Can you believe it’s been nearly a decade since the final entry in Christopher Nolan’s ‘Dark Knight’ trilogy hit theaters? Sure, we’ve had plenty of Batman since then, with Ben Affleck taking over the cowl, but the upcoming “The Batman” marks the first time the Caped Crusader has had his own film in 10 years. Obviously, Warner Bros. hopes the 2022 film is the beginning of the biggest’ Bat’ expansion in the franchise’s history. And believe it or not, Robert Pattinson is ready for more.
Speaking to Empire, Pattinson talked about his intention of doing more ‘Batman’ films in the future. (As if that was ever in doubt…) But with Warner Bros. being incredibly aggressive about already spinning off “The Batman” with two announced shows on HBO Max and potentially a lot more in the future, maybe Pattinson will get more than he bargained for?
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“As the first standalone ‘Batman’ in ten years, the hope is we can lay a foundation that you can build stories upon,” producer Dylan Clark said.
As mentioned, with two TV series already announced (“Gotham PD” and a “Penguin” spin-off starring Colin Farrell), you can only assume WB is hoping Pattinson’s version of the Dark Knight spawns a decade or more of new projects, creating its own cinematic universe. If so, it’ll be interesting to see how much of that includes Pattinson under the cowl because when the actor is asked about the future, he sounds happy about doing two more films… and doesn’t mention much more.
“I’ve made a kind of map for where Bruce’s psychology would grow over two more movies,” Pattinson said. “I would love to do it.”
The previous ‘Batman’ trilogy featured one director at the helm, with Nolan tackling all three films. This time, we have Matt Reeves working on “The Batman,” As he proved with ‘Planet of the Apes,’ the filmmaker isn’t opposed to sticking with a franchise for the long haul. But right now, he’s not even thinking about the future and is only focused on making “The Batman” the best it can be.
“I’ve only ever made each movie as a passion project,” said Reeves. “This even more so, because when you know, something has been done well before, and is so beloved, you can’t just come in and sleepwalk through it. You have to shoot for something. We’re trying to leave our mark on this.”
While it seems like “The Batman” is a sure thing for WB and should usher in the beginning of an expansive cinematic universe, there’s always the chance we could be looking at the next Dark Universe situation. Sure, WB has pulled together a pretty great cast and an awesome director for “The Batman,” but we won’t find out how fans react (and how the box office fares) until the film hits theaters on March 4, 2022.