Director Matt Reeves’ The Batman established the iconic DC Comics characters for a new generation. The new adaptation with Robert Pattinson as Batman was a huge success with critics and audiences. Pattinson’s portrayal proved the naysayers wrong and Reeves’ amazing treatment of a noir-thriller in The Batman. Continuing with the same IP, there will now be a Matt Reeves Batman universe, with different movies and series. Read on to find out more.
Following the success of The Batman, a sequel was quickly green-lit. Matt Reeves is currently working on the follow-up to the new Batman movie, although, we have very few details regarding the plot, story or new characters that may appear in the sequel. However, along with The Batman sequel, there’s also an upcoming TV show featuring one of the characters. Colin Farrell’s The Penguin from The Batman is getting his own spin-off series on HBO Max. Production will begin next year.
Now, let’s be honest: we were all a little confused when the Penguin series was announced. Farrell in heavy makeup, playing Penguin while completely unrecognizable sounded weird. But after seeing The Batman, Farell was definitely one of the highlights of the movie. One that fans can’t wait to see continue in the new series. But according to a new The Hollywood Reporter exclusive, we’ll be getting a whole Matt Reeves Batman universe. Reeves is reportedly planning on developing multiple movies featuring characters from Batman’s Rogues gallery.
For decades now, Batman villains have always been the most varied, impressive and iconic; across all mediums. Batman’s Joker has motivated the most live-action versions with insanely talented actors all taking a go. Everyone Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger, Jared Leto and currently, Joaquin Phoenix have played the character. Phoenix even won an Oscar for it. Even Harley Quinn is having a great run right now with Margot Robbie playing the live-action version, and a very successful animated series currently on season 3 at HBO Max.
But these are just scratching the surface. According to THR, Matt Reeves Batman universe will include live-action movies with villains like Scarecrow, Clayface, Professor Pyg and more. While we’ve seen Cillian Murphy as Scarecrow in Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins, Professor Pyg and Clayface have not gotten the feature film treatment. Yet. Reeves is meeting with many different writers and directors, so we know he won’t be directing these spin-offs himself.
It’ll be interesting to see different takes of different Batman villains from different filmmakers. Todd Phillips’ Joker proved that standalone villain movies can exist without its hero. Maybe each movie can even be in a different genre. Imagine a body-horror movie about Clayface. Or a Saw-like gory horror with Professor Pyg. With Reeves’ expansion of the Batman universe, fans can expect a lot more from the acclaimed filmmaker. And where there are Batman villains, there’s a chance for Batman himself to show up as well. I hope.
So which other Batman villains do you want to see showing up in this new Matt Reeves Batman universe? Let me know in the comments below.
