In what has definitely been a tumultuous year for DC and Warner Bros., Matt Reeves’ The Batman came to represent a welcome break from all the burdens of an interconnected universe, and now fans see first hand what makes the film tick thanks to its screenplay being shared for the first time.
Although The Batman came out towards the earlier part of the year and its numbers failed to match Marvel’s own releases, the film was widely praised for its writing, characters and cinematography, which is why it’s not surprising to see it’s the sole part of DC that’s gone untouched by James Gunn’s massive revamp. Naturally, the film owes its success to Reeves’ camera work, but perhaps even more so to his creative direction to set the course for a new Batman era with the dark tone that can be better appreciated in the published version of the screenplay.
The full text, shared by Deadline, is surprisingly short for a movie that’s nearly 3 hours long, as it only totals 131 pages compared to, for example, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio that comes in at 120 pages. However, the devil is in the details and The Batman’s blueprint packs that somber detective plot from the very start. From the get-go, Reeves and fellow writer Peter Craig describe The Batman’s unforgettable opening sequence with the “SOMEONE BREATHING” cue in bold letters making it clear how important it is to establish the Riddler as the murderous creepy force that he is, considering that the main villain was inspired by the Zodiac killer.
Not only that, the pair’s decision to take their time with The Batman is evident as Bruce Wayne doesn’t really show up until page 14, with the screenplay clearly reading “we finally SEE BRUCE WAYNE”, a sign that this a Batman that’s fully immersed himself into the Caped Crusader’s persona, with little to no regard for his own personal life. Funnily enough, this edited version of the screenplay is dated December 17, 2020, meaning by then the iconic DC FanDome teaser with Nirvana’s “Something in the Way” had already come out and the text includes cues for when the song should play during the movie.
Overall, it’s clear from reading almost any random page of this work that Reeves and Craig were on a mission to make The Batman the most realistic and darker version of Bruce Wayne seen on screen to this date, and it’s fair to say they hit it out of the park. Not only that, the film made just over $770m worldwide and is set to launch a whole new Batmanverse that includes greenlit spinoffs for The Penguin and iconic Gotham institutions like the GCPD or Arkham Asylum.
While The Batman's story was not exempt from criticism, it's hard to argue against these two men's plan as the decision to base their story on the Year Two comic books introduced a new emo facet of this DC superhero to even more people, and movie's popularity speaks for itself.
The Batman is currently available on HBO Max.
Source: Deadline