The Bat is back! As a part of the DC FanDome 2020 online event, we got a glimpse at many upcoming DC/Warner productions: there’s the final trailer for Wonder Woman 1984, a trailer for the 4 hour Zack Snyder cut of Justice League (the one everyone insisted did not exist) and more ….

But let’s focus on the Bat.

It first started as a part of DCEU, with Ben Affleck set to direct and star in a direct link with Man of Steel, Batman v. Superman and Justice League, but after some languishing in development hell, Matt Reeves (known for Cloverfield and Planet of the Apes movies) took over as director.

When Ben Affleck was set to star and direct, the villain of the film would have been Deathstroke played by Joe Maganiello and the screenplay would have prominently featured Arkham Asylum.

Matt Reeves has stated that his Batman movie will be a point-of-view driven noir tale with heavy focus on Batman’s detective work. He opted not to use the script Affleck had been preparing when he was set to direct, preferring to start fresh with his own story, rumored to be inspired by The Long Halloween, as it will showcase more of Batman in his “world’s greatest detective” role.

Robert Pattinson was director Matt Reeve’s top choice. Reeves has said to have been very impressed by Pattinson’s 2017 film Good Time, and Pattinson’s performance in the film is rumored to have played a major role in his decision. Growing up in London, UK, Pattinson watched the Tim Burton Batman movies and loved them: “Batman was really the only superhero who I had any connection with when I was growing up, I was kind of obsessed when I was a kid.”

He’d been chasing Batman for much longer than anyone knew. Pattinson had heard that Reeves was working on a script that reimagines Bruce Wayne in the younger years of his life. “I’ve had Batman in my mind for a while. It’s such an absurd thing to say. I sort of had an idea to do it, and I’d been prodding Matt. He didn’t accept any prods. I kept asking to meet him.”

When Reeves finally finished the script, he relented and agreed to a meeting in LA. “And then I had to kind of try to imagine what he’d written, and I hadn’t even read the script. I’d come with this pad full of notes.”

This time, the Batman will have his hand full as The Riddler (Paul Dano), The Penguin (Collin Farell), Catwoman (Zoë Kravitz) join the movie as parts of the Batman Rogue Gallery, with Jeffrey Wright as James Gordon, Andy Serkis as Alfred and John Turturro as Carmine Falcone.

The cast and the premise already are causing a great divide between the fans, but we can not say anything before seeing the complete product. We all remember how fans reacted to the casting of now iconic Heath Ledger as The Joker, and how nobody thought Michael Keaton, the actor who had just played the leads in Beetlejuice and Mister Mom could play a convincing Dark Knight.

The movie is set (at least for now) for a 2021 release.

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