20 facts you might not know about 'The Batman'

Soon after the end of the Nolan trilogy, it was announced Affleck would be playing Batman in the DC universe that was scrambling to catch up with Marvel. Not long after that, a Batman standalone movie was announced. Affleck wasn’t just going to star. He was also going to write and direct, notable given that Affleck had directed Best Picture winner “Argo” a couple of years earlier.

Affleck and DC writer Geoff Johns put together the screenplay for “The Batman,” which was the film’s title from the beginning. The movie was going to heavily feature Arkham Asylum, with the idea that Slade Wilson, aka Deathstroke, had orchestrated a jailbreak to try and kill Batman. Batgirl would also make an appearance.

In 2016, it was announced that Joe Manganiello would play Deathstroke. On top of that, Zack Snyder shot a post-credits scene for “Justice League” featuring Lex Luthor meeting Slade Wilson, as played by Manganiello, and revealing Batman’s secret identity to him. The plan was to begin filming in mid-2017 or early 2018 at the latest.

At the start of 2017, Affleck said he no longer planned to direct “The Batman.” However, at the time, he was still expected to star. The actor had found making “Justice League” miserable, though, and was dealing with a high-profile divorce and a stint in rehab for alcohol abuse. Thus, in 2019, it was announced Affleck would not be starring in “The Batman” either.

With Affleck out of the picture, Warner Bros. went on a wide search for a new director. Some established old hands, such as Ridley Scott and George Miller, were in the mix. So were directors like Denis Villeneuve. Also, in the mix? Matt Reeves, fresh off of the “Planet of the Apes” reboot.

Reeves quickly became the focus of Warner Bros.’ search, and as an avid Batman fan, he was enthused. Then, he read Affleck and John’s script. While he liked it, he also said it was not the movie he wanted to make. Reeves told Warner Bros. he would only direct if he could have creative control and write his own script. The studio agreed to his requests, and Reeves signed on to direct.

Mercifully, we didn’t get another origin story. Still, when Reeves took over, he wanted to focus on Bruce Wayne’s early days as a vigilante in Gotham, drawing inspiration in part from the “Year One” comics arc. He also planned to focus on Batman as a detective more than the kind of guy who stars in an action film. Drawing a lot of inspiration from “Mindhunter,” the director also landed on Riddler as a villain, imagining him in the vein of the Zodiac Killer.

Reeves did not want to do the playboy socialite façade for Bruce in “The Batman.” Instead, he thought of Kurt Cobain. Reeves imagined Wayne like Cobain in his last days, a recluse in a “decaying manor.”

Warner Bros. found itself in a bit of a tricky place, trying to find a notable actor to play Batman who wasn’t already in the MCU. Some of the names considered included Armie Hammer (bullet dodged), Nicholas Hoult, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Reeves had Robert Pattinson in mind when writing the script, having seen him in “Good Time.” Still, the director feared Pattinson wouldn’t be interested in such a role, having largely eschewed blockbuster filmmaking after escaping the “Twilight” series.

Fortunately for Reeves, Pattinson was a Batman fan and was actually interested in the part. In the end, it came down to Pattinson and Hoult. To shoot his screen test, Pattinson wore the Batman costume that Val Kilmer had worn in “Batman Forever,” as it was the only one that fit him. Kilmer’s suit proved good luck to Pattinson, who won the part.

Invariably, there was going to be a vitriolic reaction of some degree on the internet, whoever got cast as Batman because that is how the internet works. Indeed, soon after Pattinson was cast, a petition was started on Change.org asking for the role to be recast. Pattinson, for his part, said he was surprised the response wasn’t more intensely negative and that he was happy to be in the underdog role without heavy expectations on him.

Several actresses were in the mix for Catwoman, but in the end, the role went to Zoe Kravitz. She may have had an upper hand on the competition. Kravitz voiced Catwoman in “The Lego Batman Movie” a couple of years prior.

Originally, Jonah Hill was in talks to play the primary villain in “The Batman,” though at the time, it was unclear if Riddler or Penguin would be the main antagonist. Hill, though, reportedly wanted more than double the salary that Pattinson was getting, so negotiations stalled. Dano was the next choice, and he signed on. The actor said he partially based his performance on his own turn as Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys in “Love & Mercy.” Weirdly, Reeves says that he had Dano’s turn as Wilson in mind when he was crafting the Riddler in his script already.

Turturro was cast as Carmine Falcone, Gotham’s crime boss, and he got help from Reeves in developing the character. The director wasn’t the only one who helped, though. Turturro’s son Amadeo is an editor at DC Comics, so he was able to provide some insight on Falcone as well.

Owing to his “Mindhunter” inspiration, Reeves wanted a scene where Batman met with Joker at Arkham in a criminal profiling sense. However, Reeves realized the scene could easily be excised from the film and also that the actor playing the iconic villain might not get another appearance in the future. Thus, Reeves wanted a “fearless” actor for the part. He met with Barry Keoghan, who happily signed on. It was announced that Keoghan would be playing “Stanley Merkel,” a character from “Year One,” but then Keoghan’s brother let the cat out of the bag. Ultimately, Joker was indeed effectively lifted from the final film.

Reeves had been filming for two months when the COVID-19 pandemic began to hit hard. Originally, Warner Bros. did not plan to suspend shooting, but on March 25, 2019, Reeves announced that shooting would indeed be suspended indefinitely. Sadly, the film’s dialect coach Andrew Jack died from complications related to COVID-19 that April. The film would not begin shooting again until September 17.

Reeves’ film promised darkness and violence, leading some to speculate it would be R-rated, making it the first Batman movie to have that designation. Ultimately, though, “The Batman” was given a PG-13 rating. This was always going to be the case. Reeves said there was no R-rated cut and that one of the few mandates Warner Bros. had given him was that the movie had to be PG-13.

“The Batman” was released wide on March 4, 2022, past the peak of the pandemic, but into a landscape where the cinemas were still in flux. In fact, it was the first Warner Bros. movie in over a year not to be released on HBO Max simultaneously with its theatrical release, though it did hit the streamer on April 17, giving the movie a fairly brief theatrical run before that would cut into it. And yet, “The Batman” still made $369.3 million domestically and $770.8 million worldwide. It was the seventh-highest-grossing film of 2022 and also proved to be the second-most-successful HBO Max streamer after “Mortal Kombat” of all things.

“The Batman” was intended to be the first film in a trilogy, but of course, a lot happened with the movie prior to it being released. That being said, even before the movie came out, both Pattinson and Reeves were talking enthusiastically about exploring the world of Batman further. Indeed, in April of 2022, a sequel was announced, with both Reeves and Pattinson returning for the film.

Colin Farrell makes a memorable turn as the future Penguin in “The Batman,” and he will reprise the role in TV form. “The Penguin” stars Farrell and will serve as a limited-series sequel to the movie. It will chronicle Penguin’s rise to power in the wake of the events of “The Batman.” There was also a plan for a Gotham City Police Department show, but it was placed on indefinite hold in March of 2022, with Reeves then pivoting to a show about Arkham Asylum. That show has hired a showrunner, and to date does seem like it will be produced.