Matt Reeves was present at a TCA panel for Fox’s upcoming series, The Passage, which he executive produces, when he gave reporters an updated on his forthcoming Batman film.
The writer/director of the movie once known as The Batman said he is hoping to finish a “draft [of the script in] the next couple weeks.” He also revealed that he and Warner Bros. are aiming for a “spring or early summer” 2019 start date for filming.
When asked if the movie was going to follow the classic Year One storyline, as has recently been rumored, Reeves stated he wasn’t planning on “doing any particular [comic],” adding, “We are definitely not doing Year One.” He continued,
“It’s just exciting to be focused very specifically on a tale that is defining for him and very personal to him. Obviously we’re not doing an origin tale or anything like that. We’re doing a story that is definitively Batman though and trying to tell a story that’s emotional and yet is really about him being the world’s greatest detective and all the things that for me, since I was a kid, made me love Batman.”
Instead of rehashing the character’s well-worn origins, Reeves said he wants his movie to be “a very point of view noir-driven definitive Batman story in which he is investigating a particular case and that takes us out into the world of Gotham.” While it’s nice to know he won’t be telling a tale we’ve heard, oh, nine times before, there’s still one major question about Reeves’ Batman: Who will be wearing the cowl?
Rumors have been swirling since Ben Affleck stepped down from writing and directing the project that he’d also be giving up the starring role, abdicating the batsuit he’s worn in Justice League and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Reeves played coy when asked directly about Affleck’s involvement, which may be saying more than not saying anything at all. “We’re one piece of many pieces so I don’t want to comment on that except to say that I’m focused very specifically on this aspect of the DC world,” he said.
That means it’s also unclear whether this Bat-film will be tied into the interconnected DC Extended Universe films (Wonder Woman, Justice League, the upcoming Aquaman). Which, for that matter, also means we don’t know if/how it’s connected Jaoquin Phoenix’s Joker. Hopefully it’ll at least be a good movie.
