The Batman is one of the most highly-anticipated action movies for 2022. Bruce Wayne’s latest solo outing, which has Robert Pattison don Batman’s famous mask, has undergone several delays and changes before getting to where it is now. With that in mind, it is perhaps unsurprising that director Matt Reeves is keen to keep the thriller as streamlined as possible (well, as streamlined as a film with two different cuts can be).
In an interview with Esquire, Reeves, who is known for directing science fiction hit Dawn of the Planet of Apes, recalled a conversation he had with Ben Affleck, who was originally meant to be returning as Batman before quitting in the wake of Justice League.
“Ben [Affleck] had been working on a version of the script, and I said, ‘Here’s the thing: I respect that the DC Universe has become an extended universe and all the movies were kind of connected,'” Reeves recounted. “‘But another Batman film, it shouldn’t have to carry the weight of connecting the characters from all those other movies. I didn’t want them in there.'”
This means that The Batman and any potential sequels are likely to remain in their own pocket universe canonically separate from the DCEU. Granted, Pattison’s iteration of Batman seems dramatically different to the one already introduced to the DCEU. While Affleck’s version of Wayne was a hardened, more mature take on the role, Pattison’s eyeliner-wearing, Kurt Cobain-inspired Batman will be only two years into his journey as the Caped Crusader by the time we meet him for the first time.
We’ll have plenty of time to get to know this new Bruce, though, as the PG-13 rated film is set to run for 2 hours and 55 minutes. This makes it the longest Batman movie yet. If you’re hoping to see The Batman in theatres, you better rev up your Batmobiles because you haven’t got long: it’ll be swooping in on March 4, 2022.