At DC FanDome, Matt Reeves revealed the "deep dive" comic book inspiration for The Batman, and it turns out it isn't Frank Miller's Year One.
Matt Reeves reveals the comic book inspiration behind The Batman, and it isn't Frank Miller's Year One. With The Batman, Robert Pattinson becomes the latest actor to play Bruce Wayne in live-action form, and it promises to be unlike any other Batman movie that came before. While it won't be an origin story, The Batman will be set during Bruce's second year as Gotham's famed vigilante. Reeves has said the film will delve into Gotham's corruption, as well as Batman's role as a detective. So far, though, specific plot details have been kept under wraps.
Yesterday marked the first-ever DC FanDome, and Reeves was on hand to reveal more details about The Batman. Reeves discussed how The Batman will serve as the origin story for several famed Batman villains and revealed some new details about his in-development Gotham PD television show. Perhaps most excitingly, however, Reeves was able to debut the first trailer for The Batman, offering fans their best look at Pattinson in action. Needless to say, there's a great deal of interest surrounding The Batman.
During the DC FanDome panel for The Batman, Reeves offered some more insight about the comic book references that went into the film. Many people have expected Year One to be an important inspiration, but Reeves instead named Darwyn Cooke's Batman: Ego and Other Tails has being a big influence on the film. As Reeves explained:
You know, for me, because I wanted to get into the mindset of the character, and I wanted to think of the psychology, for me I think one of the cool deep dive ones was Darwyn Cooke's Ego. He's confronting the beast that is Batman and there's a kind of duality. I mean, there's a lot in what, you know, he's trying to do in the story about him confronting the shadow side of himself. The degree to which you have self-knowledge, you're able to understand your motivations, but. he's broken, Batman.
The Batman intends to dig into Bruce's trauma in new ways, so this inspiration seems to fall in line with what Reeves has previously said about the film. Truthfully, this sounds like a really interesting way to explore Bruce's character. Batman has been depicted numerous times across film and television, thus making it difficult to find more inventive ways of exploring him. However, it sounds like Reeves has picked a really intriguing approach, and it's safe to say fans are pretty excited about what's ahead.
Reeves has plans for additional Batman films beyond this first one, and it'll be interesting to see where he takes Bruce from here. Before that, though, he'll go through some serious obstacles. From the trailer, it's clear Bruce is investigating a string of murders committed by the Riddler (Paul Dano), and it's going to involve him digging into Gotham's seedy underbelly. Based on the positive reactions to the trailer, it's safe to say fans are extremely excited for The Batman. And they have good reason to be. By exploring Bruce's inner workings, The Batman sounds like it'll be a fascinating new take on the character.