THE BATMAN Actor Andy Serkis Agrees That the Film Will Be Darker Than the Previous Films
Andy Serkis has taken some time out of the post-production work on Venom: Let Their Be Carnage to talk a little bit about Matt Reeves’s The Batman. Serkis plays Alfred Pennyworth in the movie, and he agrees that this new take on the character is going to be darker than any other DC film that has been made.
While speaking with LADbible, Serkis was asked if fans can expect a “darker, broodier” Batman than what we’ve seen previously, and he replied with:
"I would say that's not far from the truth. It's very much about the emotional connection between Alfred and Bruce. That's really at the centre of it. And it is a really exquisite script that Matt has written."
The actor went on to talk about playing Alfred and how he doesn’t want to replicate any of the portrayals we've already seen of the character. He said:
"He [Caine] was fantastic. His Alfred was legendary, I couldn't even begin to go there, really. You find it for yourself. It's like playing these iconic roles in Shakespeare, you go back, you revisit them and you have to make it your own, and see what it is about he character that connects with you and your personal venn diagram.”
It’ll be interesting to see what his vision for Alfred turns out to be, and I’m curious to see what the relationship is like between him and Robert Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne will be like. Production on The Batman is currently on hold. Right after it shut down, Reeves offered an update saying:
"It was going great. We shot about a quarter of the movie so far; we have three quarters to go. And when the time is right and it's safe to do so, we'll return to it. It was a really exciting period to be exploring. Robert is a fantastic actor, and we have so many great actors in it! It's been really, really exciting to go on this journey with them, and to feel like we are trying to do something different."
The filmmaker previously talked about his approach to Batman, saying:
“I’m going to pitch the version of Batman that I would do, which is going to have a humanist bent. And who knows if they’ll have any interest? If they don’t, then I won’t do it. And that’ll be okay. I was really lucky that they said yes.”
Reeves went on to explain that his film leans into the emotional side of the story:
“It’s not even like that’s an approach that I take, like it’s some kind of idea of, ‘Wouldn’t it be great?’ It’s sort of the only thing that allows me to understand how to do it. I can only understand where the camera goes and how to talk about the story, how to write the story, how to talk to the actors, if I understand emotionally what it is I have to do. Otherwise I’d be lost. Some people are incredible choreographers and they know how to create an incredible visual dance, or all of that kind of stuff. And I love that kind of stuff. But at the end of the day, I have to understand it emotionally.”
He also confirmed that the movie will not be an origin story, but it certainly will acknowledge his origin as it’s still something that he’s “majorly struggling” with.
The Batman is now scheduled to hit theaters October 1, 2021.