The Batman Star Jeffrey Wright Bonded With Matt Reeves Over Adam West

The Batman’s Jeffrey Wright forged an early bond with Matt Reeves over their shared love of the Adam West series. He told CNET all about it during an interview about Wright’s career. The star will be Commissioner Gordon in The Batman next year and is already filming the movie. There are a ton of inspirations swirling within Matt Reeves’ film. Evidence of that can be found in both the design of the Bat Suit, Batmobile and the motorcycle present in those stunt shots in recent weeks. But, people held on to the idea of the West series inspiration with the mask of Robert Pattinson’s suit. For a lot of viewers, those adventures on television were their first introduction to the character outright. That baseline respect for that interpretation of the Caped Crusader struck a chord with both the director and actor.

“I was a bit of a fan of Batman comics, and comics generally, growing up,” Wright explained. “But I was a lunatic Adam West Batman fan. And Matt Reeves, who is directing the movie, was as well. And we were talking about it and he said, “In my mind, that wasn’t camp.” Now, this is not to say that we’re doing an Adam West Batman in any respect. But that for me was my early dive into the Batman cosmos. Matt and I agree it wasn’t camp for us, it was deadly serious for an 8-year-old kid. Deadly serious with the most tricked-out heroic technology and bells and whistles this side of James Bond.”

He added, “If you look back at it within context, man, it was as Batman as anything. The pastel tones harken back to the original Bob Kane/Bill Finger stuff. That was my early and much-appreciated introduction into Gotham.”

Wright’s take on Commissioner Gordon will borrow from numerous sources. He was reading The Golden Age tales to prepare, but his director has cautioned fans about assuming that it would borrow from one distinct source.

“It’s very much a point of view-driven, noir Batman tale,” Reeves told THR. “It’s told very squarely on his shoulders, and I hope it’s going to be a story that will be thrilling but also emotional. It’s more Batman in his detective mode than we’ve seen in the films. The comics have a history of that. He’s supposed to be the world’s greatest detective, and that’s not necessarily been a part of what the movies have been. I’d love this to be one where when we go on that journey of tracking down the criminals and trying to solve a crime, it’s going to allow his character to have an arc so that he can go through a transformation.”