Bruce Wayne and Batman are two incredibly different personalities, though you can’t have one without the other, as The Batman director Matt Reeves knows well. The filmmaker detailed how his approach to the film mirrors the duality seen in the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
“Gosh, that’s a tough question,” Reeves shared with Indie Wire at the Television Critics Association press tour of balancing these personalities. “I think that it’s interesting, because one of the things that I’ve found interesting, just as we’re working on the story, is looking back at Jekyll and Hyde, and the idea of your shadow-self, and the idea of, we are all multiple things. It’s different aspects of who we are, and I think there are times when maybe the surface of Bruce is not really who he is, but that’s his disguise. There are times when Batman’s the disguise, but there are times when his true essence comes out because by being veiled, a kind of instinctual side comes out that’s very pure.”
One of the more compelling components of the character is that both he, and fans, struggle to grasp which is his “true” self which he would default to if he fully embraced his id. The filmmaker is keeping details under wraps for what his film will explore. It’s an interesting, if not altogether surprising way of looking at the character, with the pair in a struggle for control. It’s something that’s been the basis for Batman stories before
The Batman is expected to start shooting early next year, and it sounds like Reeves’ script is shaping up nicely. Now we just need confirmation on who’ll actually be playing the Jekyll and Hyde figure.
Source: Indie Wire
