The Batman was the first blockbuster of 2022 when it was released in early March, and it became a critical and commercial success.
The film sees Robert Pattinson making his debut in the infamous cowl, with Zoë Kravitz playing Selina Kyle, better known as Catwoman, Colin Farrell playing The Penguin and Paul Dano playing The Riddler.
Additionally, Andy Serkis has the role of Alfred Pennyworth, Jeffrey Wright is Commissioner Gordon, John Turturro plays crime boss Carmine Falcone and Peter Sarsgaard is Gil Colson, Gotham’s District Attorney. Matt Reeves, best known for his work on the Planet of the Apes trilogy, is in the director’s chair.
In Reeves’ new version, we meet Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne in his second year of fighting crime as Batman, uncovering systemic corruption in Gotham City while also looking for the Riddler, a serial killer who targets Gotham’s elite.
Part of the success of The Batman, which grossed nearly $800 million at the global box office, was Pattinson’s introduction of Wayne as a different take on the character – a younger, more feverish and more violent version of the Dark Knight, set against a brutally dark palette.
As the film hits DVD shelves, spoke exclusively with James Chinlund, the film’s production designer, who revealed that he and Reeves wanted to give the character a true do-it-yourself aesthetic and move away from gadgets. and high technology. Ultimate technology used by earlier versions of the character.
Chinlund told us, “Bruce is early in his development. He does everything himself. He’s not connected to Wayne Industries in the same way. This is Bruce Wayne being built from the ground up. We approach everything we’ve done the same way. We had that. in mind for the car and the costume. We had that spirit. If Bruce couldn’t do it alone, there was no place. Everything was about the mission, everything was about him becoming the greatest detective in the world.”
That commitment to the DIY aesthetic was also applied to the Batmobile, a look that Chinlund said the film’s creative team agonized over.
“The car was a real pinch point for our anxiety,” he explained. “We had to create a Batmobile that was impactful and exciting for the fans, but also very grounded. We weren’t going to surprise people with amazing shapes and rockets going off. It’s a car, not a military machine. I was really nervous about putting it together. [it] with the character, but also making it exciting.”
A sequel to The Batman is confirmed, with Pattinson and Kravitz set to return. Chinlund, who had worked with Reeves prior to The Batman on War for the Planet of the Apes and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, did not elaborate on any details, nor whether he would return for the sequel.
Our bet, having seen Chinlund and his team build a perfect follow-up to Reeves’s noir-soaked vision, is that he’ll be back. But we’ll have to wait for the sequel to see…
Batman is available for digital download as well as 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD now.
You can read more about the leaked plans for the sequel’s villain here.
