The Batman director Matt Reeves says it may finally start filming in early 2019

The Batman has faced many foes over his career as a caped crusader, but perhaps none have given him so much trouble as Hollywood, post-Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy. Though he's co-starred in blockbusters like Batman v Superman and Justice League, it's been a struggle to give Gotham's vigilant protector his own time in the DC Extended Universe spotlight. Thankfully, director Matt Reeves has finally offered some information on where the film is in the production pipeline.

The first thing to keep in mind is that it's not even written yet. As reported by /Film, Reeves aims to have the first draft turned in by mid-August. "Right now, my head is totally into the script," he said. Should things go according to plan, the movie might even get fast-tracked, saving us from another 2-3 years of waiting and churning through more rumors. "What we’ve talked about is [starting production] hopefully in the spring or early summer, something like that."

Speaking of rumors, one of the biggest surrounding the movie has been that Ben Affleck would not return as Batman. Reeves wouldn't outright confirm who will play the hero, instead stating, "There are ways in which all of this connects to DC, to the DC universe as well. We’re one piece of many pieces so I don’t want to comment on that except to say that I’m focused very specifically on this aspect of the DC world." Reeves did, however, say that he was still in conversations with Affleck.

A more recent rumor has been that The Batman's plot would be based on the Year One story arc from the comics. If you're not familiar, Year One tells the story of Wayne's freshman year under the cowl - instead of focusing on big-name supervillains, it's mostly about his relationship with Jim Gordon and mob boss Carmine Falcone. Consider that rumor squashed.

"We are definitely not doing Year One," Reeves said. "It’s just exciting to be focused very specifically on a tale that is defining for him and very personal to him. Obviously we’re not doing an origin tale or anything like that. We’re doing a story that is definitively Batman though and trying to tell a story that’s emotional and yet is really about him being the world’s greatest detective and all the things that for me, since I was a kid, made me love Batman."

Reeves said he aims to be "noir-driven," and produce something that will take audiences "into the world of Gotham," but no specifics on villains, allies, or any of the little details that get conspiracy theorists' engines humming. Still, it sounds like things are back on track for this long-troubled movie, and Reeves has a vision and a plan.

Dare we hope?

Lost track of all the hurdles The Batman has tripped over on its way to the box office? Don't worry, we've got you covered with a complete history of The Batman not going well. 

Sam Prell

Sam is a former News Editor here at GamesRadar. His expert words have appeared on many of the web's well-known gaming sites, including Joystiq, Penny Arcade, Destructoid, and G4 Media, among others. Sam has a serious soft spot for MOBAs, MMOs, and emo music. Forever a farm boy, forever a '90s kid.

Latest in Action Movies
Batman and Catwoman talking
Robert Pattinson is hoping to team up with his The Batman co-star Zoe Kravitz on another project soon
Keanu Reeves and Brzrkr
Justin Lin to helm Keanu Reeves' comic book movie adaptation BRZRKR for Netflix
Black Widow post-credits
Avengers Tower will have a new name in Thunderbolts, and the movie's director says it's "a symbol of things taking a darker turn"
Daniel Craig in new James Bond movie No Time to Die
Amazon boss reportedly said "I don’t care what it costs" to buy James Bond after they approached long-time producers with a Moneypenny spin-off
Keanu Reeves as John Wick in John Wick: Chapter 4
A new action thriller from the John Wick team described as "a corporate thriller with a samurai twist" is finding its cast, and I've never been more seated
Claire Danes as Juliet and Miriam Margolyes as Nurse in the movie Romeo + Juliet.
The 33 greatest movies based on Shakespeare
Latest in News
Balatro
Balatro creator started "properly playing the game myself about a week before launch" and had "a pretty emotional moment" where he realized it's "actually fun"
Death Stranding 2 Collector's Edition
Hideo Kojima reveals Death Stranding 2: On the Beach release date, and the Collector's Edition includes exactly what I predicted it would
Kingmakers
Kingmakers is a strategy game about taking on medieval armies with a gun, but its devs thought the giant mech was too much
The Witcher 3 lead says "not many games" were trying to match the RPG back in 2015, and that meant "there was a risk" to making it in the first place
The Blood of Dawnwalker
The Witcher 3 dev says his new vampire RPG Blood of Dawnwalker wants to challenge genre conventions, but only if "we're changing them to actually achieve some goal"
Daredevil recap: The Defenders
Marvel fans are discussing which of the Netflix series characters would have survived the Blip