"THE Batman" Matt Reeves x Keishi Otomo "same age" director special conversation complete version [Director's Interview Vol.194]

Batman and the Riddler are two sides of the same coin.

Otomo: The complexity of the villains was also very interesting. I felt a similarity with the Riddler, so much so that Batman himself could easily be a villain. The Riddler's character reflects a very modern desire for revenge against society, and the darkness of the social media era, where you never know where an arrow will come from. How did you create this character?

Reeves: As for the Riddler, I was especially inspired by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale's " Batman: The Long Halloween, " which depicts a serial killer case. As I said earlier, I wanted to create a noir x detective story, but if I wanted to portray Batman as the world's greatest detective, I started thinking about him investigating a serial killer case that would expose The Truth about Gotham's corruption.

And what's important to me is how to make it a personal story. So I came up with the idea of ​​the criminal leaving a Arrival or letter for Batman . That would be very unsettling for Batman, and would not only depict the corruption of the city, but also lead him in a direction that would involve his own origin. Also, leaving a puzzle or code behind reminded me of the Zodiac case. I felt that the image of that criminal would be quite fitting for the Riddler.

Otomo: Ah, I see. The Zodiac murders also happened in the 60s or 70s.

Reeves: Yes. I thought it was an Being There to portray a different Riddler, a dark serial killer and a kind of political agitator. The Riddler is trying to expose the corruption in Gotham City and has a kind of political Arrival about why the city is so corrupt, but at the same time, it becomes clear that he also has personal motives. It seems like a political statement, but it's actually similar to Batman, who wants personal revenge.

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So I thought it would be interesting to portray Batman and the Riddler as mirror images. Batman wants to believe that there is a line he will not cross, but he takes the law into his own hands to judge others, and is unaware of how much darkness he is driven by, so he is unaware of his own danger. Conversely, the Riddler is aware of this and feels no remorse for crossing the line. The two men have similar missions, and they are engaged in a kind of dialogue. I wanted to reflect that visually as well.

After the title is displayed in large letters at the beginning of the movie, you can hear breathing and other sounds as if someone is secretly peeking. The audience may think it is Batman because it has just been displayed as "THE BATMAN", but it turns out that it is actually the Riddler. Batman is also watching someone else in another place, and the audience who thought it was the Riddler realizes that it is Batman. That's how I wanted to show the connection between the two. The two are spiritually connected, two sides of the same coin.

Otomo: The plot twist at the beginning was very interesting.

Reeves: Thank you. Also, the social media you mentioned was a very important element for me. I wanted to be inspired by 70's movies, but also connect them to what we are experiencing today. When I thought about how the Riddler communicates with society, I felt that the idea of ​​inciting the crowd through social media would fit in.

This was also because we wanted the audience to feel that Gotham City, which does not exist in the real world, was a world that existed as if it were connected to reality. Social media was also very effective in making the story contemporary and resonate with modern audiences.

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