What I’ve come to gather about Matt Reeves’ The Batman is that this particular filmmaker is going to flesh out an onscreen universe for the Dark Knight quicker than any other to precede it. As you may have heard, up to six villains are expected to appear. That’s a lot for one picture, sure, but it all comes down to how well the screenplay is balanced.
But when it comes to the heroic side of the coin, it appears as though that won’t be neglected, either. According to Forbes’ own Mark Hughes, Batgirl and Nightwing may very well find themselves integrated into the world occupied by Robert Pattinson’s Caped Crusader, and that’s why their solo flicks are being held off until The Batman can first establish itself.
Based on what Hughes has heard, “Dick Grayson is expected to make an appearance in one of the Reeves movies, probably in the form of an origin story (whether that’s the film’s main plot or a subplot, however, remains to be seen).”
From the sound of that, I’d say Dick will first establish himself as Robin before transitioning to the Nightwing persona. Hey, we may have already seen his origin told on the silver screen thanks to Batman Forever, but 1995 was a long time ago – and the door is open for Reeves to do it better.
Now, this next bit is just speculation on my part, but if The Long Halloween comic book storyline has greatly influenced Reeves’ screenplay, then its sequel, Dark Victory, could inform his followup. In that tome, Dick Grayson’s beginnings as Robin unfolded in the midst of “the Hangman” killings, so I could definitely see more works by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale informing the feature films.
The Batman arrives in theaters on June 25th, 2021.
Published: Oct 2, 2019 09:16 am