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So wheres the cat going?
We had to have a cat carrier.
James, after much harrumphing was like, Okay, let me work on it.
So yeah, the cat carrier was a critical part of the ending of the story.
If shes going to Bludhaven, shes got to take her cats.
There was something about the tone of that music that just felt right.
Then, Warner Bros. went out and we got the rights.
It was one of those things where they were like, Is this important to you?
And I was like, It is.
Not a cheap needle drop, but a super important one thematically.
If anybody sees him out in Gotham, they see that.
Its a compulsion, this creative drive, and it relates to my approach to filmmaking.
To me, moviemaking is trying to make sense of my world.
Thats what hes doing.
The idea of being masked is engaging with your shadow side, and theres something instinctual that takes over.
That is like the creative process.
But you dont actually put it onscreen.
I have to assume that was intentional.That was critical.
But we did have something to add to the excavation of his past.
It was meant to make him confront himself, so the story could function as an awakening.
His mother suffered because of her family history of some mental illness.
That was how we wanted to touch on his origins, but in a way that was new.
How did you approach writing them?It was really fun.
I had like 40 riddle books looking for ones that would fit into my narrative.
Its its own weird, Batman-esque creative jam session.
But theres something about that tone.
But I wanted to explore Bruce and Batmans humor, too.
What Rob and I talked about was that Batman would be totally without irony.
And, without any irony, Batman goes, I did.
All the humor from Batman comes from the fact that he has no sense of humor.
Even the way Rob tells Catwoman, You have a lot of cats.
Theres not a joke in that.
But theres something funny in a guy who has no sense of humor and says these things.
Rob found a way to be very funny, without trying to be clever.
Its one reason why the Batman myth endures.
I dont think youre ever going to run out of corruption in a city.
Thats the Riddlers point of view, that shes promising change but change cant happen here.
Thats the push and pull of Batman, too.
There was the notion that he would start in an appealing version of a desire for vengeance.
Hes got to evolve toward representing more than vengeance, otherwise hes going to be just another toxic force.
Because this movie is set in its own universe, you got to build your own version of Gotham.
I wanted Gotham to be a character.
So it took a tremendous amount of backstory.
We wanted it to be a Gothic American City.
We shot in Liverpool, where theres a foundation of Gothic architecture, but not the tall buildings.
But through careful design and CGI, we could add in the buildings and billboards.
Hes an original of a character who is very iconic for Batman.
Barry gave a really eerie performance, and the scene was great.
But the movie is very expansive and it was just one of the scenes I could lift.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
