Batman is definitely right up there with Sherlock Holmes and Dracula as one of the most frequently adapted fictional characters in history, and the Dark Knight’s multimedia back catalogue spans everything from kitsch 1960s TV to dark and gritty reboots via an extensive array of animated projects, feature-length movies, video games and the neon and nipples of the Joel Schumacher era.
Somehow, filmmakers keep finding new and exciting ways to approach the character, and based on the reaction to the first trailer for The Batman, director Matt Reeves and star Robert Pattinson have found yet another fresh take on the material. We saw the origin story in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy and the previous four movies all found the Caped Crusader a long way into his career as a costumed vigilante, but next year’s reboot hopes to fall somewhere in the middle.
The story follows Bruce Wayne during his second year under the cape and cowl, meaning he knows what he’s doing but hasn’t fully mastered it yet, and it appears that the multiple villains will be the ones getting the origin stories this time around. In fact, in a recent interview, Pattinson explained how The Batman is aiming to be different from all the other interpretations that came before, saying:
“It’s not an origin tale, and you’re meeting him in the early days. And for me, what’s really important about this iteration is that you know a lot of the other stories are about how he had to master his fear and master himself in order to become Batman. And that in that Batman state, he’s sort of in his best self. I hope what’s different about what we’re doing is try and do it in exactly that sort of manner, and then of course the other things that are from the earlier history, of the context of him being the world’s greatest detective and how we got there.”
Based on the footage we’ve seen so far, The Batman looks to be an intoxicating mix of Tim Burton’s noir elements and Christopher Nolan’s grounded realism, with a splash of the classic animated series thrown in for good measure. The movie is certainly in good hands, and could very well end up being one of the best Batman adaptations ever when it hits theaters in October of next year.
