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The Batman is the long-gestating Caped Crusader movie directed by Matt Reeves (Cloverfield, the last two Planet of the Apes movies). Originally announced back in October 2014, The Batman started as a Ben Affleck project, back when the actor was signed up to play the Dark Knight in Batman Vs Superman and Justice League.
Now, itās a standalone movie ā and Robert Pattinson will debut as Bruce Wayne, with an amazing ensemble cast backing him up. Co-written by Reeves and rising screenwriter Mattson Tomlin, expect more of a noir-inspired detective story than weāve seen from past Batman movies.
Below, hereās everything we know about The Batmanās release date, cast, Batmobile and story, which weāll update as we learn more.
[ul]
[li]7 comics you should read before The Batman release[/li][li]How to watch the Batman movies in order[/li][li]The Boys season 2: what we know about the subversive superhero dramaās return[/li][/ul]
The Batman release date: 2021, but delayed
The Batman will release on October 1, delayed from its original release date of June 25, 2021. It was filming in the UK until the coronavirus led to production being shut down.
The Batman cast: Robert Pattinson stars as Bruce Wayne
Robert Pattinson is starring as Bruce Wayne/Batman in this movie, with Andy Serkis serving as his Alfred. The movieās villains are The Riddler (Paul Dano) and The Penguin (Colin Farrell) ā while crime lord Carmine Falcone (John Turturro) and Catwoman (ZoĆ« Kravitz) could be categorized as such, too.
Hereās a quick list of the ensemble cast thatās been confirmed so far:
[ul]
[li]Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne/Batman[/li][li]Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth[/li][li]Zoƫ Kravitz as Selina Kyle/Catwoman[/li][li]Paul Dano as the Riddler/Edward Nashton[/li][li]Jayme Lawson as Bella ReƔl, a mayoral candidate[/li][li]Jeffrey Wright as Jim Gordon[/li][li]Peter Sarsgaard as DA Gil Colson[/li][li]John Turturro as Carmine Falcone[/li][/ul]
Twin actors Max and Charlie Carver have been cast in the movie, too, in unknown roles. There are numerous pairs of DC characters the actors could be playing: Tweedledee and Tweedledum are the most recognizable ātwinā characters from Batman lore.
The Batmanās Batmobile has been revealed
The Batmanās Batmobile has been revealed by Reeves, both to create buzz for the movie and likely to stop paparazzi photos of the car from leaking as filming continues. It looks like a sports car thatās been fitted with a rocket engine ā itās a wild contrast to recent Batmobiles, which were more tank-like in the Nolan and Snyder movies.
The Batmanās Batsuit features a gun welded into the Bat symbol
The Batsuit was revealed by Reeves through a brief bit of moody test footage, with noir-ish music provided by the movieās composer, Michael Giacchino. The main detail to take away from this video is the Bat symbol on Pattinsonās chest ā itās a handgun thatās been sliced in half and turned into the famous logo.
Speculation ā and common sense ā points to this gun being the one used by Joe Chill to kill the Waynes. If thatās true, itās pretty goth ā and very Batman.
The Batman story: what do we know?
[IMG alt="om4xabitopyNYrfgorMoqN" width="690px" height="388px"]https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/om4xabitopyNYrfgorMoqN.jpg[/IMG]
The Batman is set during the second year of the Caped Crusaderās career, according to a story on The Wrap. That should bypass the need to see another Batman origin movie, which Christopher Nolanās films covered definitively in Batman Begins.
Indeed, the presence of Catwoman, Penguin and the Riddler in this film suggests weāre fairly deep into DC Comics lore, here. Expect this to be a Batman movie that features some actual detective work, too. āItās very much a point of view-driven, noir Batman tale,ā Reeves told THR, explaining that heās going for a āthrillingā but āemotionalā movie.
āItās more Batman in his detective mode than weāve seen in the films. The comics have a history of that. Heās supposed to be the worldās greatest detective, and thatās not necessarily been a part of what the movies have been. Iād love this to be one where when we go on that journey of tracking down the criminals and trying to solve a crime, itās going to allow his character to have an arc so that he can go through a transformation.ā
That does sound very different to past Batman movies, and you get a real sense of the movieās noir flavor in the Batsuit test footage ā but until we see a trailer or official synopsis, this is all we really know about the storyline.
The Batman: what happened to Ben Affleckās version?
This Batman film has had a long road to production. Back in summer 2015, Ben Affleck was slated to co-write and direct a movie with that title, reprising his role as the Caped Crusader from Batman Vs Superman. The movie was to feature Deathstroke as the villain, with Affleck even releasing the test footage above on Twitter.
Deathstroke briefly pops up in the post-credits sequence of the Justice League movie, played by Joe Manganiello as he is in the footage above. Affleck dropped out of directing The Batman in January 2017, and finally ended his involvement with the movie officially in early 2019.
Affleck ultimately left the movie due to his struggles with alcohol. āI showed somebody āThe Batmanā script,ā Affleck told the NY Times. āThey said, āI think the script is good. I also think youāll drink yourself to death if you go through what you just went through again.āā The piece also mentions that the troubled Justice League shoot had āsapped his interestā in the Batman role, which is fair enough.
Does the world need another Batman movie?
This new version focuses on Batman as a detective in his younger days, which is a big shift from Affleckās older version of the character. The choice of villains immediately conjures up thoughts of 1992ās Batman Returns, but expect The Batman to have its own specific tone.
With so many versions of Batman on-screen over the past three decades, it makes sense that Reeves would want to differentiate his adaptation from past efforts. The world probably doesnāt need another Batman movie ā but a noir-infused film with a cast this good will firmly draw a line under the Justice League version of the character, which canāt hurt.
[ul]
[li]The best Netflix movies[/li][/ul]
Continue readingā¦
Now, itās a standalone movie ā and Robert Pattinson will debut as Bruce Wayne, with an amazing ensemble cast backing him up. Co-written by Reeves and rising screenwriter Mattson Tomlin, expect more of a noir-inspired detective story than weāve seen from past Batman movies.
Below, hereās everything we know about The Batmanās release date, cast, Batmobile and story, which weāll update as we learn more.
[ul]
[li]7 comics you should read before The Batman release[/li][li]How to watch the Batman movies in order[/li][li]The Boys season 2: what we know about the subversive superhero dramaās return[/li][/ul]
The Batman release date: 2021, but delayed
The Batman will release on October 1, delayed from its original release date of June 25, 2021. It was filming in the UK until the coronavirus led to production being shut down.
The Batman cast: Robert Pattinson stars as Bruce Wayne
Robert Pattinson is starring as Bruce Wayne/Batman in this movie, with Andy Serkis serving as his Alfred. The movieās villains are The Riddler (Paul Dano) and The Penguin (Colin Farrell) ā while crime lord Carmine Falcone (John Turturro) and Catwoman (ZoĆ« Kravitz) could be categorized as such, too.
Hereās a quick list of the ensemble cast thatās been confirmed so far:
[ul]
[li]Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne/Batman[/li][li]Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth[/li][li]Zoƫ Kravitz as Selina Kyle/Catwoman[/li][li]Paul Dano as the Riddler/Edward Nashton[/li][li]Jayme Lawson as Bella ReƔl, a mayoral candidate[/li][li]Jeffrey Wright as Jim Gordon[/li][li]Peter Sarsgaard as DA Gil Colson[/li][li]John Turturro as Carmine Falcone[/li][/ul]
Twin actors Max and Charlie Carver have been cast in the movie, too, in unknown roles. There are numerous pairs of DC characters the actors could be playing: Tweedledee and Tweedledum are the most recognizable ātwinā characters from Batman lore.
The Batmanās Batmobile has been revealed
The Batmanās Batmobile has been revealed by Reeves, both to create buzz for the movie and likely to stop paparazzi photos of the car from leaking as filming continues. It looks like a sports car thatās been fitted with a rocket engine ā itās a wild contrast to recent Batmobiles, which were more tank-like in the Nolan and Snyder movies.
The Batmanās Batsuit features a gun welded into the Bat symbol
The Batsuit was revealed by Reeves through a brief bit of moody test footage, with noir-ish music provided by the movieās composer, Michael Giacchino. The main detail to take away from this video is the Bat symbol on Pattinsonās chest ā itās a handgun thatās been sliced in half and turned into the famous logo.
Speculation ā and common sense ā points to this gun being the one used by Joe Chill to kill the Waynes. If thatās true, itās pretty goth ā and very Batman.
The Batman story: what do we know?
[IMG alt="om4xabitopyNYrfgorMoqN" width="690px" height="388px"]https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/om4xabitopyNYrfgorMoqN.jpg[/IMG]
The Batman is set during the second year of the Caped Crusaderās career, according to a story on The Wrap. That should bypass the need to see another Batman origin movie, which Christopher Nolanās films covered definitively in Batman Begins.
Indeed, the presence of Catwoman, Penguin and the Riddler in this film suggests weāre fairly deep into DC Comics lore, here. Expect this to be a Batman movie that features some actual detective work, too. āItās very much a point of view-driven, noir Batman tale,ā Reeves told THR, explaining that heās going for a āthrillingā but āemotionalā movie.
āItās more Batman in his detective mode than weāve seen in the films. The comics have a history of that. Heās supposed to be the worldās greatest detective, and thatās not necessarily been a part of what the movies have been. Iād love this to be one where when we go on that journey of tracking down the criminals and trying to solve a crime, itās going to allow his character to have an arc so that he can go through a transformation.ā
That does sound very different to past Batman movies, and you get a real sense of the movieās noir flavor in the Batsuit test footage ā but until we see a trailer or official synopsis, this is all we really know about the storyline.
The Batman: what happened to Ben Affleckās version?
This Batman film has had a long road to production. Back in summer 2015, Ben Affleck was slated to co-write and direct a movie with that title, reprising his role as the Caped Crusader from Batman Vs Superman. The movie was to feature Deathstroke as the villain, with Affleck even releasing the test footage above on Twitter.
Deathstroke briefly pops up in the post-credits sequence of the Justice League movie, played by Joe Manganiello as he is in the footage above. Affleck dropped out of directing The Batman in January 2017, and finally ended his involvement with the movie officially in early 2019.
Affleck ultimately left the movie due to his struggles with alcohol. āI showed somebody āThe Batmanā script,ā Affleck told the NY Times. āThey said, āI think the script is good. I also think youāll drink yourself to death if you go through what you just went through again.āā The piece also mentions that the troubled Justice League shoot had āsapped his interestā in the Batman role, which is fair enough.
Does the world need another Batman movie?
This new version focuses on Batman as a detective in his younger days, which is a big shift from Affleckās older version of the character. The choice of villains immediately conjures up thoughts of 1992ās Batman Returns, but expect The Batman to have its own specific tone.
With so many versions of Batman on-screen over the past three decades, it makes sense that Reeves would want to differentiate his adaptation from past efforts. The world probably doesnāt need another Batman movie ā but a noir-infused film with a cast this good will firmly draw a line under the Justice League version of the character, which canāt hurt.
[ul]
[li]The best Netflix movies[/li][/ul]
Continue readingā¦