Building a Better Batman: Lessons for the Next Caped Crusader
“I am vengeance.”
The latest iteration of actor taking up the cowl of the caped crusader made a thunderous entrance Saturday night as the first trailer for Matt Reeves’ The Batman was unleashed, capping off DC’s all-day “Fandome” online event. In development since 2014 when original “DCEU” dark knight Ben Affleck was supposed to lead the film, the incarnation starring Robert Pattinson has been filming since January with resumed production scheduled to begin next month.
The two-and-a-half minute sneak peek features a generous amount of footage for a movie still more than a year from release. Glimpses of Paul Dano’s Riddler, Colin Farrell as the Penguin, Jeffrey Wright’s Commissioner Gordon on the case… Not to mention our new Batsuit, Batmobile and the titular Batman.
A part of my early process as I envision what this version of Batman ends up being is thinking about what there is left to this character. And I don’t say that in a negative way. We’ve had gothic Batman, campy Batman, ultra-grounded Batman, and LEGO Batman, among others. His versatility as a character could almost warrant its own separate utility belt. With a director as talented as Matt Reeves at the wheel paired with an actor like Robert Pattinson that’s made one interesting choice after another in his growing filmography, there’s an enormous canvas laid bare for what very well could be a defining big-screen run for the 80-year-old comic character.
So, what’s it going to take?
What lessons can be learned and practices implemented to get the absolute most out of the Robert Pattinson bat-era?
- Re-earn the title of “World’s Greatest Detective”. Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight is, for at least the time of this publication, considered the best Batman movie. At the very least, it’s a “1A, 1B” with Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman, depending on your generation. All that to say, some of the best parts of Nolan’s middle chapter of his trilogy were the use of genre. The Dark Knight isn’t just a comic book movie; it has elements of a crime saga and thriller that elevate it to being something more. A very quick glimpse into Matt Reeves’ Gotham City seems to hint at a similar directive: make a detective story where the detective just so happens to be Batman. Piecing together the puzzles left behind by his villains has been a huge story function of comics like The Long Halloween and even the Arkham video game series.
- Make things right with the “rogue’s gallery” of villains. Even without the Joker, Batman probably rivals if not outmatches most other superheroes for the best collection of bad guys. Out of the long list of nightly ne’er-do-wells that plague Gotham, how many would we admit have been done competently on the big screen… other than the Joker? Aaron Eckhart’s Two Face? Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman? All together, probably a handful out of the laundry list of lethal villains Batman has to watch out for. Reeves’ one-off universe has a chance to not only rewrite history and make good for characters like Edward Nigma and even Mr. Freeze in a series not as serviceably realistic as Nolan’s, but also introduce some antagonists long overdue for a chance in film: Hush, Clayface, Hugo Strange, the Court of Owls, etc.
- For once, make Bruce Wayne your best character. While Michael Keaton, George Clooney and Christian Bale have all received their respective accolades for acting, none were ever earned or really ever in the conversation for their portrayals of Bruce Wayne. Instead, at least for Keaton and Bale, both actors’ stints in spandex are more accurately defined by their villains. While most comic book movies are still only as good as the actor/actress playing the villain, character-defining portrayals by the likes of Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans and Tom Holland in another series of comic book movies have brought more attention than ever before to the protagonist. Robert Pattinson, with past work from recent movies like Good Time and The Lighthouse, has the opportunity to present a Bruce Wayne that’s as conflicted as he is on the multi-panel pages of his origin.
