The Dark Knight Rises Trailer Search Ends with a Whimper

COMMENTARY | The Dark Knight Rises trailer has technically been online for about a week. But until Monday, all the clips of the preview were bootlegs with somewhat poor quality. However, audiences spent over $169 million during the weekend to see the Dark Knight rise again and stuck around to see the last Harry Potter movie afterward. As such, Warner Bros. finally felt safe enough to release a proper clip of the teaser on Facebook.

Warning: Spoilers follow

Audiences waited three years to see Batman back onscreen, if only for a few seconds. That's why dozens of people posted a bootleg version of the teaser on YouTube until Monday, even though the sound and quality wasn't solid. But they went to all that effort just to see recycled footage from Batman Begins and a cryptic speech from Commissioner Gordon in the hospital.

In fact, after all the expectations around the clip and about seeing Batman again, the first look might have seemed a bit underwhelming. After all, fans knew not too much could be revealed, since filming is still in progress. But Christopher Nolan released the first teaser of The Dark Knight early and still fired audiences up with the first voiceover of the Joker.

That trailer didn't even have footage from the movie, but this one did at least show Gordon and some very brief shots of Bane. Yet what it didn't show was Catwoman or much actual action, even inspiring confusion when Gordon hinted that Batman "had to come back." It was assumed Batman would still carry on the fight against crime, despite making himself the enemy of Gotham to end the last movie, yet it seems he actually hangs up the cape at some point in the new film.

Despite a few opportunities, Batman didn't give up against the Joker in spite of the terror he unleashed. So what could be a more severe threat to make him abandon Gotham this time -- if something could be more severe than the Joker? Any solid hints to that answer probably won't come until the next teaser, which will have to be more revealing.

Both The Dark Knight Rises trailer and the final Harry Potter epic had impossible expectations to live up to. Yet Deathly Hallows Part 2 fulfilled its expectations and more, with rave reviews and the biggest opening weekend in movie history. However, Batman might have inspired a few new doubts with its first look -- although they will probably be washed away once Nolan releases a longer clip.

Sometime in the fall or next spring, this same formula will probably repeat itself, as fans will once again search frantically for the next new teaser. By then, Nolan and company should have more to make the wait worthwhile, just as fans hope the wait for the movie itself is worthwhile. But there's still 12 whole months left until those hopes are answered or not.

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