Actor-Inspired Element: John Turturro bought Carmine Falcone's vintage sunglasses of his own volition, rationalizing that Falcone needed to have his own "mask" to contrast with Batman.
While he wasn't consulted for the movie, Batman: Noël and Batman: Damned artist Lee Bermejo was proud that the film's Batsuit took heavy inspiration from his design.
Matt Reeves himself loved Corridor Digital's parody trailer for this movie, which replaced Pattinson's Batman with Adam West's Batman, complete with incorporation of show elements and effects.
The lead costume designer confirmed that the crew caught wind of the fan theory that the emblem on the suit was constructed out of Joe Chill's gun. While he clarified that it was never the intention or even an iteration during pre-production, he admitted it was a pretty good idea.
Beam Me Up, Scotty!: One of the most popular memes following the film's release consisted of the Riddler giving Batman a humorous riddle prefaced with the classic statement "Riddle me this, Batman...", which he never actually says in the film. The closest we get to the classic phrase is Joker saying "Riddle me this" to Riddler in Arkham, but no "Batman".
California Doubling: The exterior work was filmed in Liverpool as a stand-in for Gotham, which is a pastiche of the megalopolises of Northeastern US. Matt Reeves has said this was done to give it a distinctive aesthetic, as most other live-action Batman media have actually been filmed in their real-life counterparts. Although, there is at least one driving segment that was filmed in Chicago.
Cast the Runner-Up: Barry Keoghan made up a self-audition tape for The Riddler, but ended up getting cast as The Joker instead.
In late 2021, Barry Keoghan's brother took to Facebook to respond to some fan art of his sibling, expressing his excitement for Barry playing a new iteration of the Joker. The post was quickly taken down, and subsequently fueled speculation about Keoghan's character until the film's release finally proved it to be true. However, this rumor had been circulating around well before Keoghan's brother's post.
Dawson Casting: Selina relates that she was only seven when her mother died. At the end, we see her mother's grave, which dates it to 2004. This makes her nine years younger or so than Zoë Kravitz, her actress, so she's about twenty four or twenty five in the present, whereas Kravitz is thirty three.
rataalada.com, featured in the movie, was made into a real website where fans can interact with the Riddler's riddles for a period of time to unlock cyphers that detail extra information about the movie. The link now takes users to a visual notice that claims that the GCPD has now shut down the site via seizure warrant.
For added amusement, a second site exists in the form of youareelrataalada.com for fans who mistakenly assumed "you are el" was part of the URL name, which sole function was to hint at site visitors to reconsider the url to access the actual rataalada.com. Similarly, this site is now also apparently seized by the GCPD.
There was cut content near the beginning of the film that would have indicated that the film is set in an established iteration of the DC Universe, but elements not tied to Gotham are not the focus of this story. Set photos revealed that a couple were dressed as Superman and Wonder Woman during the Halloween parade, with a newspaper prop on Gotham's streets mentioning Metropolis by name and indicating that Superman (not mentioned by name and only referred to as "you know who") saved a bus full of people. (The tie-in prequel novel also mentions both Metropolis and LexCorp.) There was also a photo of The Flash's logo next to a flyer protesting GothCorp. Per Word of God, this movie is set in a larger universe (dubbed "Earth-2" by DC's marketers, compared to the presumed "Earth-1" that is the DC Extended Universe), but the focus of this setting is meant to remain on the Batman franchise for the foreseeable future — which may have been why these elements were excised from the released movie. That being said, the extra in the Superman costume is visible, although many of the details identifying his costume as Superman's are obscured.
Divorced Installment: The project started development as a DC Extended Universe film, with Ben Affleck intending to reprise his role as Bruce Wayne/Batman from that series. Following Affleck's departure as director and star, The Batman was reworked into a new iteration of the character set in a different continuity at Matt Reeves' own request.
Dyeing for Your Art: Colin Farrell was buried under prosthetics so he could portray the portly and scarred Penguin. He also shaved his head to make it easier to apply the headpiece. However, he declined to gain weight for the role, relying on padding, after having done so for a previous role and found the process unpleasant.
Robert Pattinson worked out extensively and got very muscular for the role and did intense martial arts training in styles such as BJJ, Boxing, Kali, Jeet Kune Do, Muay Thai and Kickboxing to do as many of the fight scenes himself as possible.
Fake American: Three of the main cast members hail from the British Isles but play Americans, namely the English Robert Pattinson, and the Irish Colin Farrell and Barry Keoghan. Similarly, due to being mostly filmed in the UK, many of the extras and supporting roles are played by Brits or Scottish actors playing Americans too, including the actors used for the photos of Thomas and Martha Wayne (Luke Roberts and Olivia Grant).
A very common claim from fan sites and even some news outlets was that the movie would be a Period Piece set in The '90s. Matt Reeves never actually said this, and the misconception likely spread from the belief that The Batman was going to be a prequel to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (Ben Affleck's Batman started his vigilante career circa 1995 In-Universe) following Affleck's departure (while the movie's plot would have actually concerned Deathstroke being out to kill Batman, from what can be understood from The Stinger of Zack Snyder's Justice League. Flashbacks to The '90s in said never-made Batman film are entirely the realm of Wild Mass Guessing). Reeves flip-flopping on the subject of continuity for a long while (but mostly distancing himself from DCEU talks in interviews, saying things like "Of course the film takes place in the DC universe", which was as vague as they come) didn't really help either, until further reveals made it clear that The Batman takes place in a new continuity.
Robert Pattinson weighed in on this tendency as early as 2019, noting that any actor playing Batman has to regulate every single little thing they say before the release, because fans will either criticize or dissect their words in trying to predict just what they think that version of Batman will be like, when in reality, any and all versions of the character would still be accurate to the comics in some way.
Some have also assumed that this setting will never feature characters from other DC franchises on principle ala The Dark Knight Trilogy, when Matt Reeves simply said that he did not have plans to introduce new superheroes to the setting early on, and that he was open to the possibility eventually happening.
Lying Creator: It was initially stated that Barry Keoghan would play Stanley Merkel from Year One, most likely to hide the fact that he actually plays the Joker in a cameo appearance.
Meaningful Release Date: The movie was released in March of 2022, the month of St. Patrick's Day, and the Riddler, a villain known for wearing all green, is the Big Bad. At an earlier point, the film was scheduled for release in October 2021, the month that the film takes place.
Jay Lycurgo, who played the reluctant half-faced young gang member, joking acknowleged the sheer coincidence of him playing Tim Drake, one of the Robins, on Titans at the same time. He noted that "Gotham changed me," reinterpreting the comparison as a before and after effect.
A running fandom joke popped up that Pattinson's Twilight co-star and ex-girlfriend Kristen Stewart would be playing the Joker in this film. Stewart was actually asked about this in an interview with Variety, and said "probably not" to the Joker but suggested she'd be cool with playing another of "Battinson's" Rogues Gallery.
No Export for You: Warner Bros. decided not to release the film in Russia due to the latter's war of aggression against Ukraine. That hasn't stopped piracy (especially with the HD version from HBO Max), which has even been legalized for European and American media there, and some theaters have screened pirated versions of the film.
No Stunt Double: Robert Pattinson does most of his own stunts, mainly during the fight scenes.
Composer Michael Giacchino, who has worked on all of Reeves's films since Cloverfield, reteams with Reeves on this film. Cinematographer Greig Fraser also previously worked with Reeves on Let Me In.
Matt Reeves has expressed that he's been a huge fan of Batman as far back as the Adam WestTV show. While a student at USC, he even studied screenwriting under Jeph Loeb, writer of Batman stories like The Long Halloween,Dark Victory, and Hush. His DC FanDome panel alone shows that he has some intense knowledge of the source material and is clearly excited by the prospect of being able to helm a film adaptation of the character.
Robert Pattinson has been described by Reeves as a huge fan who had been "obsessed for the past decade". Subsequent interviews showed him demonstrating very extensive knowledge of the character, from various cartoons to even some obscure comics. One early interview had him mention that he'd been keeping up with Tom King's run.
Paul Dano is a big fan as well, as when Night of the Owls got brought up while the cast read through fan theories, he excitedly recommended the storyline to his fellow cast members. He also ended up writing a prequel comic book about his own Riddler.
John Turturro had grown up with Batman in his childhood, and his eldest son currently works for DC Comics. His love for the franchise, combined with his interest in Reeves' Film Noir interpretation of the character's world is what intrigued him to sign onto this project.
Barry Keoghan is already known to be a superhero fan, having acting in various fanfilms including ones where he played Spider-Man and Nightwing and later as Druig in an official capacity in Eternals. He's very obvious relishing in the chance to play The Joker as part of a long line of highly regarded actors that have taken the role.
Queer Character, Queer Actor: Selina is heavily implied to be in a relationship with her roommate, Annika, and also expresses interest in Batman. Her actress, Zoë Kravitz, is bisexual.
One common stereotype of Batman is that he's a rich guy who cares more about punching poor criminals than actually trying to help the innocent with, say, charitable efforts. This is inaccurate in several waysnote He'll also punch the rich if they're bad guys, and more recent story arcs in the comics have focused on Batman using Wayne Enterprises to provide charitable opportunities to lift people out of poverty, but this movie starts with Bruce acting in almost precisely that fashion, and him growing out of it is specifically treated as a very important bit of Character Development.
The film also addresses the "Why doesn't Bruce just give a zillion dollars to the city?" question.note He does in the comics and several film continuities, but there's only so much he can do outside of his costume In this film continuity Thomas Wayne did precisely that, and when he died, the city's corrupt criminals and authorities swooped down on it "like vultures". In short, charity has to be done carefully, with oversight, or it might make things worse by fueling corruption and/or other problems. Similar things happen in real life too, unfortunately.
Recycled Script: Batman's character arc is similar to his arc in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, going from a gruff and cynical loner who is almost too eager to die to a more idealistic hero who learns to become a symbol of hope and rely more on his allies. The difference is that Affleck's Batman had become jaded after twenty years of crimefighting and needed to relearn this, while Pattinson's Batman has been a vigilante for only two years and is learning this lesson for the first time.
Refitted for Sequel: The film has the Riddler as the Big Bad, with Selina Kyle as an anti-heroine ally. This was an early concept for what would eventually become Batman Forever.
The film was originally set to be released on June 25, 2021. Then COVID 19-related theater closures caused massive schedule shuffles, and it was pushed to October 1, 2021. It was then moved further to March 4, 2022 as it needed more delays to be completed, with Dune taking the previous release date.
Right before that release date, Warner Bros. took part in an economic boycott of Russia due to an unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, resulting in all the studio's films, including The Batman, being delayed in Russia indefinitely.
Revival by Commercialization: Both the first trailer and the movie itself gave a boost to Nirvana's "Something in the Way", as well as the band in general. "Something in the Way" was never released as a single, so when it charted in August 2020 following the trailer's launch, it was the first time it had done so. After the film opened, Billboard reported a 1,508% increase in streams and 1,888% in downloads for the song, which additionally hit #2 on Rock Streaming Songs and Rock Digital Sales and #27 on the overall streaming songs chart, 31 years after its debut. By proxy, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and Nevermind also re-entered the charts, and many Nirvana singles also saw significant gains.
Trolling Creator: Robert Pattinson got on a lot of fans' nerves when he claimed he didn't bother with muscle training to bulk up as Batman. Come the main trailer, it turned out he was pulling everyone's leg, since it's very obvious by some Shirtless Scenes that he'd built up some muscle for the role after all. During the promo tour, he admitted that he likes to make things up in interviews to troll people, and that this was just such an instance.
Troubled Production: Filming didn't really start off well when writer, director, producer, and lead actor Ben Affleck stepped down from his roles to deal with his personal issues. Matt Reeves took over, turned the project into a new continuity and chose Robert Pattinson as the lead. They got about six weeks of principal photography filmed in early 2020 before getting shut down for six months due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. When the film resumed production in the first week of September of that year, production was halted again within three days after Pattinson tested positive for the virus. Production of scenes where Pattinson wasn't needed resumed shortly afterwards with stuntmen in the Batman suit whenever possible while he recovered. Production was supposed to wrap right before Christmas 2020, but didn’t until mid-March 2021, due to recurring isolated cases of COVID. For reference, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, which filmed concurrently with it at Leavesden Studios after the restart and wrapped on the same day, only had one case that caused a shutdown in early February. It also wrapped on time, as its production was suspended the day it was supposed to start.
Viral Marketing: rataalada.com was made into a real website. The site has messages from the Riddler himself, as well as "rewards" in the form of encoded messages as well as a ZIP file containing the photographs that Riddler used in his campaign against Gotham's elite. A week after the film's release, Riddler's message was changed to acknowledge his new friend and a promise to return and wreak more havoc.
Zazie Beetz also auditioned for the part of Catwoman before the casting of Beetz, but was turned down due to scheduling conflicts with Atlanta. Beetz previously played Sophie Dumond in Joker.
Jonah Hill was approached for the role of Edward Nashton before Paul Dano was cast. However, Hill turned down the offer due to disagreements over his pay and the studio preferring him to portray Oswald Cobblepot instead.
The film was originally going to be firmly set in the DC Extended Universe, with Ben Affleck, Jeremy Irons and J. K. Simmons reprising their respective roles as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Alfred and Commissioner Gordon. Joe Manganiello was also slated to reprise his role as Deathstroke, who would have been the film's antagonist. Jared Leto also expressed the desire to return as The Joker for the movie, though it is unknown if the character was featured in Affleck's script (he eventually came back for a short appearance in the Bad Future scene of Zack Snyder's Justice League along with Affleck). The Batman film was instead reconfigured into a completely different story some time after the hiring of Matt Reeves.
Affleck was originally attached to direct, write, and star as Bruce Wayne in the movie. However, due to growing disinterest in the franchise because of DC Films's constantly shifting plans, Zack Snyder's departure, the tumultuousreshoots on Justice League and major Creative Differences with the studio, he would later step down from production of the film, leading to the hiring of Matt Reeves.
All of the events listed were so stressful that it led to Affleck going Off the Wagon after almost a decade of sobriety, and he was convinced that the project would kill him if he stuck around.
The Penguin was initially designed to look much like his appearance in the Telltale Batman game, with concept art showing him looking much classier and with Colin Farrell's more recognizable facial features. However, Mike Marino insisted on giving him makeup, which is how we got to the final result. Farrell also tried to lobby for his incarnation of the character to smoke a cigar much like he would in the comics, but Warner Brothers refused to let him do it due to their policies on depicting smoking in their youth-rated films.
Promotional artwork on store kiosks and toy boxes show Batman holding a smaller, throwable batarang rather than using his Chest Insignia as a knife.
If a prototype statue by Prime 1 Studios is any indication, the grapnel gun was originally going to be completely handheld and the metal rods on his gauntlets would have been spare hooks, rather than the grapnel gun being collapsible and storing in the underside of his gauntlet.
The film marks the first time since 1966's Batman: The Movie that the Joker, the Penguin, the Riddler, and Catwoman have all appeared in a live-action movie together.
The film’s production budget was initially $100 million (making it the cheapest theatrical Batman flick since the 1966 film, adjusted for inflation). However, COVID-19 delays caused production to last three months over schedule, and the budget ended up ballooning to $200 million.
of Zoë Kravitz's portrayal of Catwoman.