Exclusive: The Batman star Jeffrey Wright considers the significance of playing an iconic DC character and calls the overall experience thrilling.
The Batman star Jeffrey Wright reflects on playing an iconic DC character and describes it as an exciting challenge. For the umpteenth time, DC's most beloved hero is getting another big screen adaptation. But this time around, Bruce Wayne, aka Batman, promises to be vastly different from any previous iteration. Robert Pattinson steps into the role of Bruce for The Batman, which finds him in his second year of being Gotham's complicated knight. Matt Reeves serves as director, and by all accounts, he seems to have crafted a unique and gritty take on the Batman mythology.
The Batman finds Bruce contending with a string of murders among Gotham's elite. A masked Riddler (Paul Dano) is the one behind it, and it will take all of Bruce's considerable skill as a detective to unravel the puzzle the Riddler has laid for him. Beyond those two, The Batman features a surprisingly large number of iconic DC characters, from Catwoman (Zoë Kravitz) to a pre-Penguin Oswald Cobblepot (Colin Farrell). Andy Serkis, meanwhile, plays Alfred Pennyworth, while Wright assumes the role of a Jim Gordon before he's made commissioner of the Gotham PD.
Screen Rant recently got the chance to sit down with the stars of The Batman for an interesting conversation. While speaking to both Dano and Wright, the latter actor reflected on what comes with playing popular DC characters. Though some might write it off as just playing a silly comic book figure, Wright understood the significance that comes from assuming the role of someone like Jim Gordon. He said:
...It's not trivial stuff. That comes with its responsibilities. Like Paul, I don't know if it's scary, or if it's thrilling. I think it's thrilling, and it's an exciting challenge to take on.
Particularly in the cases of those like Gordon and the Riddler, fans have seen their fair share of onscreen depictions for each, and they likely have some extra comic book knowledge on the side as well. Therefore, they have strong opinions about how they should be portrayed. These are characters who have stood the test of time and crossed several mediums, meaning all of them have a storied history that The Batman now gets to add to. As Wright said, that brings responsibility, and also a challenge. With the challenge aspect, that likely has to do with needing to find a new approach to a well-known character, which can't always be easy.
Luckily, though, it so far looks like The Batman has managed to do just that for all of its DC players. Bruce has the biggest focus by far in the film, but fans will also be treated to unique takes on those like Gordon, the Riddler, and Catwoman. The Batman is poised to be the eponymous character's biggest movie yet, and the early buzz is favorable. Though the full reactions won't arrive until next week, it could be that Reeves has pulled off something truly special and new with some well-trodden characters, and that's quite an achievement.
