The Batman Is Going To Have A Ridiculous Run-Time
Matt Reeves and Robert Pattinson are bringing a very long version of The Batman to the big screen in a couple of months.
When Robert Pattinson and Matt Reeves finally give us The Batman this year, it will be a totally new spin on the Caped Crusader in live-action form. The initial looks at the film offer a much darker and grittier version of Gotham City, establishing a world that’s a bit more harrowing than what we’ve seen in the past. And according to the latest report, it’s set to be much longer than any other Batman movie before. That’s because this thing is going to ring in at two hours and 55 minutes (175 minutes). Pushing up against three hours is really something and could speak to massive world-building around this new group of characters.
The current leader in the Batman clubhouse when it comes to movie length is The Dark Knight Rises which rang in at 165 minutes. This new version involving Robert Pattinson is standing much more in line with what we have seen from massive comic book movies in recent years. Spider-Man: No Way Home ended up at 148 minutes. The two comic book flicks that still land higher on the list are Avengers: Endgame (181 minutes) and Zack Snyder’s Justice League which topped out at a totally bananas 242 minutes once he got back into that one. It’s hard to imagine anything else pushing up against that number, but stranger things and all.
With The Batman, Reeves and Pattinson are bringing a whole new world for this character which will follow Bruce Wayne in his first year as a crimefighter in Gotham City. The main story appears to be the unraveling of the mystery around Paul Dano’s Riddler who will take on much more of a serial killer vibe in this one. Early reports are this movie almost has a horror vibe from how Riddler goes about his killing spree. But with the length of the film, this is likely only one of the threads being pulled.
That’s because The Batman is also going to establish a number of other key Batman characters, reforming some of the typical looks we’ve seen in a movie or even comic book form. For starters, there is Zoe Kravitz as Selena Kyle/ Catwoman. The Batman will explore the relationship between her and Pattinson’s Wayne with some of the story drawing on their tumultuous feelings toward each other both with the masks and without them.
And The Batman will also bring in Colin Farrell as Oswald Cobblepot/ Penguin. The actor is nearly unrecognizable in this role, taking on some of the weathered and off-putting face of the character. This movie is set in a timeline where Penguin hasn’t quite gripped the Gotham City underworld. A spin-off series is already in the works to go further into Cobblepot’s story. It’s unclear if it will be a prequel to this film or take place after the events of The Batman.
Other notables coming to The Batman include Jeffrey Wright as James Gordon, John Turturro as Carmine Falcone, Peter Sarsgaard as Gil Colson and Andy Serkis as Alfred. One final addition to the cast was Barry Keoghan who is slated to play Gotham PD officer Stanley Merkel. But there is speculation that this character will ultimately become the Joker in the budding franchise. Time will tell on that one. In all, we are set to see this lengthy film when The Batman finally hits screens on March 4th.
