The Batman may not have opened on the same level as last December's Spider-Man: No Way Home, but it's still had a successful debut at the domestic and international box offices. Throw in overwhelmingly positive reviews, and we can't even pretend to be a little shocked that Warner Bros. is now looking to double down on its standalone approach to its DC Comics adaptations.
Attempts to create a "DC Extended Universe" didn't go so well for the studio, and between Joker and The Batman, it's clear that stories set in their own reality have huge potential to succeed.
Talking to Deadline, Warner Bros. President Toby Emmerich shared his thoughts on where DC goes from here. "The secret of the movie business is quality. It’s the best business strategy for both theatrical motion pictures and superhero movies. The movies don’t have to all have the same tone, or interlock with other DC movies, or have an Easter egg that sets up another film."
"Quality is the most important factor for a studio, and the biggest thing you can do to influence quality is the filmmaker that you hire," he said, suggesting that we will see a greater focus on the vision filmmaker's present moving forward. With that, Emmerich went on to explain why Matt Reeves became an obvious choice to take the helm of The Batman and reboot the Caped Crusader for Warner Bros.
"When he pitched the first draft of the script, it harkened back to Batman as the world’s greatest detective," the executive explains. "He talked about the Warner Bros. gangster movies of old and capturing that gangster DNA." He also defended the movie's three-hour runtime by confirming that they tested shorter versions before realising this was the right film to show. "The last time I went to a premiere in Alice Tully Hall was Seven," Emmerich said of the New York premiere, "and on Tuesday night, Batman reminded me of that: The audience was rapt."
It's going to be very interesting to see how The Batman performs financially over the next few weeks; word of mouth is extremely positive, and there's no real competition until Morbius arrives on April 1.
The Batman is now playing in theaters worldwide.
ComicBookMovie.com, and/or the user who contributed this post, may earn commissions or revenue through clicks or purchases made through any third-party links contained within the content above.