The Batman Star John Turturro Opens Up About His Role as the Mysterious Gotham Mafia Boss

Mystery surrounds the upcoming DC Comics movie The Batman, a film that seeks to restore the Caped Crusader’s status as one of the most popular heroes in cinematic history. Despite all of the details that director Matt Reeves has revealed about his superhero film starring Robert Pattinson, there are still many questions surrounding the project. We do know that it’s a noir-inspired take on the Dark Knight that will involve supervillains such as the Penguin, Riddler, and Catwoman, but we also no one of the biggest Gotham City crime lords from Batman lore will also play a major part.

Actor John Turturro is set to play the Gotham mob boss Carmine Falcone in the new movie, and he revealed new details about his role in a new interview with The Inquirer — though his loyalties lie with another masked hero.

“I’m playing the bad guy,” said Turturro. “I loved Batman growing up, but I’m really a Zorro fan (laughs). So there’s no Batman without Zorro. When I was 5 years old, I thought I was Zorro with a sword. I had a stick that I hit my father with all the time. Then, when Batman came on TV, it was a big thrill. I read some of the comics. My sons always read DC comics. So I played with those for years. I like Matt Reeves, the director. It’s an interesting cast.”

Reeves has spoken at length about his plans for the movie, explaining that it will be unlike any other Batman move and will focus on his strengths as being the World’s Greatest Detective.

“I’ve talked about making it a very point of view noir-driven definitive Batman story in which he is investigating a particular case and that takes us out into the world of Gotham,” Reeves said. “I went on a deep dive again revisiting all my favorite comics. Those all inform by osmosis. There’s no continuation of the [Christopher] Nolan films. It’s very much trying to find a way to do this as something that for me is going to be definitively Batman and new and cool.”

Production on The Batman has been suspended for the time being due to ongoing safety concerns because of the coronavirus pandemic, and there’s no word when filming will begin again at this time.

There is a chance the film’s release could be delayed, but as of now, The Batman is currently scheduled to release in theaters on June 25th.