The 2022 superhero film The Batman, based on the DC Comics character Batman, had a long production that was characterized by changes in the creative direction of the project, co-writer and director Matt Reeves's meticulous filmmaking process, and various production delays that were largely caused by effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the cast and crew members.
Warner Bros. Pictures announced initial plans for a reboot of the Batman film series in October 2014 with a new film that was originally conceived as part of its media franchise and shared universe of DC-based properties, the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). Ben Affleck, who was cast to portray the DCEU version of the character in 2013, was originally hired to star in and direct the film in 2015 before he stepped down as writer and director in January 2017 due to personal issues, in part caused by the troubled production of the DCEU film Justice League (2017). Warner Bros. subsequently hired Reeves to take over the project in February 2017, and he underwent a meticulous writing process during which he chose to focus on a version of Batman younger than Affleck's portrayal and separated the film from the DCEU continuity to tell a standalone story. Robert Pattinson was cast as Batman in May 2019, and filming began in January 2020, but was suspended several times due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Filming was completed in March 2021, and The Batman was theatrically released a year later.
Development Early work and initial plans from Ben Affleck
Ben Affleck was cast in August 2013 to portray the DC Comics character Bruce Wayne / Batman in multiple films set in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) media franchise. He made his debut in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), before appearing in Suicide Squad (2016) and Justice League (2017). In October 2014, Warner Bros. Pictures revealed plans for a standalone Batman film starring Affleck, and he was in negotiations to direct and co-write the screenplay with Geoff Johns by July 2015. Production was expected to begin after Affleck finished work on Live by Night (2016). Affleck and Johns finished the first draft in March 2016. Set after the events of Batman v Superman and Justice League, the script told an original story inspired by comic book elements, an approach that Affleck compared to director Zack Snyder's Batman v Superman story, with specific influence from Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth (1989) and "Knightfall" (1992–1994) as well as the video game Batman: Arkham Asylum (2009). Cinematographer Robert Richardson, who was attached early in development, confirmed that the script was primarily set in Arkham Asylum. It featured Slade Wilson / Deathstroke orchestrating a breakout at Arkham to tire Batman and make him vulnerable, before fighting him in the streets of Gotham City during the climax. Batgirl was planned to appear and help Batman. Johns said the film would also explore the death of Robin, which was hinted at in Batman v Superman.
Warner Bros. CEO Kevin Tsujihara confirmed at CinemaCon in April 2016 that Affleck would direct the Batman film. Jeremy Irons said he would reprise his Batman v Superman role of Alfred Pennyworth in May, and Joe Manganiello was cast as Deathstroke in September. Manganiello explained that Deathstroke believed Batman was responsible for his son's death and was depicted as systematically dismantling Batman's life and killing those close to him like a "horror movie villain". He compared the story to David Fincher's The Game (1997). Snyder enjoyed the story and filmed a scene at the end of Justice League—featuring Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) revealing Batman's secret identity to Deathstroke—to help set up the film. Affleck revealed the working title was The Batman in October, but soon clarified his comments after the media wrongly reported it as the official title. In December, he said filming was on track to begin in mid-2017 for a 2018 release. That month, a planned Justice League sequel was delayed to accommodate The Batman. Chris Terrio turned in a rewrite of the script in January 2017.
Affleck began to have reservations about directing the film, and announced in January 2017 that he was stepping down as director, while still planning to star and produce. He initially said he had stepped down to focus more on starring as Batman, but soon stated that he had been unable to get the script where he needed it and felt it was time for someone else to "have a shot at it". Affleck later added that he did not think he would have enjoyed directing the film and felt it should be directed by someone who would love working on it. At the time, Warner Bros. was re-evaluating its approach to superhero films following the release of Batman v Superman, which Borys Kit of The Hollywood Reporter said led to Affleck's film being "sidelined". The Justice League scene was altered in post-production to tease the Injustice League in a Justice League sequel instead of Deathstroke's role in The Batman, though the original was restored in the 2021 director's cut, Zack Snyder's Justice League.
Redevelopment under Matt Reeves
Matt Reeves, Matt Ross, Ridley Scott, Gavin O'Connor, George Miller, Denis Villeneuve, and Fede Álvarez were all considered as replacements for Affleck as director. Reeves, a longtime Batman fan, quickly moved to the top of the shortlist and entered negotiations after meeting with Warner Bros. on February 10, 2017. Warner Bros. sent Reeves a copy of the script, but Reeves felt that Affleck's take, while "totally valid", was not the film he wanted to make. Reeves only wanted to join if he was guaranteed creative control, and Warner Bros. Pictures Group chairman Toby Emmerich—who wanted an auteur to make the next Batman film—was impressed by his initial ideas. An issue with his salary soon arose, but it was quickly overcome, and Reeves was hired to direct The Batman on February 23. He was also set to produce the film with Dylan Clark. Reeves was not willing to share his full vision with the studio while he was working on War for the Planet of the Apes (2017), and Warner Bros. agreed to delay production until he was available.
Reeves began working on the script in March 2017. He initially planned to keep The Batman connections to the DCEU and spoke with Affleck during the writing process, but soon reworked the story to focus on Batman earlier in his vigilante career, with plans to cast a younger actor to play Batman; Warner Bros. was planning to replace Affleck by July 2017. In August 2018, Affleck went to rehabilitation for alcohol abuse, and it was considered unlikely that he would reprise his role in the film after that. At that time, Reeves said the script was nearing completion, and he hoped to finish it within a couple of weeks. He was aiming to begin production in early to mid-2019. Reeves submitted his first draft to Warner Bros. the following month. Mattson Tomlin and Peter Craig also contributed to the script, though only Reeves and Craig received credit. Tomlin used some of the ideas he developed for The Batman in a comic book limited series, Batman: The Imposter (2021).
In January 2019, Warner Bros. scheduled a release date of June 25, 2021, for The Batman, and Affleck confirmed that he was no longer starring. Affleck explained that he stepped down due to a combination of factors, including his divorce from Jennifer Garner, the tumultuous production of Justice League, his lack of enjoyment in the role at that point, and his alcohol problems. Elaborating on his Justice League experience, Affleck said it had particularly soured his interest in the role since it involved his divorce, frequent traveling, and competing agendas, as well as the death of Snyder's daughter Autumn (which led to the director's exit from the project) and the subsequent extensive reshoots for the film. Affleck recalled that he had shown a version of The Batman script to a friend who said, "I think the script is good. I also think you'll drink yourself to death if you go through what you just went through [on Justice League] again".
Writing Process and Batman's characterization When Reeves decided to focus on Batman earlier in his vigilante career, he began writing a new script from scratch. Affleck's script had taken an action-driven approach similar to the James Bond franchise, but Reeves wanted a more personal narrative that would "rock [Batman] to his core". He wanted to explore how the Batman mythos could exist in the real world and chose to set the film during the second year of Batman's career rather than retell the character's origin story, as he wanted his take to be different from previous Batman films. He felt the film was "more about someone who hadn't quite figured out why they were doing the thing they were doing" and wanted it to focus on Batman's emotional arc, in which "you see him go through tremendous trauma and then marshal the will to find a way through". Reeves originally intended for his version of The Batman to be set in the DCEU, but eventually decided that this would distract from Batman's character arc and asked Warner Bros. for the creative freedom to move outside of the shared universe. Reeves wanted to be able to create a version of Batman with a "personal aspect to it" and felt he should not be obligated to connect it to other aspects of the DCEU. Warner Bros.' incorporation of the multiverse in its DC productions allowed Reeves to take the project in his own direction; as a consequence, the film takes place in a separate world that was being referred to as "Earth-2".
In portraying Bruce Wayne, Reeves wanted to depart from the traditional playboy and socialite; because he listened to the Nirvana song "Something in the Way" (1991) as he wrote the first act, he decided to base Bruce on reclusive Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain. He took inspiration from the film Last Days (2005), which features a fictionalized version of Cobain living in a "decaying manor". The character Michael Corleone from The Godfather (1972) also influenced Reeves's take on Bruce. Reeves sought to make Batman relatable while honoring what people love about him, and described his Batman as "still trying to figure out how to do this, how to be effective, and he's not necessarily succeeding. He's broken and driven". Although it does not depict Batman's origin—in which he witnesses the murder of his parents—The Batman still explores the emotional cost that it has on the character, with Reeves stating Batman is "emotionally stunted at being 10 years old, because that's a trauma you don't get past".