We’re coming up on nearly two years since it was announced that Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’ Matt Reeves would succeed Ben Affleck as director of The Batman, and a lot has changed since then. Well, as January wraps up, the Caped Crusader’s next movie has finally taken a crucial step forward: rolling cameras. That’s right, The Batman is now filming, and here's how Reeves commemorated the occasion.
It doesn’t get much more classic than using a clapboard to announce the start of principal photography. In addition to seeing Matt Reeves’ name alongside Greig Fraser, the cinematographer, we also get a look at The Batman logo, which has an art deco style to it.
As for the chair this clapboard is resting on, I suspect this is either one of the many comfy places to sit within the Wayne manor, or it belongs to Oswald Cobblepot, a.k.a. The Penguin, who enjoys the finer things in life and would easily put a chair like that in the Iceberg Lounge or one of his lairs. In any case, with this Twitter post, it’s now official that The Batman is now filming in London, and it remains to be seen when production will wrap.
While initially Ben Affleck, in addition to reprising his version of Bruce Wayne, was supposed to direct The Batman, he stepped down from that position at the start of 2017, and when Matt Reeves came aboard, he started working on an entirely new script. By the beginning of 2019, Affleck announced that he wouldn’t reprise Batman, paving the way for Robert Pattinson to inherit the cape and cowl by the end of May.
Since then, The Batman has slowly built up its cast, which includes Jeffrey Wright as James Gordon, Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman, Paul Dano as Riddler, Colin Farrell as Penguin, Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth and John Turturro as Carmine Falcone, and Jayme Lawson reportedly playing a politician named Bella. Peter Sarsgaard has also been cast in an undisclosed role, although there’s speculation that the latter is playing Harvey Dent, a.k.a. Two-Face.
As for plot details, nothing has been officially revealed about The Batman’s story yet, but rumor has it that it’s adapting the “Long Halloween” arc, which saw Batman hunting down the serial killer Holiday over the course of a year and running into many of his famous adversaries along the way. That would line up with how Matt Reeves has said numerous times that The Batman will feature a noir-driven, detective version of the eponymous character.
Now that filming is underway on The Batman, hopefully this means that an official look of Robert Pattinson in the Batsuit is forthcoming. Better we see what he looks like that way rather than through a leaked set photo first. I’d also welcome a peek at the cool-sounding Batmobile that was teased last week.
The Batman casts its shadow in theaters on June 25, 2021, so keep checking back with CinemaBlend for more updates on its progress. Don’t forget to also look through our DC movies guide to learn what else is coming out in this corner of the superhero movie realm.
