The Batman's First Trailer Is So Chilling Because of This Nirvana Cover

Did you recognize the song that plays in The Batman's first trailer? The buzzy initial look at Robert Pattinson's version of the iconic superhero is set to a particularly epic, surprisingly dark remix of a song you've definitely heard before.

The song playing in the trailer is a version of Nirvana's "Something in the Way," but it's not quite the track you're probably used to hearing. Originally, "Something in the Way" was the last song on the band's breakout album, Nevermind, in 1991, and while it never became a gigantic hit single, it's had a long life and a fair bit of popularity over the past 30 years. In its original form, it's a softer, more stripped-down song, featuring acoustic guitar and even a bit of cello.

For the trailer, however, someone — presumably the film's composer, Michael Giacchino, who's worked on several of your favorite sci-fi projects, including Spider-Man: Far From Home and Star Trek Beyond — tweaked and rearranged the classic song to better suit an introduction to this particularly dark and corrupt Gotham. This version of the song is epic, with big orchestral swells and heavy, thudding percussion, matching the dark and sinister vibe of the first glimpse of this Batman.

The song itself is pretty bleak on its own, painting a picture of brutal struggles to survive. "Underneath the bridge / The tarp has sprung a leak / And the animals I've trapped / Have all become my pets / And I'm living off of grass," the main verse goes. The choice of song seems to highlight that this is more of a Dark Knight version of Gotham and Bruce Wayne than a colorful, goofy version of the character, focused less on how Bruce Wayne becomes Batman and more on how an experienced, cynical Batman goes up against corruption in his city, even when it's feeling futile. Check out the full trailer above to get the full effect of this eerie music choice, then listen to the original Nirvana version in the video below.