The Batman: 7 Challenges Matt Reeves Must Overcome
4. Creating A New Gotham
What is Batman without a city to protect?
Gotham is the grubby heart and soul of every great Dark Knight story, a sprawling urban wasteland packed with so much crime that the police adopt an ‘if you can’t beat them, join them’ approach. From the glitzy high-rise of Wayne Tower to the destitution of the Narrows, Reeves has a huge spectrum of source material to draw from in building his own version.
There’s nothing more satisfying than watching the Dark Knight stalk across the Gotham’s rooftops, this is where he’s in his element, an apex predator chasing down criminals. Whether in the previous films or Rocksteady’s acclaimed game series, fans have always enjoyed exploring different iterations of the mean streets that turned Bruce Wayne into the caped crusader.
The Batman needs to be a story set firmly in Bruce Wayne’s home city, not hopping from Metropolis to Central City and who knows where else just for the sake of Justice League cameos and tying it into the rest of the DC Universe.
To use a horrendous cliché that is actually warranted for once: Gotham is as much of a character as Batman. Hopefully, Reeves acknowledges this and gives audiences a new take on the iconic city.