Parallel to an unreasonable amount of expectation and anticipation, most fans are wondering what kind of movie The Batman will be, especially since it’s becoming increasingly apparent that Matt Reeves’ reboot will be unlike anything we’ve seen from the Dark Knight in live-action.
In a recent chat with GQ, Pattinson described his version of the Dark Knight as a “nihilistic weirdo” and further added that the film will be different from other Batman movies, comparing it to 1974’s mystery thriller The Conversation.
“I watched a rough cut of the movie by myself. And the first shot is so jarring from any other Batman movie that it’s just kind of a totally different pace,” Pattinson reveals. “It was what Matt was saying from the first meeting I had with him: ‘I want to do a ’70s noir detective story, like The Conversation.’ And I kind of assumed that meant the mood board or something, the look of it. But from the first shot, it’s, oh, this actually is a detective story.”
Written and directed by legendary filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, The Conversation is a movie about a surveillance analyst who deals with the moral dilemma of revealing a potential murder.
We wouldn’t exactly describe the 1974 film as gloomy, but if that’s where we’re drawing our comparisons, then The Batman will definitely be a unique and darker outing for the World’s Greatest Detective.
Zack Snyder amended that to some degree with the Batfleck, but we still don’t know whether The Batman will elevate that darkness within its titular character or downplay it like before.
Batman has always maintained an edge over other superheroes in that he can take the narrative down a darker path than what most comic book writers could imagine for other characters occupying this expansive medium. On the big screen, though, the Caped Crusader has always been hampered by the need to appeal to a broader audience.
