Recently, ‘Batman’ director Matt Reeves was answering questions about the nature of Bruce Wayne and Batman, and how he saw the split between the two personalities, and what he thought of the way Batman juggled these dual identities. The classic question of course being, in his mind, does he think of himself as “Batman” or “Bruce Wayne,” a concept that has been played with many times in many mediums, with it often cited that Bruce Wayne actually refers to himself as “Batman” in his mind.
Reeves has apparently spent a lot of time thinking about that very question, and he had a lot to say on the subject when asked about it:
“Gosh, that’s a tough question. I think that it’s interesting, because one of the things that I’ve found interesting, just as we’re working on the story, is looking back at Jekyll and Hyde, and the idea of your shadow-self, and the idea of, we are all multiple things. It’s different aspects of who we are, and I think there are times when maybe the surface of Bruce is not really who he is, but that’s his disguise. There are times when Batman’s the disguise, but there are times when his true essence comes out, because by being veiled, a kind of instinctual side comes out that’s very pure…It’s not an easy question to answer, in that I think that we are all made up of so many different aspects of ourselves that make the whole. I don’t know if you could ever reduce anyone to one part of what they express. That’s what’s fun about his character, is that there’s a very bright light that shines on his shadow side. The idea of all of that is incredibly exciting. It’s part of what makes it fun for me to work on.”
Personally, I think taking this route with a ‘Batman’ movie opens the door for a lot of interesting possibilities, and this is part of why I am excited for Reeves’ take on the Dark Knight. It might be a bit more cerebral and thought provoking than your average smash-em-up super-hero movie. And for the record, I firmly believe Batman is slightly nuts and refers to himself as ‘Batman’ in his head.
Feel free to share your opinion on the matter, and on the new ‘Batman’ movie, in the comments below!
