In the world of cinema, when it comes to story-arcs, the magic number has always been “3”. Whether it be the original Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Dark Knight Trilogy, Indiana Jones (there was a fourth? I don’t believe you.), Back to the Future etc., sagas often begin, and end, in three parts – the beginning to set the stage, the darker middle act to introduce conflict, and the end movie to tie up all of the loose ends. Director Matt Reeves apparently has an idea for a trilogy arc for The Batman, and coming off the heels of closing another trilogy in Planet of the Apes, he shared some insight with Fandango:
“I have ideas about an arc, but really, the important thing is just to start… you have to start with one. You know, you have to start with a story that begins something. And I would be lying if I could tell you that the arcs of Apes was already planned out, because it simply wasn’t; it’s one of those things where that character was so potent, and the possibility was embedded from the beginning, but exactly how you’ve got from A to Z is not something that existed.”
Reeves then goes into more detail about the early process for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and how that influenced his view of The Batman:
“In fact, when I came in on Dawn, the story that I wanted to tell was different from the story that they had even presented me… And so, there are these broad ideas, I think, that sort of came to mind as Rise was created, of how that story could be told, but they weren’t explicitly laid-out. And when Mark and I began Dawn, we knew what our goals were, but we didn’t know how we were gonna get there, and I would say that that more relates to the way that I see a Batman story, is a kind of ambition for a series of stories, but really the most important thing is gonna be to tell a vital first story.”
It sounds like Batman is in very good hands under Matt Reeves’ guidance, and with Patty Jenkins coming off of a home-run with Wonder Woman, it looks like the DCEU’s future could be bright indeed.
There is no official release date for The Batman yet, but we do know that Joe Manganiello is attached to play Deathstroke (although questions have been raised about his continued participation), with The Joker and Scarecrow also rumored to be in the film.
… You can find Jordan on Twitter (@JordJJones), and Facebook.
Originally published July 6, 2017. Updated November 30, 2022.
