The three main comics that inspired Matt Reeves’ The Batman give some story clues of what’s to come for Robert Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne. The film, set for a theatrical release on March 4, 2022, has been highly anticipated by fans, and it looks like Reeves and the rest of the creative team are taking a fresh and distinct angle on the classic Batman character. However, it’s also clear that The Batman is taking big cues from some of the Dark Knight’s most famous comic storylines.
Set in an alternate reality from the core DCEU, The Batman will follow Bruce Wayne in the second year of his crime fighting campaign in Gotham City. The film’s primary villain will be a twisted version of classic bad guy The Riddler, played by Paul Dano. The rest of the cast includes Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman, Jeffrey Wright as Jim Gordon, John Turturro as Carmine Falcone, Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth, and Colin Farrell as The Penguin. It’s a classic collection of characters and some notable villains from Batman's rogues gallery, which should make for an interesting live-action reboot.
Of course, like all previous cinematic adaptations of the Batman comics, The Batman is pulling inspiration directly from past storylines in the DC comics. DC recently announced a The Batman themed box set of three comics, which appear to be the main inspirations for Reeves’ film – Batman: Year One, Batman: Ego and Other Tales, and Batman: The Long Halloween. Here’s what each of those three classic Batman comics reveals about the story of The Batman.
Batman: Year One
Widely seen as one of the best and most influential Batman comics ever, Batman: Year One has been a source of inspiration for numerous other stories starring the Dark Knight over the past few decades. Published in 1987 and written by comics legend Frank Miller, Year One reboots Bruce Wayne with a new take on his origin story. The dark and gritty world of Gotham created by Miller was far more grounded and lived-in than many past iterations, and the tone of Year One quickly became a hit, forever changing the way in which both fans and creators viewed Batman and his story.
In some ways, the Year One inspiration for The Batman just reaffirms details that were already known. The story will follow a young Bruce Wayne who’s still figuring out how best to help the citizens of Gotham. Like Year One, The Batman will likely focus largely on the relationship between Batman and Jim Gordon, and like Year One, the new film seems to have a more grounded and realistic take on Batman’s crimefighting. The film’s villains - Riddler, Penguin, and Catwoman - are all relatively ordinary people in of their physical abilities, which suggests The Batman is staying clear of more superpowered characters like Poison Ivy or Bane. Given the noir-inspired look and feel of Reeves’ film, that should turn out pretty well for the finished product.
Batman: Ego and Other Tales
The second Batman comics included in DC’s The Batman boxset, Ego and Other Tales, isn’t as famous as stories like Year One and The Dark Knight Returns, but it’s still a very notable and influential entry in the Caped Crusader’s mythos. Created by Darwyn Cooke in 2000, the main story of Ego focuses on the psychological split between Bruce Wayne and his Batman persona. After his actions result in the gruesome deaths of an innocent family, Wayne returns to the Batcave and begins a mental argument with himself. The comic is famous for its visualization of the Wayne/Batman schism, which has been a core facet of the character ever since.
If The Batman is taking Ego as one of its main sources of inspiration, there’s reason to believe the movie will go even deeper into Bruce Wayne’s psyche than past adaptations like the Christopher Nolan Dark Knight trilogy. Pattinson himself is a very cerebral actor known for psychologically complex roles, exemplified in films like The Lighthouse and The Devil All the Time. His casting makes even more sense knowing that Ego is part of the film’s foundation. For as much time as Batman spends battling bad guys in the new movie, the Ego inspiration could mean he’ll spend just as much time battling himself.
Batman: The Long Halloween
While Batman: Year One and Batman: Ego and Other Tales seem like they’ll mostly serve as inspiration or the tone, world, and setting of The Batman, Batman: The Long Halloween is the most direct analog for the film’s actual plot. The original comic, which was recently adapted into a two-part animated feature starring Supernatural’s Jensen Ackles, follows Batman in his second year of crimefighting. The main story is about the hunt for a mysterious serial killer named Holiday, which intersects with a second plotline about a Gotham mob war. The Long Halloween is famous for establishing the modern origin story for Harvey Dent/Two-Face, which was recreated in The Dark Knight. In fact, The Dark Knight took most of its inspiration from The Long Halloween.
So far, it looks like The Batman is telling a very similar story to Batman: The Long Halloween, but with Riddler replacing Holiday - and the Harvey Dent plotline being entirely removed. Those changes, combined with the drastic shifts in mood and energy, should hopefully make the film distinct enough from The Dark Knight to avoid unfavorable comparisons. Since Nolan’s film is viewed by many as the greatest comic book movie ever made, Reeves and the rest of his creative team would do well to stray as far from it as possible while still holding the same inspirations at The Batman’s core.
Overall, the three comics being used as inspiration for The Batman make a lot of sense and fit together quite well. They foreshadow a story about Bruce Wayne’s early struggles, both in figuring out how best to help Gotham and in conquering his own demons of psychological trauma. It’s been a long time since a live-action solo Batman movie, so expectations are understandably high. Hopefully, The Batman will be ed as one of franchise’s better cinematic entries, and with three great comics at its foundation, the movie has a lot going for it already.
