Need an elevator pitch for The Batman? Matt Reeves’ DC standalone pic is said to be a “noir-driven detective story.”
That’s according to the man himself, who attended a Television Critics Association panel earlier today in anticipation of his midseason Fox drama, The Passage. /Film was on hand to transcribe the director’s comments, too – particularly those relating to the status of The Batman, its script, and when filming may begin.
First things first: while Reeves expects to be in possession of a first draft in the next fortnight, The Batman won’t be an adaptation of Frank Miller’s Year One comic as previously rumored, nor will it be angled as yet another origin story of Bruce Wayne taking up the mantle as Gotham’s Dark Knight.
“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.”
And the script? It’s falling into place quite nicely, according to Reeves, who told reporters that at least for now, he’s fully focused on nailing the story of Batman’s next standalone outing, which will take precedence for the “next couple of weeks.”
We are working on getting our draft [in] the next couple weeks. 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.
Alas, the director refused to be drawn on Ben Affleck’s potential involvement in The Batman, but Reeves did allude to the possibility of casting a younger Batman and using Batfleck as a framing device to bookend his DC standalone pic. So many questions, so few answers…