As DC’s new reboot of the film franchise based on its famous caped crusader nears theatrical release, director Matt Reeves has said that he won’t instantly rush into the sequel.The Batmanis releasing in two weeks and is already set to befollowed by two planned sequels, as well as shape a new Batman franchise with two spin-offs greenlit by Warner Bros. for HBO Max. Despite that, Reeves says that he has no plans to start production onThe Batman 2anytime soon.
The new reboot starring Robert Pattinson will kickstart with a different approach, with the film being set in the second year of Bruce Wayne’s crime-fighting vigilantism and won’t touch his origin as previous films have. It will be first of a kind introductory film based on Batman, where the Dark Knight will be featured alongside several important figures from his comic-book lore. Though Zack Snyder’sBatman v. Supermanwasn’t an origin story either for Batman, the film’s opening did cover that aspect of Ben’s Batman. Now, with Pattinson taking on the role, we will see him putagainst The Riddler, who has been on a killing rampage in Gotham. The film will also star Colin Farrell as Penguin and will alsofeature Zoë Kravitz as Selina Kyle/Catwomanin a leading role.
Matt Reeves wants to see how audiences perceive his Batman. The film’s storyline and the abundance of Batman comics’ characters in the film already speculate a number of potential storylines that can be adapted into the sequels, yet Reeves says that his film does not express the idea of being a starting chapter in a long franchise. Instead, he always wishedThe Batmanto be a wholesome film.
Talking toLos Angeles Times En Español, Reeves said,
“I think the first thing is a very long nap and here’s the thing, my feeling in doing the film was always that I would never treat it as chapter 1. Because chapter 1 assumes that there are more chapters. So what I wanted to do was to make this movie a satisfying experience so that people could experience a new fresh version of a character that the world has loved for over 80 years.”
Reeves also added how he has a lot to tell in future films focusing on Pattinson’s Batman and that he has a lot of stories to blend for further installments. He has earlier shared his ideas on having amore grounded take on Mr. Freeze inThe Batman 2. But first, he wants to analyze how the audience takesThe Batmanand its themes and subtexts before taking that leap.
“I think that if we succeed on that front, I know that I have a lot of stories I want to tell, and then we’ll do chapter 2, but not because we didn’t make this one a complete experience. Let’s just see what happens, let’s see the audience watch it. I hope they connect to it and if they do then yes there’s definitely more to do, and I will not be napping for too long!”
Related:The Dark Knight Trilogy: Why Christopher Nolan’s Approach is the Model for Franchise Filmmaking
The Batman Will However Continue With HBO Max Spinoffs
Reeves, who earlier claimed he is looking to top Nolan’sThe Dark Knight Trilogymay be focusing on one story at a time to achieve that level of perfection. Even Nolan took three years to makeThe Dark Knightand another four years to complete his trilogy afterBatman Begins. Moreover, Reeves could be also eyeing to execute the spin-offs, focusing on Gotham City Police Department and Colin Farrell’s Penguin respectively, wherein Reeves is actively involved as executive producer and co-creator.
The Batmanmay not be followed up for a sequel soon,but it will serve as a foundation to any potential storiesthat may be spun out of it in the future.The Batmanis the first DC Films project to be released as a solo, separate film since the studio ventured into the shared film continuity segment with DCEU. BesidesThe Batman, Warner Bros. will continue DCEU with releases likeBlack Adam,The Flash, andAquaman: The Lost Kingdom. It’s also possible thatBatgirlwill also release this year as an HBO Max exclusive set in the same franchise.The Batmanis already receiving a massive response from fans and is likely to attract ahuge group of fans within its first week. And if that goes accordingly,The Batman 2may soon be pushed into the pipeline.
