Batman looks set to go in a new direction.
After Ben Affleck stepped away from the director’s chair on The Batman, the general consensus was that Warner Bros. made an incredibly shrewd move by replacing him with Matt Reeves (Cloverfield, Let Me In, War for the Planet of the Apes)
Since then, Batfleck’s involvement with the project has been the source of considerable rumour and chat – the actor’s own brother, Casey, said that Ben’s not particularly interested in playing the character again – but Reeves remained tight-lipped on the chances of Affleck wearing the cape and cowl again.
Speaking at a Television Critics Association panel, here’s what Reeves had to say on Affleck’s potential involvement as The Dark Knight in his film.
“There are ways in which all of this connects to DC, to the DC universe as well. We’re one piece of many pieces so I don’t want to comment on that except to say that I’m focused very specifically on this aspect of the DC world,” said Reeves.
This being said, the director of Argo, The Town and Gone Baby Gone has just signed up to reunite with Matt Damon for a new true crime movie that’s based about a multi-million dollar scam that involved the McDonald’s Monopoly game.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Affleck, who last helmed the 2016 crime drama Live by Night, will direct from a script by the writers of Deadpool, with Damon starring.
The movie will follow the FBI operation to uncover the underground criminal ring, run by someone named Uncle Jerry, who used his job as a security officer at the firm that printed the game pieces to defraud the fast food’s annual promotion of $24 million in prize money over several years.
Now, there’s every chance that Affleck can do both at the same time – direct his new movie and star as Batman – but Reeves also said that he’s close to finishing the first draft of The Batman with filming expected to start by spring or summer 2019.
Given how big an undertaking it is to direct a film, we wonder if Affleck has had enough with playing the Caped Crusader? As of yet, nothing official has been announced.
With regards to the plot of The Batman, Reeves said that they’re definitely not adapting Frank Miller’s iconic graphic novel, Year One.
“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,” he said.
These comments echo what he previously said during the press tour on War for the Planet of the Apes – basically, we’re going to get a Batman film that where he relies more on his skills as a detective.
Reeves elaborated on the tone and visual style that he’s aiming for on the new film.
“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.”
With The Joker getting his own standalone film and Birds of Prey expected to arrive too, it’s clear that there are some massive plans for the DC Universe.
After disappointing takes on the character in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League, it’s time that The Dark Knight got back on track.
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