Getting the chance to direct a Batman movie is the gig that populates the dreams of many a Hollywood filmmaker. And yet, Matt Reeves almost missed out on the chance — due to a misunderstanding — when he was first approached to helm The Batman.
After making the second and third installments in the rebooted Planet of the Apes trilogy, Reeves proved he was the go-to guy for reimagining a beloved classic franchise, so it was no surprise Warner Bros. wanted him for Batman.
Unfortunately, Reeves initially refused to answer their calls as he was busy working on 2017’s War of the Planet of the Apes at the time. As part of Entertainment Weekly‘s extensive cover story on The Batman, the director revealed that he was actually “annoyed” with how forcefully the studio was trying to get hold of him, as he thought Warner execs only wanted to set up a general meeting.
“[Warner Bros.] kept coming back. I was almost getting annoyed. I was like, ‘Wait, what don’t they understand about the fact that I’m making this movie?'” Reeves said.
Reeves only understood the massive opportunity that had come his way when his agent told him the real reason behind the urgency. “[My agent] said, ‘If you have any interest, you might want to find the time to take that meeting,'” Reeves recalled.
Thankfully, Reeves did take the meeting and the rest is history — although it did take a while for that mystery to unfold. Initially, Reeves was set to work with Ben Affleck before the Justice League star left the DCEU behind, which led Reeves to reboot the character from scratch and hire Robert Pattinson for the lead. The end result is that the film is now the first chapter in what Reeves calls his “Batverse,” which will include at least two sequels, a Gotham P.D. show and a Catwoman spinoff.
But the Batverse begins with The Batman, which finally enters theaters in just a few short weeks on March 4.