound of something falling, as if a door has been forced open.
Hamilton freezes, his hand gripping the arm of his chair. His eyes shift toward the dark corridor leading to his foyer. The creak of floorboards echoes through the silence. Heavy footsteps approach.
The camera stays tight on Hamilton's face as sweat beads on his forehead. He rises slowly, heart pounding. The TV drones on behind him.
"Who's there?" he whispers.
He moves forward, one cautious step at a time, peering into the darkness of the hallway. The footsteps stop. Silence. Only his ragged breathing fills the air.
Then—WHAM.
The Riddler lunges from the darkness, swinging a hammer down with brutal force. Hamilton screams as he is struck and collapses to the ground. The hammer comes down again, and again. Blood spatters across the wall.
The camera pulls back as the Riddler stands over the body, breathing heavily. He pulls out cellophane tape as the screen cuts to black.
The theater goes completely silent.
An instrumental version of Something in the Way begins.
Gotham appears on screen. Rain pours down in sheets. It is Halloween night, and the city is packed. Crowds move through the streets in costume: clowns among them, some in Superman outfits that provoke reactions, others wearing Batman masks. But there are subtle differences from the Gotham of the previous films.
There are more police on every corner. The streets are cleaner. No visible crime. It looks peaceful, or at least it appears that way.
A hooded figure rides through the city on a bike, weaving through traffic as a narrator begins to say how Gotham has changed for the better in many ways but that the rot remains and is not something easily removed. The camera follows him as he pedals deeper into the more rundown parts of Gotham. Here, crime still lingers. Police take people in, sirens wail in the distance.
The hooded figure dismounts and moves on foot.
The scene shifts to a subway train.
Inside, members of the Joker gang wearing clown makeup smeared with crude paint is causing trouble. Loud, aggressive, laughing too hard. Passengers avoided eye contact, heads down, praying to be left alone.
One of the thugs spotted a man returning from work, rumpled, briefcase in hand, exhausted.
They followed him outside. The first thug laughed, kicking the briefcase out of the man's hands. It clattered across the floor.
"Come on, man! Smile!"
The second thug shoved the man to the ground.
"Yeah! Why so serious?"
Big cheers erupted from the audience. The Joker fandom had been growing and growing since the last movie, cringe parts included.
The thugs laughed as they kicked him, hitting him with bats, toying with him. The man tried to crawl away, but they circled him like wolves.
The rain outside continued to fall, visible through the train windows.
Suddenly, the thugs froze.
They looked up.
A shadowy figure moved across the scaffolding above the platform. The first thug's voice wavered
"What the hell was that?"
The fourth squinted into the darkness. "It's nothing."
But they weren't convinced.
Then footsteps.
THUD.
THUD.
THUD.
The footsteps echoed across the platform, growing louder with each step. The only sounds now were the rain hammering against the roof, the footsteps, and the low, ominous hum of the score.
The thugs turned toward the open doors, gripping their weapons tighter.
The second thug tried to sound brave. "Who's there?!"
No answer.
From the shadows, a figure stepped into the flickering light of the subway platform.
Robin.
Applause and cheers erupted through the theater.
"That's fucking nightwing now!" someone yelled.
Next to me, I heard Matt whisper, "He learned from the best," in response to something Jess had said.
Robin began fighting the Joker gang, moving more acrobatically than Batman ever did. He flipped over a wild bat swing, landed on the thug's shoulders, and used the momentum to spin him into another gang member. A quick succession of strikes elbow, knee, sweep and more went down. He vaulted off a subway bench, catching a thug's face with both feet, sending him crashing into a support beam. By the time the last thug hit the ground, all ten members of the gang were unconscious.
The audience cheered as the scene continued. The music, a driving percussive score, elevated every moment.
Robin stood alone in the rain on the platform, breathing hard. Then his phone buzzed. He looked down. A message from Gordon: an address and a request to come immediately.
The scene shifted to Robin walking into the mayor's house. Police were everywhere: crime scene tape, forensic teams, flashing lights. Gordon spotted him and ordered the officers to let him through.
Inside, Gordon showed Robin the crime scene. He pointed to a letter left on the desk, addressed to Batman.
"This is why I asked you to come," Gordon said quietly.
They investigated together. It became apparent that whoever did this knew the truth about what happened that night with Harvey Dent. Gordon's face was grim as he revealed they'd also found a cipher along with the letter, and a riddle inside.
Before they could discuss further, Commissioner Pete Savage entered. He moved to arrest Robin on the spot.
Gordon stepped between them. Savage backed off. Robin didn't linger. He left quickly, disappearing into the night.
The scene shifted to Robin returning to the Batcave, where a very disappointed Alfred was waiting for him.
Dick sighed as the audience laughed. "You're late."
The scene shifted upward to Wayne Manor, where a fundraising ball for mayoral candidate Marion Grange was taking place. The grand ballroom was packed with Gotham's elite: politicians, businesspeople, socialites.
Marion Grange stood at a podium, giving a speech thanking the Wayne Foundation and Bruce Wayne personally.
When Bruce was revealed among the crowd, applause and cheers erupted, both on screen and in the theater.
Bruce mingled effortlessly with everyone. The camera lingered on conversations around him. One guest corrected another, mentioning how Gordon had been demoted to lieutenant two years ago because of his opposition to the Dent Act. If Grange wanted to win, she would need to reconsider her own stance on it.
Then came a cameo.
Bruce is interrupted by Lois Lane.
Big cheers erupt from the audience.
The scene plays out as Lois questions Bruce about his changed stance on the Dent Act, how he initially supported it and is now calling for reform. Bruce, being Bruce, doesn't give a clear answer. Instead, he flirts with her, drawing loud reactions from the crowd.
One person yells, "Clark, he's stealing your girl!" Laughter ripples through the theater.
He asks her out on a date, but before she can answer they are interrupted by Dick arriving. Bruce introduces him as his ward. Dick quickly leans in and whispers that the mayor is dead. Bruce excuses himself immediately. They both head down to the Batcave, much to Alfred's visible annoyance.
In the Batcave, Dick tells Bruce everything that has happened and shows him the cipher and the letter. Bruce stares at it, clearly shaken. Someone else knows what really happened that night.
Dick explains what he found at the crime scene, how the mayor was killed, and how he noticed signs of two intruders. Alfred joins them, scolding both for leaving their guests upstairs.
They examine the cipher and the riddle together. Dick tells Bruce that he needs to investigate this personally. Whoever this person is, he wants Batman.
Alfred sighs. "Master Bruce, you chose another path. You chose—"
"I know, Alfred," Bruce says quietly.
The movie continues as Bruce, Dick, and Alfred work together to solve the riddle. They find two clues and decipher part of the message. Bruce asks Dick to follow up, and Dick leaves to meet Gordon again.
At an abandoned car near the docks, they find a thumb drive. On it is a photo, incriminating evidence of Mayor Hill having an affair. Dick recognizes the man with him: Oswald Cobblepot, an enforcer for Rex Calabrese, the current big mob boss of Gotham who has risen from the weakened Maroni and Falcone families.
The reveal of the Penguin gets a big reaction from the audience.
Dick then infiltrates the Iceberg Lounge, fighting his way through goons until Oswald steps in and stops him and his men. They have a tense conversation. Robin is questioned about the picture and the woman in it. He also presses Oswald about the location from the second clue.
Selina appears there as well, working as a waitress, which gets a reaction from the room. Robin threatens Oswald, who does not reveal the woman's identity but does tell him about the second clue: an entrance near the seawall.
Robin leaves.
He goes to the location, sending Bruce a message first about what he has found and where he is going.
The next scene shows Robin arriving at the seawall. The location is abandoned. He finds an entrance: a rusted gate leading into dark tunnels beneath the city.
The camera follows him inside.
The tunnels are pitch black, dripping with water. His flashlight cuts through the darkness. The only sounds are his breathing and the echo of water dripping. The scene is eerie, oppressively quiet.
Robin moves cautiously, checking corners and scanning for threats.
Then WHAM.
A massive figure lunges from the shadows and slams Robin into the wall. He barely has time to react before he is thrown across the tunnel like a ragdoll.
Robin scrambles to his feet and pulls out his batons.
The figure steps into the light.
Killer Croc.
Nine feet tall. Scales cover his entire body. Massive jaws and razor-sharp teeth. It is all practical effects with some CGI touch-up, and it looks damn good.
The reaction is huge. I hear people around me gasp. Someone mutters, "Robin is fucked."
And he is.
Croc lunges again. Robin tries to fight back using his agility, striking at joints and going for the eyes, but Croc is too strong and too fast for something so massive. He grabs Robin by the leg and swings him into a pipe. The sound of the impact echoes through the tunnel.
Robin rolls, gasping, blood on his face.
The fight is well choreographed. Robin uses every trick he has, flipping off walls, striking and retreating, but Croc keeps coming. Robin manages to land a hit with an explosive pellet, stunning Croc long enough to run.
He barely escapes, collapsing against a wall outside the tunnels, fumbling for his communicator.
He calls Bruce. He can only get out one word: "Help."
The scene shifts.
Bruce is at one of the Bruce Wayne Foundation orphanages. The director shows him around, talking about the programs they've implemented. Big cheers erupt from everyone who understands the reference when the director mentions, "That boy who stole your car wheels last month? He's had some trouble adjusting."
Bruce laughs, about to respond—
Then his phone buzzes.
He looks at the message. His face goes pale.
Bruce leaves immediately.
Bruce and Alfred arrive at the location and find Dick waiting for them, barely conscious.
"Bruce—" Dick mutters as they quickly get him out of there.
The next scene shows Dick in a hospital bed.
Bruce stands at the foot of the bed, staring at him. Dick is bandaged, bruised, his torso tightly wrapped. The steady beep of the heart monitor fills the silence.
Bruce doesn't move. Doesn't blink.
His face is stone. But his eyes—his eyes are burning.
Bruce Wayne isn't there anymore.
There is only Batman now.
Alfred stands in the doorway, watching Bruce with worry as Bruce turns and walks away from the bedside.
He makes his way down to the Batcave.
The music swells, and the audience begins to cheer.
Bruce walks to the center of the cave.
There, rising from the ground, is a glass case.
Inside it: the Batsuit.
Big cheers erupt as the music swells again to a crescendo while Bruce steps forward. The camera moves in close, his face lining up perfectly with the reflection on the glass and the cowl inside the case.
The music reaches its peak.
Then the scene cuts to black.
And that is the end of act one.
An eruption of applause and cheers fills the theater as everyone waits eagerly for more.
So far everything is going well, and I hope the second act which I feel is a bit bloated can keep the momentum.