‘The Batman’ Movie Director Matt Reeves Reveals His Favorite Batman Comics

The Batman director Matt Reeves has named his favorite works starring the Dark Knight, comics likely to prove influential on Reeves’ upcoming solo Bat-movie.

Asked to name his favorite Batman comic on Twitter, Reeves pointed to Batman: Year One, Batman: The Long Halloween, Batman: Dark Victory, and Batman: Ego.

Adding there are “many others,” Reeves also praised the works of celebrated comic book artist Neal Adams as well as the original early works by Batman co-creators Bob Kane and Bill Finger.

Batman star Ben Affleck, who donned the cape and cowl in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad, and Justice League, is tentatively attached to reprise his role as the caped crusader in The Batman, rumored to head into production in 2019.

Little else is known about the first Batman solo movie out of Warner Bros.’ shared DC Extended Universe, but Reeves, who frequently interacts with fans on social media, tweeted out things are going “really well” on the project.

“I could not be more excited,” Reeves wrote.

Batman: Year One

Among the most famous and defining Batman stories, Batman: Year One, running from Batman #404—#407, was scripted by fan-favorite writer Frank Miller and illustrated by Dave Mazzucchelli.

Exploring Bruce Wayne’s Batman origins in depth, the story partially inspired director Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins.

The story arc saw Bruce Wayne return to Gotham City nearly two decades after the alleyway murder of his parents, Thomas and Martha Wayne, which sparked the rich boy’s desire to transform himself into a deadly weapon of the night.

Year One saw Bruce Wayne first cross paths with femme fatale Selina Kyle, later Catwoman, and future Gotham City Police Commissioner Jim Gordon. 

Much like The Dark Knight Returns, also penned by Miller, Year One is considered one of the seminal Batman works. 

Batman: The Long Halloween

Another influential and revered Batman tale, Batman: The Long Halloween, also partially inspired Nolan’s take on Gotham’s favorite son in The Dark Knight trilogy. 

The Long Hallloween, penned by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Tim Sale, pit Batman against the most iconic foes of his sprawling rogues gallery, including the Joker, the Riddler, the Scarecrow, and Poison Ivy in a noir-inspired detective mystery. 

The tale also served as an origin story for ally-turned-villain Harvey Dent, who found himself corrupted and his mind twisted, falling from grace and transforming into prominent Bat-enemy Two-Face. 

Batman: Dark Victory

Batman: Dark Victory, direct sequel to The Long Halloween and part follow-up to Year One, was a 14-issue limited series re-teaming Loeb and Sale as Batman set out to solve a murder mystery ignited by the arrival of the mysterious Hangman. 

In the same way The Long Halloween served as an origin story for Two-Face, Dark Victory explored the origins of Batman’s young ward, Dick Grayson, and his first steps as crime-fighting sidekick Robin. 

The story is known for its use of several prominent Batman characters, including appearances from notable villains like the Joker, Two-Face, the Riddler, and Mister Freeze, alongside featured characters Catwoman, Solomon Grundy, the Mad Hatter, Poison Ivy, and Calendar Man. 

 

Batman: Ego

Batman: Ego, a 2000 one-shot from writer-artist Darwyn Cooke, is a psychological tale pitting Bruce Wayne against his innermost fears.

The noirish tale saw Bruce Wayne confronting his own psyche as he dueled with his Batman alter ego in a tale that included appearances by the Penguin, Hugo Strange, the Waynes, Dick Grayson, and the Joker.

The one-shot was later collected in Batman: Ego and Other Tails, a paperback also collecting other works penned or drawn by Cooke, namely Catwoman: Selina’s Big Score and Solo. 

You may best know Cooke’s work on DC: The New Frontier, an Eisner award-winning limited series later adapted into original animated movie Justice League: The New Frontier. 

Neal Adams

Long-time comic book artist Neal Adams partnered with Dennis O’Neil to create pivotal Batman enemy Ra’s al Ghul and the League of Assassins, work that greatly inspired Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy.

The Adams and O’Neil partnership helped steer Batman back towards his roots as a darker, noir-like character, in contrast to the campier Batman that had permeated throughout comic books and the beloved Adam West television series.

The pair further revitalized the Joker and Two-Face, and Adams helped spawn freakish enemy Man-Bat with writer Frank Robbins.

 

Bob Kane and Bill Finger

Bob Kane and Bill Finger co-created Batman in 1939, a character influenced by Zorro, 1930 mystery film The Bat Whisperers, and pulpy hero The Phantom. 

Although Finger was responsible for much of the Batman iconography famously associated with the character today, he was not fully credited as co-creator until 2015.

The writer-slash-artist received a “Batman created by” credit alongside Kane in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, with comic books now bearing “Batman created by Bob Kane with Bill Finger” acknowledgements in their credits.

The Batman

Reeves’ Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and its sequel, War for the Planet of the Apes, mix serious and affecting drama with big blockbuster action, making the director the perfect choice to guide the Batman on the big screen following the character’s theatrical rejuvenation that came with Nolan’s reboot. 

Rebooted again with Batman v Superman, the DCEU had a Batman closer in line with Michael Keaton’s Batman — a darker and more tortured superhero who had less restraints about killing than his Christian Bale counterpart. 

With Batman refreshed by way of Superman’s (Henry Cavill) influence following a clash in BVS and a from-beyond-the-grave inspiration in Justice League, Reeves likely has carte blanche to take the moody detective in whatever direction he pleases: one that will likely find its roots in the footsteps of Reeves’ good tastes, in go-to stories birthed from the minds of creators like Bill Finger and Bob Kane, Frank Miller and Dave Mazzucchelli, Jeph Loeb and Time Sale, Darwyn Cooke, and Neal Adams and Dennis O’Neil. 

The Batman has yet to stake a release date.