Unlike previous live-action depictions, Matt Reeves' The Batman, which is just a few days away from its big theatrical release, will heavily focus on the detective, neo-noir side of the iconic caped crusader. Now, Reeves shares that he was originally worried that audiences wouldn't be able to follow the film's complex story.

From the cartoonish, lighthearted side presented in Batman Forever and Batman & Robin, to Christopher Nolan's realistic take in his The Dark Knight trilogy, Batman is one of the few characters who continue to thrive on the big screen through several interpretations. Now it's Reeves' (Cloverfield, Let Me In, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, War for the Planet of the Apes) turn to share his version of the hero and Gotham City, as the acclaimed filmmaker hopes to bring a fresh perspective to the iconic comic book character.

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Sitting down with Collider ahead of the film's release, Reeves discussed the early screen tests for The Batman, and how he initially was nervous if audiences were going to follow the film's complex and long story. "The first version of this movie that I screened; the movie has a very ambitious, complex narrative. So, by the time we got to a place where we had to start testing, I was not all the way through the cut of the movie. There was so much of the movie yet to be touched and it was really long. I mean, not to say that the movie doesn't have length now, but it was longer than what I intended," Reeves recalled. "I was terrified because I thought, oh my gosh, we're showing this, before I'm ready, to an audience and in terms of a Batman movie, it's a very complex detective story narrative. Are they going to be able to follow anything?"

Matt Reeves behind the scenes in The Batman

What Reeves would then find out is that after seeing Ben Affleck's version of Batman in the DCEU, fans were craving a much more grounded, slower-paced story that establishes its characters and takes its time building the tension, similar to what Nolan presented in his films. “What I found actually, which was amazing, was how much they loved that aspect. That was the biggest relief,” Reeves gladly shared. "I was thinking, okay, why did I do this? Why did I decide to make this kind of story? And what the first test screening told me was the audience wanted this, that we had the Batmobile chases, we had all the things. You can't make a Batman movie without giving the baseline things that people want from a Batman movie. But I knew we were challenging the audience in this side of world's greatest detective side, because it was going to be a very complex narrative and it turned out they love that part of it."

While Nolan's films did feature several detective moments (mostly in Batman Begins), Reeves is definitely taking things to another level in terms of really honing in on telling a detective/mystery story similar to other crime films like David Fincher's Seven. Even with a runtime of almost three hours, first reviews for The Batman are indicating it will be a film that will captivate audiences from the first frame to the end-credits.

Following other great depictions, it's Robert Pattinson who is donning the cape and cowl this time. Joining him are Paul Dano as the Riddler, Zoë Kravitz as Selina Kyle/Catwoman, Jeffrey Wright as James Gordon, John Turturro as Carmine Falcone, Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth, Colin Farrell as the Penguin, Peter Sarsgaard as district attorney Gil Colson, and Barry Keoghan as young officer Stanley Merkel. The film will kick off a new batverse, as it will be followed by two sequels and two other spin-off series for HBO Max.

The Batman arrives in theaters on March 4 and on HBO Max on April 19, 2022.

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Source: Collider/YouTube