When Matt Reeves first entered talks to helm The Batman, Ben Affleck was still attached to play the title role, with the DCEU’s canonical Caped Crusader only having dropped out of the director’s chair at that point.
After a while, it became clear that an amicable split was in the best interest of both parties, and Affleck ultimately retired as the Dark Knight altogether, while Reeves began putting the pieces together for the comic book icon’s latest reboot. In just six weeks, we’ll be able to see the fruits of his labors, but it would be an understatement to say the buzz is beginning to reach deafening levels.
Speaking to Premiere (translated from French to English), the Cloverfield, Let Me In, and Planet of the Apes filmmaker explained why The Batman needed to start from scratch and rebuild the title hero in Reeves’ and Robert Pattinson’s image, instead of picking up the pieces left behind by Zack Snyder and Affleck.
“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! 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.”
We’re getting Pattinson, Affleck, and Michael Keaton as Batman on the big screen between March and November of this year, so it’s a veritable buffet for old and new fans of the character alike. Reeves’ gritty, grounded, and potentially phenomenal effort is first out of the gate, though, and it’s looking to kick off the Year of the Bat with a bang.