The solo Batman film under DC’s banner has not been very generous with its information allowing for an air of uncertainty to loom over it. There have been rumors however suggesting that the project, set to be directed by Matt Reeves (War for the Planet of the Apes) has already started hiring a production crew for the film making it seem like it’s in motion. It looks like this film definitely is in motion (at least for now) as Reeves has provided us a little update on the film.
Speaking with Slash Film while promoting his Fox drama The Passage, Reeves discussed some updates regarding the Batman film along with some of the rumors that have been circulating regarding it. He said:
“We are working on getting our draft [in] the next couple weeks, right now, my head is totally into the script. Right now, I’m going to be leaving here to go back to work on the script. What we’ve talked about is hopefully in the spring or early summer, something like that,”
Well, it’s not much since the film is in its early stages but at least we know that it’s definitely in motion. However, he did offer us something regarding some of the rumors but not really a definitive answer. For a while now, there has been word that Ben Affleck would not be reprising his role as Batman. Reeves explains:
“There are ways in which all of this connects to DC, to the DC universe as well,” we’re one piece of many pieces so I don’t want to comment on that except to say that I’m focused very specifically on this aspect of the DC world.”
Pretty vague but it looks like Reeves himself isn’t going to say anything until they finalize the decision based off the script. Batman could be payed by a younger actor and serve as a prequel and that would see Affleck returning somehow. However, would that mean it would be an origin story or if it would take place very early on in Batman’s crime-fighting career? Some have been speculating that the film would be based off Batman: Year One which also served as inspiration for Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins. To that, Reeves addresses:
“We’re not doing any particular [comic], Year One is one of the many comic books that I love. We are definitely not doing Year One. It’s just exciting to be focused very specifically on a tale that is defining for him and very personal to him. Obviously we’re not doing an origin tale or anything like that. We’re doing a story that is definitively Batman though and trying to tell a story that’s emotional and yet is really about him being the world’s greatest detective and all the things that for me, since I was a kid, made me love Batman.”
Reeves seems like he knows the comics pretty well and it also looks like he may be offering something pretty different to the table. He said:
“I’ve talked about making it a very point of view noir-driven definitive Batman story in which he is investigating a particular case and that takes us out into the world of Gotham, I went on a deep dive again revisiting all my favorite comics. Those all inform by osmosis.”
Well, we now have something to work with but it’s pretty clear that Reeves doesn’t wanna reveal too much just yet. It should be fine to place this film on Reeves’ shoulders since he’s a great filmmaker with great films under his belt, the most obvious ones being the previous two Planet of the Apes films. If he can offer an Apes series that could rival the classic films back in the day, I’m sure this Batman would be something to look forward to.
Source: Slash Film
