While Marvel may be the current king of the superhero box office, since 1989 there has been no hero as successful as Batman. The caped crusader has had a near constant presence on the big screen for three decades. While we've known that the next Batman movie, currently titled The Batman is set for a 2021 release, what's been less clear is when production would get underway. However, a new rumor indicates that cameras could be getting rolling early next year.
Specifically, the official start date for The Batman is January 13, 2020, according to GWW. The article doesn't specify where this information has come from, so we have to call it a rumor at this point, but since the movie is set to debut in the summer of 2021, any start anytime in the first half of 2020 would certainly make sense.
Previously, reports had claimed that production could start as early as this fall, before the end of the year. It's even possible that was the plan but that the date was pushed back. With the movie set for release 23 months from now, there's plenty of time, so it's unlikely things are going to be in a rush. Unless The Batman is going to have significantly more post-production work needed than the average blockbuster, or is going to have a longer shooting schedule than your average superhero movie, as long as principal photography is finished by next summer, everything should be fine.
In between now and when production starts there is, as far as we know, some important work to be done. Specifically, there's a lot of casting left to do. The only actor who has been confirmed for the new Batman movie is Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne/Batman. Not only that, Batman is the only character who has been confirmed for the film. Several of Batman's Rogues Gallery of villains have been rumored to be appearing, but none have been confirmed.
Other supporting players like ally/villain Catwoman have been reported to be playing a part and one assumes characters like Alfred and Commissioner Gordon will also appear, but we don't even know that much for a fact.
All we really know about Matt Reeves script is that the movie will be more of a detective story than previous Batman films. One of Batman's many nicknames is the "World's Greatest Detective" but we rarely see him playing that role in the movies, trying to unravel a mystery or determine a guilty party.
It also appears, based on the fact that Ben Affleck will not be part of this film, that the new movie will be separate from the Justice League DC franchise, though the movie could potentially be set as a prequel.
Many of these questions will likely be answered as actual casting is confirmed, and once filming begins we can be sure that even more rumors will begin to surface about what exactly The Batman is all about. We'll find out for sure when the movie hits theaters in June of 2021.
