New ‘The Batman’ Comic Book Set Collects The Stories That Inspired Director Matt Reeves
In anticipation of directorMatt Reeves' new filmThe Batmanopening in 2022,DC Comicsis releasing a collection of the classic comics that inspired the film and its filmmaker. DC Connect magazine revealed the first look at the newThe Batman Box Set, which includes softcover editions of the three books Reeves named as inspirations for the new movie.
Bring Home the Bat
The Batman Box Setwill contain softcover editions of Reeves' biggest inspirations for his new film:Jeph LoebandTim Sale’sBatman: The Long Halloween,Darwyn Cooke’sBatman Ego and Other Tails, andFrank MillerandDavid Mazzucchelli’s influential origin storyBatman: Year One. The three books are housed in a slipcase box with art byJim Lee.
The box set retails for $63.00 and goes on sale onMarch 1, 2022, just three days beforeThe Batmanpremieres in theaters onMarch 4, 2022.Robert Pattinsonstars as playboy philanthropist Bruce Wayne and his crime-fighting alter-ego, Batman.
Reeves named the above trio of books, along withThe Long HalloweensequelBatman: Dark Victory,as some of his favorite Batman storiesin a 2018 tweet. He later said thatThe Batmanis not an adaptation of any particular comic arc, but is its own “noir-driven, definitive Batman story.”
Not “Year One”
“Year Oneis one of the many comic books that I love. We are definitely not doing Year One,” Reevestold pressat the Television Critics Association in 2018. He added that his movie is not an origin story, but would still tell “a story that’s emotional and yet is really about him being the world’s greatest detective and all the things that for me, since I was a kid, made me love Batman.”
If you want to be specific, Bruce Wayne is in yeartwoof his career as the caped crusader when we meet him inThe Batman.
“I went on a deep dive again revisiting all my favorite comics. Those all inform by osmosis,” Reeves added. “There’s no continuation of the Nolan films. It’s very much trying to find a way to do this as something that for me is going to be definitively Batman and new and cool.”
In addition to Pattinson,The BatmanstarsZoë Kravitzas Catwoman,Paul Danoas the Riddler,Jeffrey Wrightas James Gordon,Andy Serkisas Alfred Pennyworth, andColin Farrellas Oswald “the Penguin” Cobblepot.
