The Batman director Matt Reeves reveals that he had the opportunity to make a Ben Affleck solo film around Batman. The director says the script was “deeply” connected to the DCEU and was almost “James Bond-ian.”
In an interview with Esquire Middle East the 55-year-old filmmaker explains why Affleck’s Batman movie wasn’t quite what he had in mind when asked if he wanted to make a version of Batman.
“I read the script they had and it was a completely valid version of the movie,” he said. “There was a lot of action in it. It was deeply connected to the DCEU, to other key characters from other movies and other comics that came out. All I knew the moment I read it was that this particular script wasn’t the way I wanted it to be.” wanted to do.”
That script turned out to be written by Ben Affleck as he was also slated to star in the film, but Reeves turned it down.
“I said look, I don’t think I’m the person for this,” he reveals. “And I explained to them why I love this character. I told them that there have been so many good movies, but when I do this, it becomes personal, so that I understood what I was going to do with it, that I knew where to put the camera, what I would tell the actors and what the story would be.”
In the end, it seems Reeves got his way with his vision and cast Robert Pattinson as his own Dark Knight. The Batman digs deeper into Bruce Wayne’s early days as a crime fighter, which seems a lot grittier and darker.
Reeves finally told them that Ben Affleck’s version, while exciting, wasn’t the movie he wanted to make: “This version, I told them, pointing to the script, is a completely valid and exciting version,” he said. “It’s almost James Bond-ian, but not something I feel connected to.”
Matt Reeves’ The Batman hits theaters March 4, 2022.
