The Batman Movie: 10 Comics Matt Reeves NEEDS To Adapt

2. Haunted Knight

Batman Haunted Knight
DC Comics/Tim Sale

Batman: The Long Halloween may stand out as the best collaboration between Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale, but it's actually already informed an equally seminal story of Batman's on the big screen in The Dark Knight. Dark Victory, the following tale published by the pair, is also pretty great, although the fact it details Robin's origin probably excludes it from inspiring any significant part of Reeves' upcoming film.

One book that tends to be forgotten by Bat-fans, however, is Haunted Knight. The collection includes several Halloween-based stories centred around Batman taking on key villains from his gallery, and though Loeb's characterisation of Mad Hatter and Scarecrow leaves much to be desired at times (both speak in nursery rhyme, for some reason), the Halloween setting combined with Sale's pencils imbues each tale with a great atmosphere.

It's by no means the greatest story, but in terms of providing a solid roadmap for Reeves' film, it could yet exert a key influence.

We're yet to see a seasonal Batman story on the big screen, and in an effort to capture a unique atmosphere on the big screen, a story taking place around All Hallows' Eve could be brilliant.

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Content Producer/Presenter

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.