The Batman has received its official MPA rating, and it looks as though it’s not quite as hardcore as we were led to believe.
According to its most recent bulletin, The Batman has been rated PG-13 by the Classification and Rating Administration.
The film has been “Rated PG-13 for strong violent and disturbing content, drug content, strong language, and some suggestive material.”
Despite rumours that The Batman would be an R-rated superhero movie, this doesn’t come as a huge surprise. After all, Warner Bros. will want as many people as possible to be able to see the movie – especially during the box office drought of the ongoing pandemic.
The Batman stars Robert Pattinson as a younger version of Bruce Wayne, delving into the early days of Batman’s vigilante career, and will also act as a Catwoman origin story.
And while the recent trailer gives us a far grittier impression of the Dark Knight, it looks as though the struggling hero won’t be going as far as we thought in his pursuit of justice.
Still, there’s a lot that filmmakers can get away with in a PG-13 movie. After all, the darkest of Batman movies to date, The Dark Knight, was also given a PG-13 certificate. But those of us expecting Batman to get his hands a bit dirtier this time around might be disappointed. Especially after the R-rated Joker, starring Joaquin Phoenix, was received so well.
Robert Pattinson takes the leading role in The Batman alongside Zoë Kravitz as Selina Kyle, Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth, Jeffrey Wright as James Gordon, Colin Farrell as Oswald Cobblepot, and Paul Dano as The Riddler.
The film is directed by Matt Reeves and is based on a screenplay by Reeves, and Peter Craig. Walter Hamada is listed as executive producer alongside Simon Emanuel, Chantal Nong, and Michael E. Uslan. Matt Reeves, Dylan Clark and Toby Hefferman are on board to produce.
The Batman is set to debut in theaters on March 4, 2022. For more, check out Jim Carrey in The Batman trailer (yes, it somehow works) and the streaming date for The Batman on HBO Max.
Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.
