Dune Director Denis Villeneuve Shares Love for The Batman

Last month, Dune director Denis Villeneuve made headlines when he said that Marvel movies are “cut and paste of other films” in an interview with El Mundo, but while the Academy Award-nominated director may not be a fan of the Marvel formula, it seems there is one superhero he relates to and has even spent time exploring. Villeneuve told Josh Horowitz during an appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast that he connects to Batman.

In a clip that Horowitz shared on Twitter (via The Direct), the conversation with Villeneuve turned to Batman – specifically rumors that the director had been approached to direct a Batman project previously. Villeneuve said he doesn’t remember being approached for Batman, but then explained that Batman is a character he can relate to.

“Batman would be probably the only character that I could relate to,” Villeneuve said. “From what I read, like Arkham Asylum, a book like that, I got in contact with when I was an adult. It’s for me, the character that I could connect to.”

While Villeneuve seems to hold the Dark Knight in high regard, it’s a different iconic property that has his attention at the moment. The filmmaker’s adaptation of Dune is headed to theaters and HBO Max on October 22nd and the filmmaker is optimistic he will be able to make a Part Two for the film.

“We have been hearing in the past few decades that it’s not possible to adapt this book, and that it’s an impossible task. I think that in the back of the mind of the studio, it’s still the same!” Villeneuve told Total Film. “So the first thing was to prove that there was a beautiful, popular movie that can exist, and I think that I proved that – everybody at Warner Bros and Legendary, they are 100 percent behind the project. They feel that it would need a really bad outcome at the box office to not have a Dune: Part Two, because they love the movie. They are proud of the movie, so they want the movie to move forward. And they still did half of it. So, you know, I’m very optimistic.”

In some further comments, the director went on to reveal that he’s already begun writing the screenplay for Part Two. Villeneuve seems to genuinely love that part of the process.

“I’m writing [Part Two] now, and I feel like I’m eight years old again,” he continued. “That’s very uncommon for me. It’s the first time I’ve experienced it where I’m watching one of my movies, and I have a moment of deep gratitude, of deep joy, and I say, ‘Thank you, life, for having allowed me to bring that to the screen.’ [laughs] I don’t know how other people will feel about it. But me? Denis Villeneuve when he was 14 years old? Thank you.”

What do you think about Villeneuve’s comments about Batman? Let us know in the comments.