The Batman Co-Writer Says Movie Explores Bruce Wayne’s Trauma in a Surprising Way

DC Comics fans will once again explore the seedy underbelly of Gotham City when The Batman premieres in theaters, returning the Caped Crusader to the big screen with actor Robert Pattinson donning the cape and cowl. Fans will likely get a sneak peek at this new iteration of the character next week during DC FanDome, but it sounds unlike anything we’ve seen in recent portrayals from Zack Snyder’s projects or Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy. Instead the film will show a younger version of Bruce Wayne who is still raw as a crimefighter, who has also yet to fully deal with the trauma of his parents’ death.

The Batman co-writer Mattson Tomlin recently spoke about the approach to the project he’s working on with filmmaker Matt Reeves, explaining that it would explore the lead character in a meaningful way.

“It’s the early days,” Tomlin explained to Den of Geek. “I think that, first of all, it’s a younger version than the most recent versions that we’ve seen… I think that Matt Reeves as a filmmaker, if you look at any of his work, whether or not it’s Let Me In or Cloverfield or the Planet of the Apes movies, he’s always coming from a point of emotion, it’s never the big action thing. It’s always, what is this character’s soul?”

He added, “I think that really looking at Batman as somebody who has gone through this trauma, and then everything that he’s doing is then a reaction to that, rather than shy away from that, I think this film leans into that in some very fun and surprising ways,” Tomlin said. “I think that’s all I can say without getting yelled at.”

Reeves himself previously stated that this version of Gotham City will be intrinsically tied to Bruce’s journey as a crime fighter, almost as if it were its own character.

“There’s something in there that feels very psychological, very emotional, and it felt like there was a way of exploring that along with the corruption in this place, Gotham,” Reeves said to Nerdist. “That feels very current. I think it always does. There’s almost no time when you can’t do a story about corruption. But today, it still seems incredibly resonant and maybe, from my perspective, maybe more so than maybe at other time.”

The Batman is currently set to premiere in theaters on October 1, 2021 after it was delayed due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.