It seemed unlikely that anyone would decline the opportunity to direct a Batman movie when Warner Bros. knocked at their door. It seems that Matt Reeves was the one to ask when he first met with Warner Bros. about the possibility of directing the movie that would see Robert Pattinson as the Dark Knight. Reeves has been a DC fan his whole life so it was a dream come to reality to have the opportunity to direct the new Batman movie. However, the script that he was given was from the DCEU and he didn’t feel he had the right personality to handle the project.
Reeves spoke with Esquire Middle East about Batman. He also mentioned the first conversations that he had about directing it. This was when Warner Bros. was trying to give Ben Affleck the Batsuit solo. There were no plans to make a Robert Pattinson-led movie at the time. Instead, the film would have continued from Justice League with Bruce Wayne’s death by Joe Manganiello’s Deathstroke. Reeves explained:
“I told them, “Look, maybe I’m not the right person for this.” They asked me why I loved this character. They were astonished to hear that so many great movies have been made, but I wanted to personalize it so I could understand what I was doing with it. I would know where the camera should be placed, what I would tell the actors, and what the story should look like.
Reeves could have lost his chance to direct Batman movies. However, Warner Bros. had been trying to make a Batman film for some time. Reeves decided to reinvent the script. He rewrote the original script with a new twist and, most importantly, a story that was independent of the DCEU movies.
