The Batman 2 could be some time in the making but holding out for a while longer has never been an issue for the fandom. The Matt Reeves film, The Batman, created waves when it was screened earlier this year due to its extravagant neo-noir look and the dark undertone that seemed to override the script and its narratives.
Also read: The Batman: A Perfectly Crafted Noir Thriller
However, filmography was not the only aspect that made the movie so watchable. DC has, in recent years, taken a liking to the darker aspects of social commentary and so far, it has paid off enormously well. Whether that accounts for a continuation of similar storytelling or if Reeves is planning to veer into a lighter subject matter remains to be seen.
Related article: The Batman 2: 5 Things We Wish To See In The Sequel
Why Did The Batman Become a Marker of Success?
Matt Reeves’ superhero origin movie deconstructs the narrative of a Batman in his formative year who’s being consistently outsmarted by a rising villain. Having laid waste to most of Gotham, the Riddler now lurks in the dark corners of a cell sharing the minutes in the company of Joker. Meanwhile, Gotham crumbles under ashes and rubble as its hero stands against the stark horizon of a new day, helping, reaching out, and contributing in whatever human capacity possible.
Also read: ‘I’ll Probably Show Up’: Paul Dano Teases More Riddler in The Batman Sequels
The movie had a panorama of a newly minted landscape, a Gotham yet to succumb to the unrefined loathing seen in Nolan’s trilogy or Todd Phillips’ Joker. It was a descent into the obsessive compulsion of Batman sticking his neck out for the city that’s slow to accept him. The themes of deception, betrayal, and lies run high as apparently good people and their actions are dragged under a morally questionable light.
The Batman was quick to rise to success because it explored a sadistic gruesomeness that has become a rare commodity on-screen these days. It was an unchecked excavation of the human psyche that snapped under the deluge of hopelessness and chose to drown a city in order to make the pain heard.
Also read: DC Was So Impressed With Robert Pattinson’s Batmobile That They Just Made It Canon
What Matt Reeves’ Late Production of The Batman 2 Tells Us
In order to get into why a sequel to The Batman premiering late might not be a big deal, one needs to first look into the recent timeline and the array of superhero movies or series being produced for the target audience. Marvel Studios is currently hailed as the greatest film franchise and superhero industry in Hollywood. However, despite its billion-dollar productions and fascinating stories, there has been a major aspect of the core value missing from its narrative.
Related article: Why Deleting The Batman‘s Arkham Scene Makes More Sense
The Marvel Cinematic Universe that began with the chaos and panic of Iron Man and the espionage era of Winter Soldier or the Civil War has now petered out into a Thor to turn into a 2-hour narrative of laughter, screaming goats that are actually Taylor Swift memes, and a nerfed Gorr. In the face of it, one of Marvel’s major characters has been reduced to comedic relief.
What the subculture surrounding MCU’s Phase 4 has been screaming for is the grittier nostalgia of the previous decade when studios weren’t sensitively walking on eggshells but instead breaking some to make a bloodier omelet (insert Wilson Fisk breakfast montage). That is what Reeves’ The Batman 2 promises us and this is why when Dylan Clark goes on record to say the movie might be coming out within the next 5 years, it is received with appreciation rather than hostility because the people know what lies on the end of the rainbow is more than just a pot of gold.
Source: Twitter
