Matt Reeves' highly anticipatedThe Batmanis roughly a month away from its big theatrical release, but the upcoming DC film originally had a much different story when Ben Affleck was first attached to direct. Now, Reeves has opened up about Affleck’s script, comparing it to the James Bond films.
It was back in 2013 when Affleck signed on to star as the caped crusader for multiple films, which eventually included DCEU’sBatman v Superman: Dawn of JusticeandJustice League. In 2014, it was announced he would be directing and starring in his standaloneBatmanfilm. After Affleck announced he would step down as director but still planned to star in the film, the search for the next director began.
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When Reeves' name was thrown into the mix of potential frontrunners to direct, he read a version of Affleck’s script, but felt it wasn’t the story he truly wanted to tell. Following Affleck’s departure from the project entirely, Reeves took total control and the search for the next Batman was then underway, eventually landing on Robert Pattinson to don the cape and cowl. Now, Reeves has opened up to Esquire about that original script from Affleck, recalling the early conversations he had with Warner Bros. regarding where he wanted to take the character. “I read a script that they had that was a totally valid take on the movie,” Reeves said. “It was very action driven. It was very deeply connected to the DCEU, with other major characters from other movies and other comics popping up. I just knew that when I read it this particular script was not the way I’d want to do it.”
Reeves strived to take the story in a personal direction, sharing that he really wanted tocreate a full arc for Batman. “I said, ‘Look, I think maybe I’m not the person for this,’” Reeves continued. “And I explained to them why I love this character. I told them that there have been so many great movies, but if I were to do this, I’d have to make it personal, so that I understood what I was going to do with it, so that I know where to put the camera, so that I know what to tell the actors, so that I know what the story should be. This take, I told them, pointing at the script, is a totally valid and exciting take. It is almost James Bond-ian, but it wasn’t something that I quite related to.”
Reeves' comments come shortly after he spoke with Premiere about why he wanted toreboot theBatmanfilm series. The director shared that instead of trying to tie the character into the larger universe that is the DCEU and missing the mark, his love for the character growing up propelled him to start from scratch and really hone in on whom the Batman is as a character.
While fans won’t get to see Affleck’s version on the big screen, it appears that Batman is in good hands with Reeves.The Batmanwill focus heavily on a noir-driven, detective version of the characrer as the film will take place in Bruce Wayne’s second year of fighting crime. From the footage released, it looks like Reeves' film will be one of the darkest Batman stories to date, as the director even added that his version ofBatman is heavily inspired by Kurt Cobainand the ’90s grunge scene.
The Batmanis set to release in theaters on March 4th, 2022, and will be available to stream on HBO Max 45 days later.
