Ending with a bang, DC FanDome has released our first proper look at Robert Pattinson in Matt Reeves’ ‘The Batman’.
It was revealed earlier today, the film will be set around “Year 2” on Batman’s crime-fighting career, skipping the origin story thankfully! This is a version of Batman who has been in the “job” for some time but is still figuring out how to be The Dark Knight. It was also announced that this version of Bats will sit in his own part of the DC Multiverse, separate to Snyder’s ‘Justice League’.
“It’s not an origins tale, but you’re meeting him in the early days. A lot of the other (cinema) stories showed he had to master his fear and himself, to become Batman,” commented Reeves. “We met in the middle of this criminological experiment and watch him make mistakes.”
Interestingly, Pattinson’s version of the Bat will not only scare the villains but the public is also pretty wary of him!… But then, you probably would be too if a manic in a Batsuit is suddenly beating up people around your city!
Regarding the aforementioned Batsuit, Reeves revealed it’s “something he built himself”. It’s designed to b practical, but also has room for improvement, and carries the scars of Batman’s earlier encounters with bad guys. This is not your pristine, cape and cowl.
Whilst Reeve didn’t reveal much about the plot, he did say it was a detective story featuring the corruption in Gotham City. He described it as been in the “classic noir” vain, influenced by those gritty 70s crime thrillers.
On Gotham City itself, he promises it is “a version you haven’t seen before”. Rather than using New York or Chicago, it’s actually being shot in Liverpool, using the gothic architecture as a backdrop.
As this is set earlier on in Batman’s life, we’ll be getting earlier version of the various villains as well. For example, Zoe Kravitz (‘Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald,’ ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’) is Selina Kyle, but not Catwoman when we first meet her; Paul Dano’s (‘Love & Mercy’, ’12 Years a Slave’) Edward Nashton is not yet full-blown Riddler; And Colin Farrell’s Oswald Cobblepot is a criminal but hates the Penguin nickname.
They are joined in the cast by Jeffrey Wright (‘Hunger Games’, ‘Westworld’) as the GCPD’s James Gordon; John Turturro (the ‘Transformers’ films) as Carmine Falcone; Peter Sarsgaard (‘The Magnificent Seven,’ ‘Black Mass’) as Gotham D.A. Gil Colson; Barry Keoghan (‘Dunkirk’) as Officer Stanley Merkel; Jayme Lawson (‘Farewell Amor’) as mayoral candidate Bella Reál; With Andy Serkis (the ‘Planet of the Apes’ films, ‘Black Panther’) taking the role of Alfred.
Reeves’ behind-the-scenes creative team includes Oscar-nominated director of photography Greig Fraser (‘Lion,’ upcoming ‘Dune’); his ‘Planet of the Apes’ production designer, James Chinlund; editors William Hoy (the ‘Planet of the Apes’ films) and Tyler Nelson (‘Rememory’); Oscar-winning VFX supervisor Dan Lemmon (‘The Jungle Book’); Oscar-nominated SFX supervisor Dominic Tuohy (‘1917,’ ‘Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker’); Oscar-nominated sound mixer Stuart Wilson (‘1917,’ the ‘Star Wars’ franchise); Oscar-winning costume designer Jacqueline Durran (‘1917,’ ‘Little Women,’ ‘Anna Karenina’) and costume designers Glyn Dillon (the ‘Star Wars’ franchise) and David Crossman (‘1917,’ the ‘Star Wars’ franchise); hair designer Zoe Tahir (upcoming ‘No Time to Die,’ ‘Spectre’); and Oscar-nominated makeup designer Naomi Donne (‘1917’).
‘The Batman’ was written by Matt Reeves & Peter Craig. Reeves and Dylan Clark (the ‘Planet of the Apes’ films) are producing the film, with Simon Emanuel, Michael E. Uslan, Walter Hamada and Chantal Nong Vo serving as executive producers.
Based on characters from DC. Batman was created by Bob Kane with Bill Finger. ‘The Batman’ is set to open in theatres 1st October 2021 in select 3D and 2D and IMAX theatres and will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures.
