After Ben Affleck's departure from the director's chair on his Batman project, Matt Reeves was hired to helm the film with many believing Affleck would still star as the caped crusader. But after The Batman was announced with Robert Pattinson in the lead role, it was clear that Reeves was taking the iconic comic book character in a new direction, and he's now explained why.
Reeves' The Batman will follow the divisive series of films in which Affleck portrayed The Dark Knight. However, the director has previously stated that his incarnation of The Dark Knight will not be connected to DC Extended Universe.
During an interview with Premiere, Reeves revealed why he chose to start from scratch and not have The Batman be a part of the DCEU. "I told Warner Bros that I had to be given the freedom to do the definitive Batman movie. Impossible to launch halfway into a Batman, impossible to do it as an amateur!" Reeves said. "Aim for the stars. That doesn’t mean we’ll get there, but if we leave without ambition, it’s bound to be a disaster. I will not have tolerated to miss on the comic book character that I like the most." Judging by Reeves' enthusiasm for Batman and knowing of his amazing work on the recent Planet of the Apes reboot films, starting from scratch seems like the best decision for the character.
The Batman will focus heavily on a noir-driven, detective story, as the film will take place in Bruce Wayne's / Batman's second year of fighting as he is forced to deal with corruption and tracking down a new enemy known as the Riddler, who has a connection to his tragic past. If the footage that has been released in the last few months is any indication, Reeves' film appears to be more faithful to the original comics, with an even grittier, more gothic Gotham City. In fact, Reeves addressed some of the biggest inspirations for his version of Batman, sharing that the character is inspired by Kurt Cobain and more of the '90s grunge scene.
However things play out, Reeves certainly has a particular vision of how the story will evolve. Much like Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight trilogy, The Batman will be followed by two direct sequels. On top of that, two other spin-off series are in early development, one following the Penguin and the other focusing on the Gotham City Police Department, as the series was revealed to be set during Batman's first year of crime-fighting from the perspective of a corrupt GCPD officer.
Other than Pattinson donning the cape and cowl, The Batman stars 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 Batman is set to release in theaters on March 4th, 2022.
Source: Premiere (via We Got This Covered)