By no stretch of the imagination am I the World’s greatest detective but I have been scouring dark alleys, analysing forensic evidence and staying up way, way past my bedtime to report on the latest scoops and conjecture on Matt Reeves The Batman, due to hit screens 25th June 2021.

Let’s start with a riddle - Who takes 10 years to turn from vampire to bat?

Why Robert Pattinson, of course. I’ll give you a minute to calm down.

Never has there been a Batman casting announcement that hasn’t upset someone, somewhere. Previous to Rpatz was Batfleck, whose donning of the cowl caused quite the outpouring of fanboy tears, but, and I will fight a bazillion street thugs one arm tied behind my back, to defend this point - he was the best part of Batman vs. Superman. (Didn’t watch Justice League because I don’t hate myself.) People were upset about Heath Ledger being cast as the Joker, which only goes to show people are idiots.

Pattinson’s casting was met with a flurry of controversy, an outcry for recasting, and as the kids like to do these days a fan petition calling for him to be replaced before he has even set foot in Wayne Manor. We can spend the next little while arguing the toss on the relative merits of Pattison’s career but it’s unlikely to change because he’s the hero Gotham has, but not the one it (necessarily) wants right now.

The Batman will be focusing in the early stages of Bruce’s journey towards becoming the world’s greatest detective and according to the director, it will be a “point of view noir-driven definitive Batman story in which he is investigating a particular case and that takes us out into the world of Gotham”.

Speaking of the wider world there is also buzz about the potential Rogues gallery the Caped Crusader will be up against.

Reports suggest that Bats will face off against The Riddler, Firefly, Penguin, Mad Hatter and Catwoman.

David Tennant and Andy Serkis eyeing villain roles in The Batman

David Tennant is the number one fan choice for the quizzical Riddler role, again streams of fan petitions have appeared this time however in favour of the former Dr Who, propositioning punishing puzzles. This will the Riddlers first big screen appearance since Jim Carrey joyfully chewed the scenery in Batman Forever.

Firefly is a professional arsonist that will be settling ablaze the bits of Gotham he was denied access to as an orphaned child. Firefly is somewhat a B villain, so possibly we will see them earlier on as Bats moves up the bad guy food chain looking for bigger fish to fry.

Speaking of, The Penguin will be appearing to rain on Batman’s parade presumably bringing his own arsenal of umbrellas. Andy Serkis is the frontrunner to portray Mr Cobblepot, whether or not this will be live-action or GCI is yet to be revealed.

Further speculation points towards Jervis Tetch aka Mad Hatter appearing with Simon Pegg’s name being mentioned at various tea parties. But as we are getting curiouser and curiouser about Batman’s enemies surely he must have some backup?

Oh boy, wonder, we do about what a little birdie told us, Robin will also be reportedly making an appearance. But which Robin? Presumably, with the movie set during early Detective days of Batman and with RPatz’s youthful casting age, we are going to see this as the start of a potential new trilogy which points this amateur sleuth towards Dick Grayson and a possible evolution into Nightwing.

From birds to cats, Catwoman is also on the list of hopefuls to appear, so far she has been heavily suggested to be in the villain camp but even the dullest detective can deduce that Bats and Cats never stay mad at each other for long. This is will be our third big screen Catwoman following Michelle Pfeiffer and Anne Hathaway (am I deliberately forgetting Halle Berry’s effort? yes.)

After the success of Aquaman, DC seem to have a clearer let’s-not-force-characters-together-as-quick-as-possible plan and are giving characters stand alone adventures, at the time of writing I am excited to see a fresh take on the Dark Knight and his developing detective prowess. Lots of information is hypothetical at this stage but it seems like the creative team have a strong vision for Batman’s next big screen outing.

Be sure to check back as we uncover more clues, debunk rumours and confirm speculations about ‘The Batman’.