Warner Bros. has updated the “Bat and the Cat” trailer for the upcoming The Batman movie – in addition to sexy goth Batman and Catwoman, it now also features an actual plug for comic books at the end.
The comics shown – Batman: Year One, Batman: Ego and Other Tales, and Batman: The Long Halloween – are among those that director Matt Reeeves said influenced this take on Batman.
So this is as direct a plug for comics to read after (or even before) seeing the movie by a major, eagerly anticipated even superhero based motion picture as you could ever possibly hope to see. True, the trailer had already racked up 24 million views but it’s still awesome.
I’m told this is only the first cross promotion between the comics and the movies based on the comics that we’ll see in 2022 from WB.
And it’s not the first time Warner Studios and DC Comics have worked together on a movie release marketing plan. Back in the summer of ’21, a poster for The Suicide Squad featured a comic shop plug and a comics-related Easter egg that was so subtle no one noticed it.
Given all the turmoil at DC over the last year or so amid studio changes, it’s nice to see them working together for a change. And I pointed out in my post about The Suicide Squad poster, billion dollar superhero movies need to start plugging the comics in the end credits just like they do soundtracks and novelizations. It costs nothing, and takes less than a minute.
In fact let me repeat that in a type that Google crawlers find notable:
Billion dollar superhero movies need to start plugging the comics in the end credits just like they do soundtracks and novelizations.
So if you’re reading this, WB and Disney, billion dollar superhero movies need to start plugging the comics in the end credits just like they do soundtracks and novelizations.
As unlikely as that may be, (but keep hoping!) this new combined marketing effort from WB and DC on what is sure to be one of the biggest films of the year is a pleasant surprise and an example of something that’s been low hanging fruit for decades.
The Batman, starring Robert Pattinson and Zoe Kravitz, opens on March 4 exclusively in theaters.
