Director Matt Reeves took to Twitter recently to address the suspension of filming on The Batman. Warner Bros had previously suspended principal photography, which had been underway since the start of the year in the United Kingdom. In a tweet from March 25, when the director was asked if “The Batman” was experiencing any delays due to the COVID -19 pandemic, Reeves said the following:
“Yes, we have shut down till it is safe for us all to resume… Everyone safe for the moment, thank you for asking, and stay safe too…”
Composer Michael Giacchino also sat down with Collider recently and addressed his work on the upcoming film:
“I felt total freedom to do whatever I want. Matt always agreed, this is our Batman, this is our version. In the same way that I always loved, what I still do about Batman comics and graphic novels is that each of these artists, each of these authors they take their own crack at what they want this to be. It’s their version of Batman.”
Giacchino spoke further about how he loves how Batman is open to interpretation.
“I love it when I see a graphic novel of Batman in the 1800s. To me that is cool. I love that. I’m not the kind of person that says that Batman must always be this. It’s like no, why? It can be whatever the artist wants to be and it has over the years done that, many times over. I love the idea of taking something and just kind of doing our version of it.”
Giacchino was understandably tight-lipped about details for the upcoming film, but did highlight that this will be a new take on the character.
“I do love it. I think what he’s doing is really cool, and it’s different and feels fresh. In the way that I get excited when I see a new graphic novel or a comic book coming out with a new take. It feels like that.”
In looking at the very limited information we have about the film, which is at this point is some test footage and an early look at the score for the film, along with a few still photos of Robert Pattinson in costume next to the new Batmobile, it does indeed appear that Matt Reeves and his collaborators have a very specific take on Batman and his world. It is notable that Giacchino makes what seems to be a reference to the Elseworlds story, Gotham By Gaslight. While this is likely simply the composer referencing how malleable the character is, it does continue to suggest that this new film series will be more of an interpretation then a direct translation of the source material.
The Batman is currently scheduled for release on June 25, 2021. Whether or not it keeps that date remains unknown but given the amount of post-production time a major studio film typically requires, as it is unlikely that filming will resume anytime soon, a new release date is increasingly likely as more time goes on. The Batman Universe will continue to provide updates on The Batman as they become available.
