It’s been a while since we heard anything about The Batman, the solo movie for Gotham’s Dark Knight that is being worked on by War For The Planet Of The Apes writer/director Matt Reeves. But now, Reeves has taken the time to tease his take on the iconic Caped Crusader.
“We are working on getting our draft [in] the next couple weeks,” Reeves said at a swanky press event in the USA, revealing that this project is still at the writing phase. “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.”
With regards to a production schedule and when shooting will start, Reeves added, “What we’ve talked about is hopefully in the spring or early summer, something like that.”
As for the content of the film, Reeves offered this tease:
“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 favourite comics. Those all inform by osmosis. There’s no continuation of the Nolan films. It’s very much trying to find a way to do this as something that for me is going to be definitively Batman and new and cool.”
Reeves also stressed that he isn’t adapting one specific comic book story, although the origin tale Year One is a favourite of his:
“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.”
Apparently, Reeves wouldn’t be drawn to comment on whether Ben Affleck will remain in the role of Batman for this movie. Reeves did stress, though, that there “are ways in which all of this connects to DC, to the DC universe”.
We’ll keep you posted as this film develops. If it doesn’t start shooting until next summer, chances are we won’t be able to watch it until 2020.