The Batman is “almost a horror movie”, according to director Matt Reeves

Arrow in the Head being the horror-centric section of the JoBlo Network, we very rarely cover superhero movies and TV shows here. Only ones that are dark, violent, or strange enough make the cut – so we’ve been covering director Matt Reeves’ The Batman, because it looks like it’s going to be very dark and the marketing prominently features a serial killer character (The Riddler). Now, in an interview with Moviemaker Magazine (as reported by The Wrap), Reeves has proven that we were right to give The Batman some attention, as he says his film is “almost a horror movie”.

Here’s the quote that caught our attention:

This idea of a place that is corrupt, and you try to swim against the tide in order to fight against it and make a difference, is quintessential Batman. And at the center of those noir stories is almost always the detective, right? And that’s why he is the world’s greatest detective. And so this story is, in addition to being almost a horror movie, and a thriller, and an action movie, at its core, it’s also very much a detective story. It’s very narrative.”

Scripted by Reeves, Peter Craig, and Mattson Tomlin, The Batman (which may be nearly 3 hours long) has the following synopsis:

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.

The film stars Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne / Batman, Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth, Jeffrey Wright as Lt. James Gordon, Zoë Kravitz as Selina Kyle / Catwoman, Colin Farrell as Oswald Cobblepot / The Penguin, John Turturro as Carmine Falcone, Paul Dano as Edward Nashton / The Riddler, Peter Sarsgaard as Gotham D.A. Gil Colson, and Jayme Lawson as mayoral candidate Bella Reál.

Pattinson backed up Reeves’ claim that this is a detective movie:

In the first meeting, he was saying, we want to lean into the ‘world’s greatest detective aspect,’ and be a detective noir movie. And, you know, normally when directors say that, they just do like a mood board, and it’s just about the imagery. But I read the script, and it is! It’s a detective movie. It happens all the time in the graphic novels, but it’s always kind of on the backburner in the movies.”

Reeves also dug deeper into the detective aspect of the story:

The premise of the movie is that the Riddler is kind of molded in an almost Zodiac Killer sort of mode, and is killing very prominent figures in Gotham, and they are the pillars of society. These are supposedly legitimate figures. It begins with the mayor, and then it escalates from there. And in the wake of the murders, he reveals the ways in which these people were not everything they said they were, and you start to realize there’s some kind of association. And so just like Woodward and Bernstein, you’ve got Gordon and Batman trying to follow the clues to try and make sense of this thing in a classic kind-of-detective story way.”

Reeves produced The Batman with Dylan Clark. Michael E. Uslan, Walter Hamada, Chantal Nong Vo, and Simon Emanuel serve as executive producers. The film sports a PG-13 rating for “strong violent and disturbing content, drug content, strong language, and some suggestive material.”

The Batman, which might be a horror movie, is set to reach theatres on March 4th, with an HBO Max release to follow on April 19th.