As The Batman gets ready for its big premiere, it seems like director Matt Reeves is already thinking about the future. During a recent interview, he imagined how Mr. Freeze could make it into his Batman vision.
The character Mr. Freeze has only been used once in Batman’s cinematic history, that being the much-derided Batman and Robin, a movie where Arnold Schwarzenegger's blue-faced villain was far from the most over-the-top thing. Nevertheless, the romantic tale of a man willing to go to any lengths in order to save his wife Nora is still the type of story Reeves would love to explore, even despite the villain’s caricaturesque depictions.
This take came during one of the press events for The Batman, where Reeves answered one of Collider’s questions by explaining his fascination with “finding the grounded version of everything,” saying that for him, there’s a grounded version of Mr. Freeze. While the director seems proud of how comic book faithful The Batman has turned out, he does seem puzzled by how to “unwind the fantastical and see, well, how could that make sense here?” in Mr. Freeze's case, were the icy villain ever to be used in a film more like his or Christopher Nolan's. "I think there's actually a grounded version of that story, which could be really powerful and could be really great," Reeves said.
To a certain degree, Reeves has already done this, as his chosen antagonist for The Batman is the Riddler. This time, however, Riddler will be seen in a capacity that’s far from anything like the Jim Carrey portrayal some fans might remember, and he most likely will not be a sympathetic villain in any way. The Batman is planned out to be a three-film saga, with its star Robert Pattinson reportedly having signed a contract that would keep him on for the full trilogy.
Currently, this particular Bruce Wayne is out on his own press tour to promote the movie, which has led to some fantastic interviews and revelations, like how Pattinson struggled to find his Batman voice from the start or what it was like to try out the old Batsuits other actors had used in the past. Meanwhile, Reeves is pretty much doing the same, though in his case some fans might be disappointed to find out that there is no R-rated cut for The Batman.
The movie’s producers and its director have consistently said The Batman wants to outdo Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy in terms of realism and how grounded the franchise can really be. Luckily, in just a few days fans will get to know if they really can deliver on that promise. At least The Batman music is already winning over fans.
The Batman will be released exclusively in theaters on March 4, 2022.
Source: Collider