‘The Batman’ Director Reveals His Favorite Batman Film, Discusses Heath Ledger’s Iconic Joker

Warner Bros.


Like every other movie that was currently in production, it’s looking like the next Batman movie — Matt Reeves’ The Batman starring Robert Pattinson — is going to be delayed.

The movie, which was in the midst of filming prior to the introduction of our new way of life, was originally scheduled to hit theaters in June 2021. While the film has yet to be officially delayed, it’s looking increasingly unlikely that The Dark Knight’s return to movie theaters is going to be able to remain on schedule.

Luckily, though, production on the film was far along enough that fans were able to get a glimpse of what Reeves’ vision is going to look like.

Reeves himself also had begun to do a little bit of promotion, as he recently did an interview with Nerdist where he discussed the character in detail.

While promoting Tales From the Loop (which is currently streaming on Amazon Prime) Reeves — known for his work on the Planet of the Apes franchise — touched on tons of Batman-related topics, including which of the many films is his favorite and his thoughts on Heath Ledger’s iconic performance as the Clown Prince of Crime, via Nerdist:

On his favorite Batman movie:

“I love Batman Returns. Michelle Pfeiffer was incredible. I love it, I love it so much. It’s so incredible and she’s so incredible in it. I just think it’s such a beautiful movie. I love the Penguin stuff when he’s going down the sewers as the baby. It’s just like, wow. This is the beautiful thing about Tim Burton at his best in that way that he’s got that connection into the fantastical that feels very, very persona

On Heath Ledger’s Joker:

“The Dark Knight is so incredible and I think that Heath Ledger’s performance and their conception of the Joker in that movie is indelible. And the battle that he engaged with, you know, with Batman/Bruce is incredible. But the thing you take away from it more than anything is that conception, specifically, I think of the Joker. That movie is so much about how it’s a horrifying thing to stare into the abyss, that idea of that level of nihilism. The whole idea that there was nothing you could do because even in the destruction of him, you were fulfilling his aims. It was just a terrifying notion that speaks to an aspect of human nature and that was really profound.”

On crafting his own Batman vision:

“I just felt like well, what I’d love to do is to get a version of this Batman character where he’s not yet fully formed. Where there’s something to do in this context with who that guy would be in this world today, and to ground him in all of these broken ways. Because at the end of the day, this guy is doing all of this to deal with trauma in his past.”

The Batman which stars Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Zoe Kravitz as Selina Kyle/Catwoman, Colin Farrell as Oswald Cobblepot/Penguin, Paul Dano as Edward Nashton/Riddler, John Turturro as Carmine Falcone, Jeffrey Wright as Gotham City Police Commissioner James Gordon, Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth, and Peter Sarsgaard as Gotham District Attorney Gil Colson — is currently set to hit theaters in the United States on Friday, June 25, 2021.

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Eric is a New York City-based writer who still isn’t quite sure how he’s allowed to have this much fun for a living and will tell anyone who listens that Gotham City is canonically in New Jersey. Follow him on Twitter @eric_ital for movie and soccer takes or contact him eric@brobible.com

Eric Italiano BroBIble avatar
Eric Italiano is a NYC-based writer who spearheads BroBible's Pop Culture and Entertainment content. He covers topics such as Movies, TV, and Video Games, while interviewing actors, directors, and writers.