Matt Reeves, director of Batman, says he would “get lost” if he had to comply with the creative limitations of the Marvel cinematic universe.
Batman director Matt Reeves feels more at home in Gotham City than in the Marvel cinematic universe, according to a recent interview in which he praised Marvel Studios president Kevin Feigi, but said the interconnected world of film is simply not his style.
“I have such respect for Kevin Feigi, and also for him [Marvel] directors, “Reeves told Variety.” But to be honest with you, I just don’t know how to make my way through it. There must be some level of discovery for me where I have some freedom to find my way. If I have to get into something that’s already too tight, then I think I’m going to get lost. And I don’t think they would be happy with me. “
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Reeves was outspoken about his desire to keep Batman separate from Warner Bros. own DC Extended Universe. The film was originally a project to be written and directed by Ben Affleck, Batman’s current actor in the interconnected universe of DC. Reeves was chosen to take the director’s chair in his place, and after Affleck retired from the project in 2017, Reeves reworked the script to play the younger Batman, who was separated from the gray-haired veteran Affleck portrayed in Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League.
“I felt like I was making a stand-alone film about Batman for the first time in 10 years, I had to make sure that Batman was in the center and that we weren’t trying to keep all those other planes in the air,” Reeves said in previous interviews. “… When [Ben Affleck] decided he didn’t want to be Batman anymore, I said, “I really want to stick to the idea that this is not going to be part of DCEU and now we can create a new Batman.” That’s how it evolved to this place. “
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Despite worries about shared universes, Reeves said he was still ready to make big-budget films, with the stipulation that he could leave his personal mark on them without worrying about continuity.
“The industry has changed so dramatically that if you’re going to make a movie that’s going to hit theaters, you’re not doing anything that isn’t recognizable IP,” Reeves said. “This is the audience gone. I’m not saying I’m happy about it. I’m just saying it’s what it is.”
Batman hits theaters on March 4.
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Source: Variety
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About the author
Jeremy Bloom (353 articles published)
Jeremy Bloom is an associate journalist with the CBR. A passionate fan of three-year-old comics (when he could only look at pictures and imagine what was going on in the word balloons), Jeremy worked as a journalist in both the United States and Hong Kong. He also writes about video and board games on his blog Pixel Grotto in his spare time. Find it on Twitter at @ blummer102 or @PixelGrotto.
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