‘The Batman’ Director Matt Reeves Says the Spinoff is Shifting from Gotham PD to Arkham
He may revisit the cop show, but for now he’s focused on a “haunted house” Arkham Asylum concept.
(L-R) Robert Pattinson and director Matt Reeves on the set in Warner Bros. Pictures’ 'The Batman,' a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Jonathan Olley/™ & © DC Comics. Copyright: © 2021 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.
As ‘The Batman’ continues to do decent numbers at the box office ($134 million domestically, and more than $258 million worldwide) attention is naturally still on this latest live-action incarnation of the Caped Crusader, which stars Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne.
And that attention includes the planned TV spin-offs that were announced even before the movie itself came out. Now, according to director Matt Reeves, at least one of the shows is evolving into something new.
Originally planned to focus on corruption at the heart of the Gotham Police Department, the show initially had ‘Boardwalk Empire’ boss Terrence Winter as head writer and showrunner. The narrative focus would have been on Batman’s first year as a vigilante (though without really featuring the character in any major fashion) as his presence starts to send waves through the city’s criminal underworld. And the main character was planned as a crooked cop, which made it sound a little like ‘The Shield’.
Yet after some creative differences, Winter left the series, to be replaced by ‘Giri/Haji’ writer Joe Barton in January. Back then it was still described as featuring the police. Now, though there, is a big change afoot, at least according to Reeves.
Talking on the Happy/Sad/Confused podcast, the director/producer explained the change. “One thing that we’re not doing that I was gonna do... So, there’s the Gotham police show, which, that one actually is put on hold. We’re not really doing that,” he told host Josh Horowitz.
(L to R) Robert Pattinson and director Matt Reeves on the set in Warner Bros. Pictures’ 'The Batman,' a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Jonathan Olley/™ & © DC Comics. Copyright: © 2021 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.
So, what form might it take now? Reeves shared that in a separate interview, this one with The Cyber Nerds YouTube channel. “That story has kinda evolved,” explained Reeves. “We’ve actually now [moved] more into the realm of exactly what would happen in the world of Arkham as it relates coming off of our movie, and some of the characters … almost leaning into the idea of … it’s like a horror movie or a haunted house that is Arkham."
“The idea, again the way that Gotham is a character in the movie, I really want Arkham to exist as a character,” he continues. “You go into this environment and encounter these characters in a way that feels really fresh. And so, in our work on Gotham, that story started to evolve, and it started feeling like, ‘Wait, we should really lean into this.' And then that’s kinda where that’s gone.”
There has also been talk that Reeves and the HBO Max team were also wanting to shift the focus to a recognizable character instead of a completely original one. Who that might be is anyone’s guess, though Arkham is usually full of Batman’s opponents.
The changing series is just one of the spin-offs in the works – the other is focused on The Penguin’s rise to power. The criminal character played Colin Farrell in ‘The Batman’ will be at the center of a series that has been compared to ‘Scarface’ in tone. If you’ve seen the movie, you know the character isn’t quite in as powerful a position as he is in other versions of the Batman story, so there’s plenty of material to mine here.
Farrell is reportedly attached to reprise the character, and will be an executive producer on the show, which comes from Reeves and producing partner Dylan Clark. ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ veteran Lauren LeFranc is in board to run the show itself assuming it makes it out of development.
(L to R) director Matt Reeves and actor Robert Pattinson on the set in Warner Bros. Pictures’ 'The Batman,' a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Jonathan Olley/™ & © DC Comics. Copyright: © 2021 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.
