The world has a vested interest in The Lego Batman Movie being a success, if only because it may be the last superhero saga that kids will ever be able to get into. And nobody wants toddler riots on the streets.
The good news is that the debut trailer for Chris McKay’s follow-up to the unexpected animated smash The Lego Movie has plenty of irreverent pop culture smarts to keep the grown-ups happy too – in fact, as far as tone goes, it’s already looking like the junior Deadpool. Hip-hop soundtrack: check. Geeky intertextual references: you betcha. Blink and you might miss the fact that our Will Arnett-voiced hero has an entire rack of old capes from past movies in his enormous Batcave. There are even costumes from films that never made it to the production stage, such as Joel Schumacher’s aborted Batman Beyond.
Of course, the new promo is really just a giant teaser that tells us very little about the movie itself, no doubt timed to pique fanboy interest as another Batman movie you might have heard about prepares to debut in cinemas. But we do at least get confirmation that a Lego Superman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Cyborg (I think) and Green Arrow will all be lining up to help Bats take down the bad guys. And also that the Lego caped crusader is partial to kicking back at the end of a long day saving Gotham with a portion of rich, microwave-heated crustacean-based cuisine. These are the little details we never got under Christopher Nolan or Tim Burton.
The Lego Batman Movie arrives in cinemas on 10 February 2017, and if nothing else it surely can’t be worse than Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
