If director Matt Reeves wasn’t worried about pressure from fans over his upcoming DC Comics movie “The Batman,” maybe he’d better start. Because on the first day of Comic-Con 2019, Bat-fans in San Diego told him bluntly “don’t screw up.”
The jab came Thursday during a completely unrelated panel, the 7th annual “Musical Anatomy of a Superhero” in Ballroom 20. Among the panelists in attendance was “Up” Oscar winner and composer Michael Giacchino, who in addition to scoring superhero films like “Doctor Strange” and “Spider-Man: Far From Home” also happens to be good friends with Reeves. So it is that Giacchino recorded a video for his pal, showing the huge Ballroom 20 audience shouting “Hey Matt, don’t screw up our Batman movie.”
“Nothing like a little encouragement,” Reeves said later when he posted the video on Twitter. Check it out below.
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Nothing like a little encouragement, @m_giacchino ❤️🦇 pic.twitter.com/gfua51uaUL
— Matt Reeves (@mattreevesLA) July 18, 2019
Reeves took over “The Batman” from Ben Affleck, who was originally set to direct and star but has now stepped away from the project entirely. Robert Pattinson will now star as the Dark Knight in Matt Reeves’ “The Batman,” and Reeves has since described the film as a “defining” and “very personal” story about the Dark Knight, rather than an origin story in the vein of Frank Miller’s beloved “Year One” series.
Meanwhile, there might be another reason Giacchino decided to publicly put his friend on notice: he’s scored four of Reeves’ movies, including “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,” and he’s publicly said he’s interested in scoring “The Batman” too. So far, he doesn’t have the job, at least not officially. All he’d say about it during the panel Thursday was “I don’t know. We’ll see. I just know that my friend is working really hard right now. Anyway, I’ll say that.” So keep on speculating everyone.
Reeves’ credits include the last two “Planet of the Apes” movies. He will produce alongside “Planet of the Apes” collaborator Dylan Clark.
“The Batman” is currently set for release on June 25, 2021.
TheWrap is in San Diego all week long for Comic-Con 2019 — check out all of our ongoing coverage here.