Director of the upcoming The Batman film, Matt Reeves, discussed why it's important not to rush to do a sequel. The film is set to drop during the first week of March and will be the first solo live-action Batman film since the Christopher Nolan series.
The Batman stars Robert Pattinson, Zoe Kravitz, Jeffrey Wright, and Paul Dano. This film will supposedly have no connection to any of the other DC comic book films and will serve as its own standalone series. Right now it would be wise to expect that there will be multiple Batman films due to the deal Pattinson signed with Warner Bros. A little while back.
During an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Reeves talked about making The Batman a satisfying experience. "Here's the thing, my feeling in doing the film was always that I would never treat it as chapter one. Because chapter one assumes that there are more chapters," Reeves said. "So what I wanted to do was to make this movie a satisfying experience so that people could experience a new fresh version of a character that the world has loved for over eighty years."
However, Reeves is aware of the possibility of sequel stories and fan demand for this character. "I think that if we succeed on that front, I know that I have a lot of stories I want to tell and then we'll do chapter two, but not because we didn't make this one a complete experience," Reeves said of the future for The Batman universe. "Let's just see what happens, let's see the audience watch it. I hope they connect to it and if they do then, yes, there's definitely more to do, and I will not be napping for too long!"
This is definitely the best mentality to have going in to this film. Batman is known for having continuous storylines, but in order to get there, fans have to enjoy the beginning first. It seems like this new version of the caped crusader is in good hands and that fans will have a lot to look forward to when this film releases in theaters.
The problem with sequels is that they often force filmmakers to set things up for the future in the first film rather than working on making the story stand on its own. Even when they get to the thing the movie was "teasing" or setting up, it's rarely worth the pay-off. Since this story revolves around Batman, Reeves' movie doesn't even need to set up a plot for the sequel because as crazy as Gotham is, there will always be a crazier villain than the Riddler who will pop up.
The Batman will be released in theaters on March 4th, 2022.
Source: Los Angeles Times