I'm Reading Your Stuff: General News and Discussion Thread

[solidsnake86]

The o

As others have mentioned, it’s still part of DC Studios. Makes sense why Gunn would debunk it.

It’s funny how just a few months ago there was fear mongering that Gunn cancelled The Batman Part II. Now people are like “why is he answering questions about it, it’s part of the DCU” as if Gunn has zero power lol. Which is it? (And I’m not directing this specifically at you solidsnake, just pointing out the discrepancies in the thought process I’m generally seeing online).

The only people that think it's cancelled are the Snyder cult looking to find a villain in Gunn. The batman is the only successful thing DC has had without diminishing returns in years.

But I do think what happens with the batman sequel in terms of box office success, like all movies, will determine if it continues on. If makes less than the batman, I could see a push to move on from it. With good reason, as there is no sense in investing money in something that makes you less.

 

[emc5466]

 

[Boom]

Probably DCU related.

 

[WayneMB]

As Reeves reveals to SFX, The Penguin will serve as a bridge between the two movies. “Our entry point is absolutely connected to where we leave things in the series. There are details that actually connect right into the way the next movie begins, and the way that Oz enters that world as we hand the baton back to Batman, and Batman is on another case.

“I would like these stories to be a meditation on the way Gotham is the way it is. It’s such a brutal place and we’re digging for the answers as to why these people’s lives are this way. It’s another mystery [in The Batman: Part II] that’s going to dig into the epic story about deeper corruption and it goes into places that he couldn’t even anticipate in the first one. The seeds of where this goes are all in the first movie, and it expands in a way that will show you aspects of the character you never got to see.

“Batman is constantly battling these forces. But those forces can’t be entirely exorcised. So the next movie delves deeper into that.”

Reeves has established a gritty, realistic tone for Batman’s adventures. So no chance of Robert Pattinson fighting one of the more fantastical foes like the Gentleman Ghost?

“You’ll see the Gentleman Ghost in Batman: Caped Crusader from Bruce Timm but you won’t see him in this!” laughs Reeves. “What was important to me was to find a way to take these pop icons, these mythic characters that everybody knows, and translate it so that Gotham feels like a place in our world. We might push to the edge of the fantastical but we would never go into full fantastical. It’s meant to feel quite grounded.

“It doesn’t mean that you won’t see characters that people love. That’s exactly what we want to do. Gentleman Ghost is probably pushed a bit too far for us to be able to find a way to do, but there is a fun way to think about how we would take characters that might push over into a bit of the fantastical and find a way to make sense of that.”"

 

[C Prometheus]

As Reeves reveals to SFX, The Penguin will serve as a bridge between the two movies. “Our entry point is absolutely connected to where we leave things in the series. There are details that actually connect right into the way the next movie begins, and the way that Oz enters that world as we hand the baton back to Batman, and Batman is on another case.

“I would like these stories to be a meditation on the way Gotham is the way it is. It’s such a brutal place and we’re digging for the answers as to why these people’s lives are this way. It’s another mystery [in The Batman: Part II] that’s going to dig into the epic story about deeper corruption and it goes into places that he couldn’t even anticipate in the first one. The seeds of where this goes are all in the first movie, and it expands in a way that will show you aspects of the character you never got to see.

“Batman is constantly battling these forces. But those forces can’t be entirely exorcised. So the next movie delves deeper into that.”

Reeves has established a gritty, realistic tone for Batman’s adventures. So no chance of Robert Pattinson fighting one of the more fantastical foes like the Gentleman Ghost?

“You’ll see the Gentleman Ghost in Batman: Caped Crusader from Bruce Timm but you won’t see him in this!” laughs Reeves. “What was important to me was to find a way to take these pop icons, these mythic characters that everybody knows, and translate it so that Gotham feels like a place in our world. We might push to the edge of the fantastical but we would never go into full fantastical. It’s meant to feel quite grounded.

“It doesn’t mean that you won’t see characters that people love. That’s exactly what we want to do. Gentleman Ghost is probably pushed a bit too far for us to be able to find a way to do, but there is a fun way to think about how we would take characters that might push over into a bit of the fantastical and find a way to make sense of that.”"

Here's the source article btw!

So yeah, here it is in plain words from the man himself! The Batman Crime Saga are going to remain relatively grounded and teeter on the edge of fantastical at times, but if anyone wants to see Man-Bat or mud person Clayface, your best bet is to wait for the DCU.

 

[darkdefective]

Yep as you can see Reeves is pretty intent on keeping things grounded

 

[Boom]

Mr. Freeze Hive RISE UP.

 

[TheSmoothKnight]

Good to see Gunn and Peter are super excited after the reading the script!

 

[Gothamsknight]

Mr. Freeze Hive RISE UP.

A grounded depiction of Mister Freeze in Reeves world would be horrifying in the best way

 

[Boom]

Somehow even when we get updates from Reeves I feel like I'm even more starving.

 

[SwordOfMorning]

Somehow even when we get updates from Reeves I feel like I'm even more starving.

Same. It’s so funny that I’m so starved that Matt basically saying: ‘yeah, in the next movie Batman will have a problem to resolve in a story where things happen’ has got me all jazzed up.

 

[AndrewGilkison]

A "grounded" Mr. Freeze likely means a version that doesn't have a cool freezing gun or need to be in subzero temperatures to survive. So no thanks.

 

[C Prometheus]

Mr. Freeze Hive RISE UP.

A grounded depiction of Mister Freeze in Reeves world would be horrifying in the best way

I mean, it's certainly possible that we get Mr Freeze somewhere in the mix here, but going off other comments from the same article, it definitely sounds to me like Reeves is planning on doing the Court of Owls next.

“These movies are very much telling the story of Batman’s emotional arc, and the story is his point of view. Because they’re mystery stories we’re learning about other characters as they’re involved in the detective story, so we’re learning about them through him. A lot of times what happens is you establish the Batman in the first movie and then the next movie is the Riddler’s movie or the Joker’s movie and the rogues’ gallery takes centre stage. I wanted to find a way to keep Batman as the central arc of the movies.”

“The plan is to shoot next year, and we’re finishing up the script now,” says Matt Reeves of The Batman: Part II, the sequel to his hardboiled 2022 take on the Dark Knight. “Colin [Farrell] will be part of the movie. We’ve shared [the script] as we’ve been going along with DC and the studio and they’re super excited.”

As Reeves reveals to SFX, The Penguin will serve as a bridge between the two movies. “Our entry point is absolutely connected to where we leave things in the series. There are details that actually connect right into the way the next movie begins, and the way that Oz enters that world as we hand the baton back to Batman, and Batman is on another case.

“I would like these stories to be a meditation on the way Gotham is the way it is. It’s such a brutal place and we’re digging for the answers as to why these people’s lives are this way. It’s another mystery [in The Batman: Part II] that’s going to dig into the epic story about deeper corruption and it goes into places that he couldn’t even anticipate in the first one. The seeds of where this goes are all in the first movie, and it expands in a way that will show you aspects of the character you never got to see.

“Batman is constantly battling these forces. But those forces can’t be entirely exorcised. So the next movie delves deeper into that.”

So if Reeves' game plan here is to do another mystery that continues to dig deeper into the corruption in Gotham City that Bruce doesn't know about yet and that the seeds for it were already in place last film, that leads me to think a few things right away:

• Falcone was probably a member or maybe a former leader of the Court of Owls, going off that small speech he gave to Batman right before his assassination about how "all those secrets" were going with him to his grave. And by having Falcone be a member or a former leader of the Court, that would expand on the original twist from Part 1 without running into the issue I had previously expressed here about running into the habit of repeating the same twist over again while undermining the original twist ("Ah, the Court were the REAL puppet masters behind the so-called puppet master Falcone!")
• Assuming that Reeves will also follow up on that Hush tease he did last movie, I'm betting he'll merge Lincoln March with Thomas Elliot/Hush as one character, rather than doing the original, controversial twist from Scott Snyder's comic
• We'll probably have more time in this film of Bruce out-of-costume and out in public

As an aside, my apologies for not posting these earlier, btw. Kinda had to rush out to go have dinner with family immediately after my last post.

 

[Gothamsknight]

I'm fully expecting a Clayface/Hush hybrid and The Court of Owls.

 

[C Prometheus]

I'm fully expecting a Clayface/Hush hybrid and The Court of Owls.

If we're getting the Court of Owls, Reeves is totally going to merge Hush with Lincoln March IMO.

Think of how Reeves switched out the Holiday Killer with the Riddler for The Batman, despite it pulling so much from The Long Halloween.

 

[Johnny Frost]

If we're getting the Court of Owls, Reeves is totally going to merge Hush with Lincoln March IMO.

Think of how Reeves switched out the Holiday Killer with the Riddler for The Batman, despite it pulling so much from The Long Halloween.

It's been my theory for a while now, I could even see them including the Lincoln thing about thinking he's Bruce's brother, maybe even arguing that that was the reason the reporter was killed (If he really is Hush's father) and Martha was sent to Arkham to hide it.

 

[C Prometheus]

It's been my theory for a while now, I could even see them including the Lincoln thing about thinking he's Bruce's brother, maybe even arguing that that was the reason the reporter was killed (If he really is Hush's father) and Martha was sent to Arkham to hide it.

I mean, maybe... but I kinda doubt it. I think that'd be a step too far for Reeves with all of the twists and there not really being anyway to do that sort of reveal at this point without regurgitating the same drama beats in regards to his father's secrets and Alfred's role in hiding it that Bruce had to deal with in the late second act of the last film. I think that if Reeves merges Hush and Lincoln March together, he'll keep it relatively simple with it being that the reporter's son being renamed Lincoln March after being adopted, possibly by someone in the Court.

That said, I do hope that Reeves will probably go more into the Arkham family history and having that all tied to the Court of Owls too in some way if possible.

 

[solidsnake86]

So basically he didn't reveal much but him mentioning the seeds being planted in the first movie is interesting. To me, it leans more towards hush v court of owls since there was no reference to that at all. But who knows, the good news is, with the penguin coming up, we may finally get some answers in October or November as to the shooting date.

 

[AndyTrevino]

Genuinely huffing copium on this Court Of Owls thing if it is indeed them. If they're adapted, I pray that we don't venture into retconny "IT WAS USSSSSSS ALL ALONG" mumbo jumbo, nothing like that. Especially if it tampers with the mundanity of the corruption in the first film. I like the imagery, that's about it.

I'd much rather this entail some majorly shady **** going on within Arkham or something mundane again. Especially with the inevitable Clayface subplot.

 

[SwordOfMorning]

Yeah, I much prefer the mundane scumbaggery of the corruption in the first movie to the weird dumb QAnon coded conspiracy schlock that comes with the Court.

 

[C Prometheus]

Genuinely huffing copium on this Court Of Owls thing if it is indeed them. If they're adapted, I pray that we don't venture into retconny "IT WAS USSSSSSS ALL ALONG" mumbo jumbo, nothing like that. Especially if it tampers with the mundanity of the corruption in the first film. I like the imagery, that's about it.

I'd much rather this entail some majorly shady **** going on within Arkham or something mundane again. Especially with the inevitable Clayface subplot.

Yeah, I much prefer the mundane scumbaggery of the corruption in the first movie to the weird dumb QAnon coded conspiracy schlock that comes with the Court.

Completely agreed. Given how much care Reeves tends to give for his films and the comments here, I think if we're getting the Court, the reveal is going to be that Falcone was always a member or potentially the former leader of the Court up until his death in Part 1.

Others already mentioned this on social media earlier, but Falcone had some dialogue right before his assassination that could be very important and be one of those "seeds" that Reeves was alluding to in this interview...

Obviously in the film, both Bruce and the audience assume Falcone is only referring to secrets such as who was actually responsible for the murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne. But this sort of dialogue could very easily play out in a similar manner to the dialogue about Anakin Skywalker from Uncle Owen and Obi-Wan in A New Hope before George Lucas decided after the fact while making TESB that Darth Vader would in fact be Anakin.

 

[TheSmoothKnight]

 

[DeadlyWest]

A "grounded" Mr. Freeze likely means a version that doesn't have a cool freezing gun or need to be in subzero temperatures to survive. So no thanks.

Freeze 100% can work as a "teetering on the edge of fantasy" villain. Need to be subzero temperatures? Poikilothermia is a real condition where you can't regulate your body's temperature. All you have to do is give pre Freeze Victor the condition which means he has to try and bring his body temperature down to avoid complications with his health (but not to a Mr Freeze like extent) then use the chemicals in Mr Freeze's backstory to cause some type of mutation or exacerbation of his condition which leads to his body temp skyyrocketing and a requirement to wear a cold suit to survive. He wouldn't exactly die within minutes ala the comics, but he would slowly start getting sicker and sicker until he did pass away, hence the suit so Freeze can work without the time pressures. Combine him having poikilothermia to explain him being a cryogenics expert to tie into his whole backstory. The freeze gun? Reverse-engineered flamethrower that shoots liquid nitrogen which due to Freeze's cryogenics he knows exactly how to engineer it in a way that it causes similar damage to the comic style freeze gun.

Making Freeze more grounded is honestly not a very complicated process at all

 

[TheGDBatman]

Freeze 100% can work as a "teetering on the edge of fantasy" villain. Need to be subzero temperatures? Poikilothermia is a real condition where you can't regulate your body's temperature. All you have to do is give pre Freeze Victor the condition which means he has to try and bring his body temperature down to avoid complications with his health (but not to a Mr Freeze like extent) then use the chemicals in Mr Freeze's backstory to cause some type of mutation or exacerbation of his condition which leads to his body temp skyyrocketing and a requirement to wear a cold suit to survive. He wouldn't exactly die within minutes ala the comics, but he would slowly start getting sicker and sicker until he did pass away, hence the suit so Freeze can work without the time pressures. Combine him having poikilothermia to explain him being a cryogenics expert to tie into his whole backstory. The freeze gun? Reverse-engineered flamethrower that shoots liquid nitrogen which due to Freeze's cryogenics he knows exactly how to engineer it in a way that it causes similar damage to the comic style freeze gun.

Making Freeze more grounded is honestly not a very complicated process at all

That's the thing... it can still be fantastical but grounded in real world science and conditions. I'm not necessarily expecting a freeze gun, but I could see a variation or something (as you laid out) that can be tied back to a scientific explanation.

 

[solidsnake86]

Freeze 100% can work as a "teetering on the edge of fantasy" villain. Need to be subzero temperatures? Poikilothermia is a real condition where you can't regulate your body's temperature. All you have to do is give pre Freeze Victor the condition which means he has to try and bring his body temperature down to avoid complications with his health (but not to a Mr Freeze like extent) then use the chemicals in Mr Freeze's backstory to cause some type of mutation or exacerbation of his condition which leads to his body temp skyyrocketing and a requirement to wear a cold suit to survive. He wouldn't exactly die within minutes ala the comics, but he would slowly start getting sicker and sicker until he did pass away, hence the suit so Freeze can work without the time pressures. Combine him having poikilothermia to explain him being a cryogenics expert to tie into his whole backstory. The freeze gun? Reverse-engineered flamethrower that shoots liquid nitrogen which due to Freeze's cryogenics he knows exactly how to engineer it in a way that it causes similar damage to the comic style freeze gun.

Making Freeze more grounded is honestly not a very complicated process at all

Exactly, I don't know why people take Reeves comment to mean that nothing fantastical can happen. I think his quote is encouring actually and what you laid out here is something that can be done which teeters on the edge of fantastical but remains "grounded" or gives the basis for being plausible.

It's like with Poison ivy, you don't need plant monsters, but you can make her highly resistant to plant toxins and give her the animated series motivations.