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What DCEU? The Batman's Matt Reeves opens up about building his own-Bat-verse on HBO Max
Whether The Batman gets a sequel or not, Matt Reeves is filling the screen with opportunities.
Matt Reeves knows that you can never bet the bank on getting a sequel. That's the approach he took when creating The Batman, which is a Dark Knight movie free from the constraints of the DC Extended Universe.
"You don't do a story and go, 'This is Chapter 1' because you might not get to do Chapter 2," Reeves recently said to Entertainment Weekly. "So, the story had to stand on its own." The movie (which stars Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz, Andy Serkis, Paul Dano, Jeffrey Wright, and Colin Farrell) can still build out a "Batverse" of its own, however.
"...the Bat world is so rich with character that as you're starting to come to an end, you can already start thinking about the next thing," Reeves said, adding, "Because the idea, of course, is that Gotham's story never ends." Reeves' take on all things Gotham will continue one way or another thanks to streaming on the small screen. A sequel to the movie itself may not be guaranteed, but Reeves' Batverse has two spin-offs in the works with HBO Max already. One of them is a drama about the Gotham City Police Department, and another is a series about the Penguin's rise to power.
Didn't we already see a show about the Penguin's rise to power? Yes, it happened on Gotham, and that show is over. There's a new Cobblepot in town, and the idea for the new spin-off came out of talks that Reeves had with HBO Max. According to Reeves, the "seeds" of what he thought the next story was going to be involved the Penguin (Farrell), and an "American dream in Gotham" type story.
There will be more of these character-focused spin-offs coming, too. Reeves did not reveal which characters he has in his sights, but he did say the shows will be "more character focused than you can even do in a feature." He compares the sprawling opportunities of his new Bat world to a multi-chapter story, referencing The Sopranos in particular. "I think that to me is what's thrilling about long-form and the idea of being able to have created this version of the world...and then pull pieces off of that to do this kind of expansive storytelling."
Read the full interview with Reeves right here. The Batman will crash through cinema ceilings on March 4.
