Even as set photos of Robert Pattinson’s stunt double leak online, we’re still left wondering what type of story Matt Reeves is telling with his highly anticipated superhero movie, The Batman. From what we have determined, it will not be an origin story akin to Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins. Pattinson already will be a Gotham crimefighter, but still early enough in his process that he’s figuring it out. How early? This visual hint from The Batman’s Jeffrey Wright might help explain.
As you can see, Westworld and The Batman co-star Jeffrey Wright posted on his Instagram a copy of a Golden Age Batman graphic novel collecting stories from the earliest days of the Caped Crusader’s 80-year history. Wright refers to this as “background reads,” which could hint at the influence he’s looking for when playing Jim Gordon.
Like, for instance, is Jeffrey Wright’s Gordon a commissioner in the Gotham Police Department at this stage of the story? Is he fighting crime alongside Robert Pattinson’s Batman? Or is he as unsure about who to trust in this endeavor as the criminals are, because Bruce Wayne isn’t one for making friends or partners (despite the rumors that we might finally get an on-screen Robin again, for the first time in decades).
There have been two other storylines that have been suggested as fans try to figure out the source material from which Matt Reeves is pulling when filming The Batman. The first is Batman: Year One, written by Frank Miller, which does parallel the rise of both Bruce Wayne and Jim Gordon in the superhero’s first year patrolling Gotham. It makes use of characters that have been cast by Reeves, including Selina Kyle (Zoe Kravitz) and Carmine Falcone (John Turturro).
Then again, so too does another famous Batman story that many fans hope that Matt Reeves is following, and that would be Batman: The Long Halloween. That book, written by Jeph Loeb, also takes place during Batman’s early years, and features him working his way through a laundry list of his rogue’s gallery as he tracks down the Holiday killer. Neither of these happens to be the book that Jeffrey Wright shared, so now we can throw that Volume One collection onto the speculation fire.
The rumor mill is starting to kick into full gear, though, as more leaks from the set. Yes, Matt Reeves shared that costume test of Robert Pattinson in what looked like an early prototype suit. And there have been stories that the costume we see the stuntman wearing while riding the Bat-Cycle will be an early version that gets scrapped after a fight in favor of Batman’s classic grey and blue number.
But until we see an official trailer, this is all one big mystery, no matter what Jeffrey Wright tells us that he’s reading in his trailer between takes.
Look for The Batman in theaters on June 25, 2021. And bookmark our DC Community Page to stay up to date with all of the movies coming from the pages of DC Comics.
