Posted in: HBO, Preview, streaming, TV | Tagged: Batman, gotham, hbo max, Jim Gordon, matt reeves, Penguin, the batman

The Batman Director Matt Reeves Talks Gotham, Penguin Spinoffs & More

Published Wed, 16 Feb 2022 13:32:12 -0600

Even with a few more weeks to go until Matt Reeves' Robert Pattinson & Zoë Kravitz-starring film The Batman hits theater screens, Reeves has already been planning for how his own personal "Bat-verse" can expand creatively. Before the end of the year, reports surfaced that Colin Farrell was close to reprising his role as The Penguin in a spinoff penned by Lauren LeFranc (Impulse, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), with Farrell, Reeves & film producer Dylan Clark executive producing. And before that, Reeves confirmed a Gotham Police Department-focused spinoff series with Giri/Haji creator Joe Barton (Humans, Extinction) serving as showrunner (replacing Terence Winter). Now, Reeves is offering his thoughts about expanding the film's universe, HBO Max's interest in exploring characters & aspects from the film, and if there could be more spinoffs on the way.

On How "The Batman" Standing On Its Own Helps with Spinoff Ideas: "What I really wanted this movie to do is create a Batverse. You don't do a story and go, 'This is Chapter 1' because you might not get to do Chapter 2. So, the story had to stand on its own. But the thing about it is that 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. Because the idea, of course, is that Gotham's story never ends."

On How HBO Max's Interest in More "The Batman" Led to Penquin Spinoff: "I was thrilled by that. I said [to HBO Max], 'To be honest with you, the thing that was going to be the seeds of what I thought the next story could be in terms of the Penguin is that I saw there being this kind of 'American dream in Gotham' sort of story, almost like Scarface; the rise of this character who we all know will achieve mythic status.' He is underestimated and he's like a time bomb… They were like, 'Oh my God, we're in!' And that was really exciting because, by that point, Colin had already given life to this character."

On What HBO Max Affords Him the Opportunity to Do with The Characters: "I love the idea of doing a story where you're really telling chapters of a character's life the way that 'The Sopranos' did, right? There wasn't any one story that was Tony Sopranos'. It was all one epic novel about his life. 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 [in 'The Batman'] and then pull pieces off of that to do this kind of expansive storytelling."

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