Photo: Cinema Blend
With the upcoming latest installment “The Batman,” American filmmaker Matt Reeves wants to create a new Bat-verse as an offshoot.
The film follows Dark Knight’s second year—portrayed by Robert Pattinson—a murder mystery that involves familiar characters from the canon: the Riddler (played by Paul Dano), a serial killer that preys on Gotham’s corrupt aristocrats; Selene Kyle (portrayed by Zoë Kravitz), who will later set off as Catwoman; and the Penguin (played by Colin Farrell), aka Oswald Cobblepot, who is just a mid-tier mob lieutenant in the film and has not even reached a good enough villain achievement.
“The Batman” is created as a story on its own and not standing within DC’s universe (DCEU); Reeves has already been thinking of plans to broaden this world outside the big screen.
Two new shows in the works at HBO Max will have the “Cloverfield” director as executive producer; one is a Gotham City Police Department drama announced back in July 2020 while another circulates the Penguin’s rise to power.
“What I really wanted this movie to do is create a Batverse,” Reeves told a media outlet. “You don’t do a story and go, ‘This is Chapter 1’ because you might not get to do Chapter 2. So, the story had to stand on its own. But the thing about it is that the Bat world is so rich with character that as you’re starting to come to an end, you can already start thinking about the next thing. Because the idea, of course, is that Gotham’s story never ends.”
As per Reeves’ statement, the Penguin show appeared out of discussions with HBO Max, which wanted more than sideline characters from the film.
“I was thrilled by that,” Reeves says. “I said [to HBO Max], ‘To be honest with you, the thing that was going to be the seeds of what I thought the next story could be in terms of the Penguin is that I saw there being this kind of ‘American dream in Gotham’ sort of story, almost like “Scarface;” the rise of this character who we all know will achieve mythic status.’ He is underestimated, and he’s like a time bomb … They were like, ‘Oh my God, we’re in!’ And that was really exciting because, by that point, Colin had already given life to this character.”
Despite Reeve’s hold back on giving more information about which characters will be spotlighted next, he clearly showed his hopes for these projects because of its focus on characters.
Batman is coming to the theaters on March 4.
