Whilst we eagerly await for the production of 'The Batman', the quick return to the world of the Dark Knight headed by Warner Bros and director Matt Reeves ('Dawn of the Planet of the Apes'), to start up, fans of the character must settle for the steady trickle of news stories surrounding the film. This week, fans have experienced highs with the recent casting of Zoë Kravitz ('Big Little Lies') as Catwoman and also lows, with Jonah Hill ('The Wolf of Wall Street') unexpectedly severing ties with the project. Added to this are the latest statements from Robert Pattinson ('Twilight'), in which the actor discusses the angle he intends to take in his interpretation of this new version of Bruce Wayne.
In an interview with The New York Times, Pattinson explained that one of the main attractions of the project and its titular role was the complexity of the character, who, according to him, is far from the heroic archetypes that we're used to in the superhero genre: "Batman's not a hero...He's a complicated character. I don't think I could ever play a real hero - there's always got to be something a little bit wrong. I think it's because one of my eyes is smaller than the other one". However, this antiheroic description of Batman does seem quite similar to interpretations that we've already seen in the films of Tim Burton, Christopher Nolan and Zack Snyder.
In an attempt to clarify his meaning, the actor stated that it is precisely this moral ambiguity that makes Batman into a hero distinct from any other that has emerged onto the big screen from comic strip origins. "His morality is a little bit off. He's not the golden boy, unlike almost ever other comic-book character. There is a simplicity to his worldview, but where it sits is strange, which allows you to have more scope with the character". Pattinson also admitted that he doesn't tend to discuss the project very much due to the volatile reactions his words could provoke amongst the fans. "I fear that when I say anything about 'Batman', people online are like "What does this mean?" And I don't know! I used to be very good at censoring myself, but i've said so many ridiculous things over the years, so I'm always curious when I'm promoting these movies how many times I can mess up".
A complicated road from script to screen
Regardless of the success that Reeves hopes to achieve in 2021, the project will certainly go down in history for its chaotic and never-ending road to production. It went from being the first solo adventure of the Dark Knight within the DC universe, with Ben Affleck originally slated to star and direct the film, to being a film beset by rumours and misunderstandings that was perpetually on the verge of being cancelled. Luckily, Warner finally put an end to this state of uncertainty in January by announcing that the project was now going to be a reintroduction to the iconic character, with Affleck (due to various personal issues) stepping down and passing on the keys to the Batmobile to the next generation.
