The Batman was the first bona fide box office hit of 2022 when it was released in early March, becoming a critical and commercial success.
The film sees Robert Pattinson make his debut in the infamous hood, with Zoë Kravitz playing Selina Kyle, better known as Catwoman, Colin Farrell playing The Penguin, and Paul Dano playing The Riddler.
On top of that, Andy Serkis plays Alfred Pennyworth, Jeffrey Wright is Commissioner Gordon, John Turturro plays crime boss Carmine Falcone, and Peter Sarsgaard is Gil Colson, Gotham's district attorney. Matt Reeves, best known for his work on the Planet of the Apes trilogy, is in the director's chair.
In Reeves' new take, we meet Pattinson's Bruce Wayne in his second year fighting crime as Batman, uncovering systemic corruption in Gotham City while also searching for the Riddler, a serial killer targeting Gotham's elite.
Part of the success of The Batman, which grossed nearly $800 million at the worldwide box office, was the introduction of Pattinson's Wayne as a different version of the character: a younger, more febrile and more violent version of the Dark Knight, versus to a brutally dark palette.
As the film hits DVD shelves, TechRadar spoke exclusively with James Chinlund, the film's production designer, who revealed that he and Reeves wanted to give the character a true DIY aesthetic and move away from the gimmicks and high performance. final technology used by previous versions of the character.
Chinlund told us, "Bruce is early in his development. He does everything himself. He's not connected to Wayne Industries in the same way. He's a Bruce Wayne being built from the ground up. We approached everything we did from the same way". We had that in mind for the car and for the costume. We had this philosophy. If Bruce couldn't do it himself, he had no place. Everything revolved around the mission, everything was for him to become the greatest detective in the world. "
This commitment to the DIY aesthetic was also applied to the Batmobile, a look that Chinlund said distressed the film's creative team.
“The car was a real flash point for our anxiety,” he explained. "We had to create a Batmobile that was shocking and exciting for the fans, but also very grounded. We weren't going to surprise people with incredible shapes and rockets shooting out. It's a car, not a military machine. I was very nervous about the fit with the character, but also making it exciting."
A sequel to The Batman is confirmed, with Pattinson and Kravitz set to return. Chinlund, who had worked with Reeves prior to The Batman on War for the Planet of the Apes and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, wasn't drawn to any details, or whether he would return for the sequel.
Our bet, having seen Chinlund and his team build a perfect complement to Reeves' dark vision, is that he'll be back. But we will have to wait to see...
The Batman is available for digital download as well as 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD now.
You can read more about the leaked plans for the sequel's villain here.