Matt Reeves’s 2022 filmThe Batmanis one of the year’s most highly anticipated. On top of its all-star cast, which features Robert Pattinson as the Dark Knight, Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman, Paul Dano as the Riddler, and Colin Farrell as the Penguin, it boasts a far more dark, serious, and brooding tone than what viewers are used to seeing in current superhero films. One of the problems with this is that it’s been done before, and done incredibly well.Christopher Nolan’sThe Dark Knight Trilogyalso took on a far more serious and intense tone than viewers were used to seeing in superhero movies, and it’s now regarded as one of film’s top trilogies of all time.So what canThe Batmando to stand out? For starters, it could take some notes from the MCU’sSpider-Man: Homecoming.
When it was announced that Spider-Man, a character often considered the face of Marvel Comics, would be finally entering the MCU, the majority of people were very excited. Others claimed that the character had been worn out and they weresimply sick of Spider-Man, especially if they had to sit through another Spider-Man origin story. It does make sense, because this would be the third live-action film revival of Spider-Man in under 20 years. What the MCU decided to do, however, made that argument kind of null and void.
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President of Marvel Studios Kevin Feigewas actually counting on the audience knowing the Spider-Man origin story because there had been so many recent revivals, and they instead chose to introduce him briefly inCaptain America: Civil Warand then give him his own movie that explained very little about his origin. Characters like Uncle Ben are referenced, but viewers aren’t given a whole other film where they see him killed. The story just starts right away, without too much context to the character, and fans are just along for the ride. In the end, this proved a real benefit to the film, which is now very much loved within the franchise, because there was more time to focus not only on the interesting parts of the plotbut on Peter Parker’s developmentwithin the context of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
WhenThe Batmanwas announced, there was a similar reaction. People seemed excited about Robert Pattinson taking the lead role, and grew even more excited as the rest of the cast was announced. The trailer was a hit and sparked a ton of hype online. But there were still a lot of skeptics who said that they were not only sick of Batman, but not eager to see aThe Dark Knight Trilogyripoff. That’s why, similar toSpider-Man: Homecoming,The Batmanneeds to really focus onwhere Batman is at nowand not on his origin story. Chances are, fans are familiar with what his character is about at least enough to understand this film.
On top of most people going to seeThe Batmanalready knowing his origin story, it would also be a tough task to take on because it almost instantly will be compared toBatman Beginsand that’s incredibly hard to live up to. That film really is solely about the origin of Batman, hence the pretty self-explanatory title, and it’s seen as very good, so ifThe Batmanchooses to go this route it could be easily lost in the mix of good Batman movies.
It also seems that based on what’s already known aboutThe Batman, including his origin could make it very muddy. Not only does it host a substantial amount of characters from the series, but it’s said to take place in his second year as Batman. Hopefully, there’s enough time dedicated to that time period and to the characters he’s encountering at that time instead of too much focus on how he got to that place. There should be minimal references to his parents being killed, as well as little introduction tocharacters like Alfred Pennyworthand Commissioner Gordon.
In terms of marketing and tone,The BatmanandSpider-Man: Homecomingcouldn’t be more different. One is being marketed as massively dark and serious, while the other took inspiration from John Hughes teen comedies and leanedfar more into the traditional comic book route. It seems to be clear however that these two superhero films kind of suffered from the same initial criticisms, having to make their own way and stand out in a sea of some very beloved characters. It’s rumored that they are already planning to make a franchise out ofThe Batman, with one or more sequels potentially on the way. With one DC universe already on the go and doing pretty well and another recent Batman trilogy regarded so highly in the film world,The Batmanreally needs to stand out as something unique and worth the time of its fans if it has hopes of making an impact.
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