Although Batman was a popular character from nearly the moment of his introduction in 1939, his popularity (and the sale of his comic books) had started to fall by the mid-1960s. To say that Dennis O'Neil, along with artist Neal Adams, saved Batman isn't an exaggeration. These works not only hold major influence over Reeves' The Batman, but are worth digging into in their own right. But as a character, Batman's harder edge isn't entirely the creation of Miller - two other works involving the character, Dennis O'Neil's Batman run and Darwyn Cooke's Batman: Ego, helped shift him from "bright to night", and went deeper into the internal conflict at the center of the darkness that Miller brought to the fore. The origin of that tone is associated less with the character's initial appearances, but with Frank Miller's 1986 series The Dark Knight Returns, which is regarded by many to have brought the more mature Batman to prominence. The film is presenting a dark, gritty tale with terrifying villains, stunning violence, and a Bruce Wayne that seems to be so immersed in the mission of Batman that the man himself is little more than his own pain - the kind of "dark and gritty" Batman that fans of comics have come to love and expect.
The tone of the film, based on the teasers and trailers we've already seen, is one that aligns with most contemporary takes on Batman and Gotham, all while taking viewers into the early years of the Dark Knight's crusade. When Matt Reeves' highly-anticipated The Batman opens in theaters this week, it will offer audiences the latest exploration of one of comics' most popular and iconic characters.
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