The Dark Knight Trailer and More

Though the movie is not going to hit theaters until the summer of 2008, The Dark Knight is making a lot of news already. For those who do not know, the film is the sequel to the excellent Batman Begins. Its marketing has starting already using a viral internet system which is really exciting.

Being a huge fan of Batman Begins, I was very excited a while back when I found out a sequel with the same cast (minus Mrs.Scientology) began production. The film reinvigorated the Batman franchise much like Casino Royale did to the James Bond films. The Dark Knight is hoping to continue this success, and from the looks of things it is on the right track.

A brand new trailer surfaced a few days ago, which is the main reason for this post. The rest of this article is based on the fact that you have seen it, so if you have not, check it out here. Now you see why I am so excited even though the film is a long way off.

A few things of note. First of all, as was hinted at the end of Batman Begins, The Joker will be the next villain in this Christian Bale Batman series. Similar to Begins it seems that director Christopher Nolan (creator of Memento, one of my favorite movies) is keeping the series true to its roots while reinventing at the same time. The Joker is still the same old psychotic clown, but Nolan is delivering a grittier, darker Gotham City and that includes a dirtier Joker. I really hope that Harley Quinn shows up as well.

This approach has me very excited to see what Nolan has to offer when the sequel finally hits later this year. He is only helped by the brilliant marketing campaign, including several other sites. You can visit Harvey Dent’s Gotham Police Force, or perhaps The Gotham Times (pull that tear on the left). See that number at the top of the page on The Gotham Times? You can actually call it and get an answering machine for the fictional newspaper. Lest I forget, the Joker is even in on the game with Why So Serious?. This is the kind of creative advertising that drastically increases my excitement for the film, which I was already hotly anticipating in the first place.

What do you think of the viral marketing scheme? Does the trailer look as amazing to you as it does to me? Let me know in the comments.