There’s always some concern when there’s a director switch behind the scenes of a big-budget blockbuster, such as the case when Ben Affleck decided against directing himself in The Batman. Fortunately, in a new interview with New Trailer Buzz, the film’s current captain, Matt Reeves, describes a vision that seems to jibe with Affleck’s — and many fans’.
“In all of my films, what I try to do, in an almost Hitchcockian sense, is use the camera and use the storytelling so that you become that character, and you emphasize with that point of view,” Reeves said when asked about The Batman. “There’s a chance to do an almost noir-driven, detective version of Batman that is point-of-view driven in a very, very powerful way, that hopefully is going to connect you to what’s going on inside of his head and inside of his heart.”
Focusing on the detective side of the World’s Greatest Detective is something comic readers have long called for, as most of the Bat films gloss over this aspect of the character. Affleck himself had previously said his version of the movie would have been a detective tale like The Maltese Falcon, so he’s surely happy to hear his new director express similar desires.
Reeves also spoke about the emotional core of Batman, saying he finds something similar in the ape protagonist in his upcoming War for the Planet of the Apes, Caesar:
“One of the reasons I was drawn to [The Batman] is that I had a similar obsession to Batman when I was younger that I had with the Apes series, which I was obsessed with. I see a parallel emotionally between Caesar and Batman, in that they’re both tortured and trying to sort of grapple within themselves to try and do the right thing in a very imperfect and, to some degree, corrupt world. It’s really that emotionality that I’m interested.”
Reeves noted that he’s really only just starting work on The Batman, having barely finished Apes earlier this month. Production is expected to start sometime either late this year or early next, with eyes on a 2019 release date, though nothing official has been announced. Affleck co-wrote the script with Geoff Johns, and he’ll next appear as Batman in Justice League on November 17th.
Watch the interview below.
