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Okay, but 200 takes is a lot...
1. The Riddler and Batman were written with Paul Dano and Robert Pattinson in mind respectively. Director Matt Reeves was "dead-set" on having Robert Pattinson as Batman after watching him in Good Time — without knowing that Robert was also beginning to show interest in playing the role.
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There's even a grocery store seen in the movie called "Good Times," likely a reference to this origin story.
2. Paul Dano had a part in selecting the US Army winter combat mask that the Riddler wears, which costume designer Jacqueline Durran found on eBay. He also tried on hundreds of glasses before settling on the clear pair we see in the movie.
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3. The scene where the Riddler talks to Batman over a video call at City Hall took over 200 takes — many at Paul's request. Paul was in a soundproof room with a phone, delivering a ton of variations on the Riddler's lines.
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According to director Matt, “He goes, ‘OK, let me try one where I’m off camera and I stick my head in...Let me try one where I’m already sitting there.’ He’s directing this one-person play on an iPhone. It was the giddiness that really got to me."
4. And the City Hall interior was actually a custom-built set in Northern London. The Iceberg Lounge is an actual nightclub in London — Printworks, which used to be a newspaper factory. Indeed, when it came to real-life spots used to create Gotham, they were largely across the UK and Chicago.
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5. Production shut down two months in, when about a quarter of the movie was done, due to the pandemic. None of the movie was significantly altered because of the pandemic, apart from some scenes where the crowds are CGI.
Jonathan Olley / Warner Bros. / Courtesy Everett Collection
Robert himself ended up testing positive, recalling, "I was just kind of embarrassed by the whole thing, to be honest. It was so early on after we started shooting, and everyone was just so sweet. Andy Serkis, who I was working with at the time, was absolutely lovely about it."
6. A huge influence on Bruce Wayne's character was Kurt Cobain. Director Matt explained, “Early on, when I was writing, I started listening to Nirvana, and there was something about [Nevermind song] ‘Something in the Way,’ which is in the first trailer, which is part of the voice of that character...He’s like a Batman Kurt Cobain.”
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7. Unsurprisingly, the real-life Zodiac killer was one of the inspirations for the Riddler. Director Matt said of the comparison, “[Zodiac] made a costume that, frankly, isn’t so different from Batman. You have a guy who basically went around in a black hood, dressed in black, with an insignia on his chest."
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"It was utterly terrifying to think that somebody did that. And I thought, well, maybe there’s an iteration of the Riddler that does that," he continued.
8. Robert auditioned with Val Kilmer's Batman Forever costume — which means, in the words of director Matt, "Rob auditioned with nipples.”
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9. And Rob's version of the batsuit allowed him to move his neck — which might not sound terribly impressive, until you realize that Val Kilmer's suit couldn't. "[The costume designers] really looked at stuff from the Vietnam War, military tactical stuff that one guy could put together and allow him to fight better," producer Dylan Clark said of inspiration for the suit.
Jonathan Olley / Warner Bros. / Courtesy Everett Collection
10. The Batmobile is electric, and its entrance in the movie was inspired by the Stephen King novel Christine — which is about a possessed car.
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11. Zoë Kravitz said that shooting with real-life cats proved to be a challenge. "[The cats] were the hardest thing to control during the shooting. We were doing crazy stunts, and like, all that was fine, but getting a cat to stay in one place — impossible!" she said, recalling how she was scheduled for "cat time" with her on-screen cats so that she could "know" them better.
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When talking about the "cat wranglers," Zoë told BuzzFeed, "Me and Rob would be doing a scene, and there are these cat ladies tucked away and pretending not to be there."
12. There are a ton of familiar names behind the camera. Michael Giacchino is behind the score, and you might recognize him from his work on Up, The Incredibles, and Doctor Strange. The cinematographer is Greig Fraser, who is currently Oscar-nominated for his work on Dune.
Matt Winkelmeyer / Getty Images for SBIFF, Mike Marsland / WireImage / Getty Images
Greig called The Batman the most "complicated lighting job" he's ever done, adding, "Finding the right balance between darkness and lightness for [Batman] was the real challenge."
13. Barry Keoghan's Joker was originally going to have a Mindhunter-style scene earlier in the movie, where Batman asks him for help figuring out the Riddler's next move, but it ended up being cut. The scene between Riddler and Joker that we see in the final version was also almost cut.
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14. In fact, Barry was announced in the role of Gotham City police officer Stanley Merkel and even filmed fake scenes to make sure his actual role was kept as secret as possible.
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15. Despite being a crime boss, one thing Penguin wasn't allowed to do in the movie was smoke. "I fought valiantly for a cigar. At one stage I said, 'I can have it unlit! Just let me have it unlit.' They were like, 'No,'" Colin Farrell explained, discussing studio restrictions.
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16. Of course, Colin is unrecognizable in his Penguin makeup — he even went to Starbucks without being recognized. As he recalled, "I got a couple of stares, but only because it’s such an imposing look."
Jonathan Olley / Warner Bros. / Courtesy Everett Collection
17. The youth in the opening of the scene who is depicted as a newcomer to the gang is played by Jay Lycurgo, who plays Tim Drake in Titans — aka Batman's third robin.
18. It was Zoë's idea for Selena to have super long nails, after she was unable to get manicures during lockdown. "I called Matt and was like, 'I have this idea — we should do crazy, bitchy, wonderful scary nails. No nail polish on them, so they looked more like claws," she told BuzzFeed.
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19. Finally, Catwoman also scratches Falcone's face in the graphic novel Batman: Year One — one of director Matt's favorite Batman comics. Other key comics that the movie references are The Long Halloween and Ego.
Jonathan Olley Warner Bros. / Courtesy Everett Collection
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