Despite rumors to the contrary, The Batman will not be rated R.
Warner Bros. has gone with the more adult-oriented rating for recent DC Comics adaptations such as Joker, The Suicide Squad and Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of one Harley Quinn), and after the fairly brutal trailers for Matt Reeves' movie, there was a lot of speculation that the upcoming reboot might follow suit. However, the MPA has now officially announced that The Batman will be rated PG-13.
This isn't really all that surprising. Lesser-known characters are one thing, but Warner Bros. taking this sort of risk on the Caped Crusader was always a long shot.
The Dark Knight's latest big-screen outing still looks set to be a pretty full-on experience, however, as it will include “strong violence, disturbing content, drug content, strong language, and some suggestive material.” It sounds like Reeves may have pushed that PG-13 rating to its limits!
"Two years of stalking the streets as the Batman (Robert Pattinson), striking fear into the hearts of criminals, has led Bruce Wayne deep into the shadows of Gotham City. With only a few trusted allies — Alfred Pennyworth (Andy Serkis), Lt. James Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) — amongst the city’s corrupt network of officials and high-profile figures, the lone vigilante has established himself as the sole embodiment of vengeance amongst his fellow citizens."
“When a killer targets Gotham’s elite with a series of sadistic machinations, a trail of cryptic clues sends the World’s Greatest Detective on an investigation into the underworld, where he encounters such characters as Selina Kyle/aka Catwoman (Zoë Kravitz), Oswald Cobblepot/aka the Penguin (Colin Farrell), Carmine Falcone (John Turturro), and Edward Nashton/aka the Riddler (Paul Dano). As the evidence begins to lead closer to home and the scale of the perpetrator’s plans becomes clear, Batman must forge new relationships, unmask the culprit, and bring justice to the abuse of power and corruption that has long plagued Gotham City.”
The Batman is set to hit theaters on March 4, 2022.