Still more brief details about Matt Reeves’ “The Batman Part II” have emerged via interviews Reeves has given in the past few days and are now going online.
Talking to Happy Sad Confused’s Josh Horowitz at the Emmys last Sunday, Reeves says that while Batman film sequels in the past often shift the focus to villain backstories, this film will still be very much a Bruce Wayne story – more so than the first which was more of a Batman story.
As a result, he says he’s chosen a villain that suitably fits in with his goal, a villain that hasn’t really been portrayed on screen before:
“I knew with the way [The Batman] ended, it was leaving us on the precipice. Also, the way events happen in [The Penguin. There is an exploration to be had, and one of the explorations for me was to do something that pushes even further into the character of Bruce Wayne.
The first story is so much about The Batman. I always wanted in the movies, and let’s say we get to make three – I have no idea – that I always wanted the movies to be focused on his character. A lot of the other films, which I love, once you get past the origin tale, then you start telling the rogues’ gallery story and that character’s arc.
I never wanted to lose Rob at the centre of these stories, so that is what we really set our aim on. Picking the right villain that digs into what that does and goes into his past and his life, that was what drove that discussion. We’re super excited about it, and I will say, it’s never really been done in a movie before.”
This has already led to speculation about Hush, or to a lesser extent the Court of Owls, being the villain. He also confirmed that his franchise is an ‘Elseworlds’ project and not part of the DC Universe:
“We haven’t talked about anything like that. We have had conversations about how things could work and all that kind of stuff, just in general. So, of course, it would be a lot of fun. What I really want to do is play out these stories that we began and arrive at the conclusion I’ve hoped we would arrive at from the beginning. It’s very exciting… I mean, it’s a DC, so, like, it’s Elseworld, but it is DC, so it’s theirs as well. What the future brings and what I am doing will become clear when it comes.”
Production on the new film is slated to begin next April ahead of the film opening October 1st 2027.
