The Batman Scene Fans Can't Stop Talking About

The following article contains spoilers for "The Batman."

By and away, people seem to love "The Batman." With Robert Pattinson in the mask, the Caped Crusader's latest solo adventure sees him responding to a series of murders perpetrated by a villain calling himself Riddler (Paul Dano). To solve the crimes and prevent anyone else from dying, Batman will have to descend into the seedy underbelly of Gotham, rubbing elbows with the likes of Penguin (Colin Farrell) and Carmine Falcone (John Turturro) to uncover the truth, unraveling a conspiracy in the process that threatens everything he once believed about the city.

Given the movie's three-hour runtime, there's plenty in there that wasn't given away by the marketing materials. From Batman beating up a group of thugs harassing an innocent man to the thrilling car chase involving Batman and Penguin, there's plenty to sink your teeth into. And naturally, fans have taken to social media to voice their love and admiration toward the film, hyping it up, so if you can't see it until a later date, you have plenty of time to get your expectations in order. 

One scene, in particular, appears to have stoked fans' excitement. And the good news is that it comes early in the film's run.

It's become commonplace in Batman movies for the opening scene to revolve around the villain. For "The Dark Knight," that involved a thrilling heist involving Joker (Heath Ledger) and a few other nobodies wanting to steal the mob's money. In "The Dark Knight Rises," director Christopher Nolan upped the ante yet again by introducing viewers to Bane in high-flying fashion as he hijacks a plane. "The Batman" carries on this tradition by opening the film with Riddler spying on the home of Gotham City mayor Don Mitchell Jr. (Rupert Penry-Jones). It then cuts to Riddler inside of his house, ready to strike and instill fear into the hearts of Gothamites. 

It's incredibly effective at establishing the film's tone and displaying how much of a threat Riddler is. This isn't just a guy telling riddles as he's been portrayed in other Batman media. He's a terrifying serial killer, to the point where the scene feels like something out of "Zodiac" than a superhero movie. 

It's proven to be an effective gambit as numerous people have taken to social media to say how much they loved the sequence. Just take these words of praise from @4TheMarauders, "The opening scene is so powerful and one of my favorite scenes in all of film." Those sentiments were echoed by @reneiscursed, who had this to say, "Can't stop thinking about #TheBatman and THAT opening scene. Definitely not gonna be able to sleep much tonight." It seems a lot of people weren't necessarily expecting of being scared of a Batman movie that early, as @Cinemaniac94 wrote, "That opening man. 2nd time seeing it and it still sends chills."

If these reviews are any indication, "The Batman" opening scene deserves to be right up there with "The Dark Knight" in terms of best superhero openings of all time.

It isn't just casual fans who are being taken aback by "The Batman" opening scene either. Prior to the film's release, Robert Pattinson spoke with Variety about the movie, and he even admits that when he watched the sequence for the first time, it was unlike anything he had seen before. The actor mentioned, "I watched a rough cut of the movie by myself. And the first shot is so jarring from any other Batman movie that it's just kind of a totally different pace." 

Pattinson went on to say that the tone of that scene was pretty much what director Matt Reeves had envisioned doing from the very beginning: "It was what Matt was saying from the first meeting I had with him: 'I want to do a '70s noir detective story, like 'The Conversation.” And I kind of assumed that meant the mood board or something, the look of it. But from the first shot, it's, 'Oh, this actually is a detective story.'"

It may take some viewers by surprise to see Batman in full noir mode, but he's the world's greatest detective for a reason. And that reason is something Pattinson only learned after he nabbed the part: "There's a lot of stuff where he's in amongst the cops. Normally, when you see Batman he arrives and beats people up. But he's having conversations, and there are emotional scenes between them, which I don't think have been in any of the other movies." Indeed, "The Batman" is unlike any Caped Crusader film that's come before, and it sets a positive pace for the future of the franchise.