Chapter 124

"Ee-yah hahahahaha——"

The thin, sinister laughter sent chills down everyone's spines, raising goosebumps all over their bodies.

"This is my business card…"

A colorful Joker!

The melody composed by the legendary Hans Zimmer, commissioned at great expense, boomed forth—deep and powerful!

"Bruce, this is Harvey Dent."

"He is the knight who guards Gotham City, the hero we need."

Boom! Batman sped through a wall of fire on his sleek Batmobile!

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen!"

With his signature manic tone, the Joker made a dazzling entrance.

"Tonight, we're here to entertain!"

"Whoa! Hey there, beauty."

"You look too tense… why not smile?"

The Joker, grinning with sinister charm, turned his gaze toward Rachel.

"Sunrise is the darkest hour."

"I promise you, dawn will come soon."

Harvey Dent stood on the podium, radiant and confident.

In contrast, the Joker walked alone down the empty street, shrouded in darkness.

"Let our performance begin."

"This city needs criminals with more taste."

"Ee-hahahahaha——"

"You'll see…"

"The show I've prepared for you all!"

Boom! Crash!

Explosive scenes erupted one after another!

"Either die for a noble cause, or stand idly by and become complicit with evil…"

【The Dark Knight】

【This Winter】

"Master, will you ride the Batmobile or drive the Batcar?"

"It's broad daylight—aren't you being too flashy?"

"Alright, then I'll take the Lamborghini… that's definitely more low-key."

【Batman: The Dark Knight—In Theaters Now!】

…

"My God!"

"This… I want to know when tickets go on sale?"

"Shut-up, and-take-my-money—I'll pay any price for a ticket!"

"Better than I imagined!"

"Even more excited now!"

The quality of the trailer stunned fans!

Whether it was the explosive scenes or Batman's heroic descent from the sky, every moment stirred my blood to boiling!

More importantly, just from this one-minute trailer, it was clear that Xu Can's Joker was absolutely phenomenal!

As one longtime DC comic fan put it.

"I've been reading DC comics and watching Batman for decades—this is the most authentic, most outstanding Joker I've ever seen!"

"What Joker? That's Master Chou!!"

"Oh oh oh, I love this character so much! Xu Can's performance is a revelation!"

After the trailer aired, it sparked a wave of discussion across the entire internet!

Compared to the previous film, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight's quality seemed to rise a step up.

More importantly, Xu Can's Joker had become the undisputed star of the trailer!

He stole the spotlight from Harvey Dent and Batman alike.

So much so that the two actors jokingly called Xu Can, demanding he treat them to a lavish meal.

Faced with overwhelming online praise, the media finally learned caution—no one dared to seek a public rebuke.

Even media outlets and critics who questioned The Dark Knight now dared not speak out.

They feared being hunted down and held accountable by fans later.

Unless The Dark Knight flopped at the box office and in reviews, the trailer's high quality had distilled all the essence.

Only then could these critics, or mere haters who disliked Xu Can, make a natural progression in attacking him.

At that point, competitors like Disney and Paramount would gladly join in, crushing Xu Can without mercy.

As for Xu Can himself, he was, of course, utterly confident.

"Yes, The Dark Knight is indeed superior. Batman Begins was merely an origin story—it was never meant to carry too much."

"So, the higher expectations people have for Batman now rest on this film—I hope everyone will buy tickets and support it."

Xu Can smiled brightly in front of the media, utterly unlike the evil visage he portrayed as the Joker.

Without Xu Can needing to say more, the frenzied fans had already overwhelmed the ticket windows of every major theater.

With the experience of "Spider-Man" and "John Wick," many of Xu Can's moviegoers had already lined up at the doors.

The result was an escalating arms race — some even lay in wait two days before tickets went on sale, and by the early hours of the day before, the line was already fully formed.

Some passersby genuinely expressed bewilderment:

"Is it really necessary? Wouldn't it be the same watching it later?"

Xu Can's fans, however, replied earnestly:

"No — Xu Can's 1.3 film is worth seeing the moment it drops. We can't stand waiting even one extra minute."

In Hollywood, "produced by Xu Can, guaranteed masterpiece" seems to have already become common consensus.

……

Finally, the day of the premiere arrived.

Every time Warner watched Sony next door showing off, this time they could finally hold their heads high — at the famous Chinese Theatre in Los Santos, they booked out the venue to hold the global premiere.

Afterwards, more than 150 countries and regions worldwide would premiere simultaneously!

Hong Kong Island, Baodao, and Haojiang all joined the synchronized plan,

Only the mainland market, due to censorship dragging on for quite a while, had temporarily failed to make the synchronized premiere.

According to Warner, even after passing review it would have to be delayed by at least a month.

In the previous life, "The Dark Knight" involved crime, violence, and other factors and failed to pass review.

It wasn't until 2012's "The Dark Knight Rises" that it landed in theaters for the first time.

Of course, this time wasn't absolute.

With Xucanjia Alliance, the Chinese review had loosened slightly — reportedly there was still a chance for a turnaround.

Director Nolan brought the cast and crew to attend this premiere, and Xu Can was naturally among them, and as always caused quite a stir on the red carpet.

This time Emma Stone had her own arrangements, and Taylor Swift wasn't a film industry star, so Xu Can could only walk the red carpet alone and rejoin the main creative team.

At the Hong Kong Island premiere, Brother Guanxi was a roadshow guest.

Back when Nolan relayed the message to him, reportedly Brother Guanxi's face changed.

He hurriedly grabbed Nolan and asked how Xu Can knew.

Nolan was completely baffled — I don't know what kind of code you two are exchanging, I'm just the messenger.

Afterwards, Brother Guanxi left with a solemn expression.

"So, what exactly did you say to him? Which of his works got exposed?"

Nolan remained very curious.

"Probably not this time — let's just watch the movie, it's about to start."

Xu Can only smiled mysteriously.