Revisiting Batman on the big screen doesn’t mean you have to revisit the same story, director Matt Reeves gets that. In an interview with Empire, Reeves detailed how his version of the superhero will be different from the ones we’ve seen before. The most startling revelation that he made—and honestly, we should’ve seen this coming—is that Bruce Wayne in his film, The Batman, is inspired by grunge icon Kurt Cobain.
Cobain’s raspy voice was all over the first trailer for the film, which was unveiled back in August 2020. It teased the noir-heavy world that Reeves—best known for his two Planet of the Apes reboot films—had created. As Jeffrey Wright’s Commissioner Gordon read out a riddle written by The Riddler, Nirvana’s "Something’s in The Way" played in the background, setting the tone for a very different kind of Batman movie.
Reeves told Empire that he wrote the first act of the film while listening to that song. And then it hit him. He said:
“That’s when it came to me that, rather than make Bruce Wayne the playboy version we’ve seen before, there’s another version who had gone through a great tragedy and become a recluse. So I started making this connection to Gus Van Sant's Last Days and the idea of this fictionalized version of Kurt Cobain being in this kind of decaying manor.”
Starring Michael Pitt, Last Days was a near-silent account of a visibly troubled rockstar’s slow march toward death. It is widely believed that the film is a fictionalized account of Cobain’s final days. The Nirvana frontman died by suicide in 1994.
Reeves said that in his movie, Bruce Wayne (played by Robert Pattinson) isn’t the socialite that he has been portrayed as in past live-action films. Instead, he has been holed up by himself, tinkering away at his suit and his gizmos, much to the concern of his butler, Alfred (Andy Serkis).
The filmmaker said that he was drawn to Pattinson after watching his performance in the Safdie brothers’ Good Time. He explained:
“In that movie you could really feel his vulnerability and desperation, but you could also feel his power. I thought that was a great mix. He’s also got that Kurt Cobain thing, where he looks like a rock star, but you also feel like he could be a recluse.”
The character has previously been played in major films by Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney, Christian Bale and Ben Affleck. Co-starring Zoë Kravitz, Colin Farrell, and Paul Dano, Reeves’ The Batman is slated for a March 4, 2022 release. Two spinoffs series for HBO Max are already in development; while the first one will focus on the inner workings of the Gotham City police department, the second is a Penguin show starring Farrell. You can read a synopsis for the film here:
The Batman is an edgy, action-packed thriller that depicts Batman in his early years, struggling to balance rage with righteousness as he investigates a disturbing mystery that has terrorized Gotham. Robert Pattinson delivers a raw, intense portrayal of Batman as a disillusioned, desperate vigilante awakened by the realization that the anger consuming him makes him no better than the ruthless serial killer he’s hunting.