Kevin Smith never got to make his Superman movie, but the self-proclaimed “clown prince of Comic-Con” remains one of the most high-profile, ardent comic book movie fanboys in Hollywood.
So naturally we got Smith’s thoughts on The Batman while speaking to him this week as he announced plans for his first annual SModcastle Film Festival.
“You know, every time I see a Batman movie, this is my first overt thought: ‘God, that’s better than any Batman movie that I could ever make,” Smith said of the Matt Reeves-directed, Robert Pattinson-starring reboot that opened this weekend with sterling reviews and a robust $128.5 million debut.
“First and foremost, Matt Reeves, like every filmmaker before him who has touched the bat character, I tip my hat to … by virtue of the fact that they took one of my favorite characters and brought him to life in a milieu that is more mainstream. Everyone can enjoy Batman on the big screen and the beauty of what they’re doing now with Batman on the big screen, particularly Matt Reeves’s rendition is I think Warner Bros. is starting to understand you could make as many of these Batman movies as you like. And each one would be insanely different than the last, you know? Yeah, it’s a guy in a mask and things are dark and he’s got colorful villains, but the character, just like in the comics, he’s been handled by so many writers and artists and every interpretation is different.”