The Planet - David Goyer interview!

Goyer here talks about Batman Begins, and clearly states the differences between the looks and inspirations of Begins and the Burton/Schumacher Batman films. As Goyer says, the Gotham City and otre sets in Begins are not inspired from the Burton films but the comics and the real world. Read on...

[i:281290fa1a]The success of the two Blade films lead to Goyer taking on the hefty task of resurrecting the Dark Knight's film franchise when he signed on to write "Batman Begins" and he noted why the films came to a screeching halt following the release of 1997's "Batman and Robin." "The comic books are completely grounded in this sort of noir reality and they were post modern and much more gritty," Goyer explained. "I felt like the Schumacher movies were almost dovetailing back into the original TV show and its not where the zeitgeist was."

Goyer noted that his script would be different than all of the previous Batman films. "This interpretation I think is by far the one that's closest to the comic books or to the comic books that today's audience knows. They're very different from all of the films. A lot of those films, even the Burton movies, the points of reference were a lot of expressionistic silent films like 'Metropolis' or 'Cabinet of Dr. Caligari,' things like that. But the points of reference weren't anything that was real. Where as the points of reference for Gotham City are all real cities. That's why we shot a lot of stuff in Chicago. We also wanted to liberate ourselves from the feeling of being on a set and a back lot. We had a lot more exteriors. We shot scenes in Iceland, things like that. Also, our film doesn't all take place in Gotham."

Plot details of "Batman Begins" are still being kept secret, but as you might expect from the title, Goyer did say the film was Batman's origin story.

Goyer confirmed that his script used parts of the official DC Comics origin for the Dark Knight from Frank Miller's "Batman: Year One" " A big portion of our film takes place before 'Year One' and a big portion of our film takes place after 'Year One,'" he explained. "So, there are a lot of elements of 'Year One' that are kind of minutes 30-60. Not exactly, but having said that Gordon is plucked straight from 'Year One.' That relationship between Batman and Gordon and the fact that he's sort of the only honest cop in Gotham, that definitely comes from 'Year One.'"

Christian Bale plays the role of Bruce Wayne and Batman in "Batman Begins" and Goyer believes Bale was the best choice because for the unique nature of the role. "There were sort of three roles that needed to be played in the movie. There's Batman. There's the public Bruce Wayne, who is sort of just a bon vivant, but then there's the private Bruce Wayne, whose really detached and focused. I think we just felt that Christian was the best candidate to play all three."

Goyer feels that Warner Bros. has learned some valuable lessons from the later Batman films. " I think Alan Horn and Jeff Robinov who are at WB now, they get it," Goyer said. "They understand that if these films are going to find traction with a wider audience, they need to have credibility with the fans first and foremost. So they were really great to work with. It was really a model of how these kinds of movies should be made."

Goyer enjoyed working on "Batman Begins" so much that he signed a first look deal with Warner Bros. "I'm moving my offices over there," Goyer told CBR News. "We're looking at a lot of other properties in the DC library." Goyer couldn't reveal which characters they were considering but he did say, "There is one big one that is an obvious candidate."

As if writing scripts and directing movies didn't keep him busy, Goyer also wants to return to writing comics. As CBR News reported last week, Goyer will be doing a 3-4 issue stint on DC's "Batman/Superman" title after Jeph Loeb leaves. Goyer also said he has discussed a one-time return to co-writing "JSA" with Geoff Johns. "The only way I would return to 'JSA' with Geoff, although I'd definitely do some more comics with him, is we talked about if he's still on it and he may be, I would come back for the 100th issue." Goyer has adapted many comic books for the silver screen, but there are still a few comics he dreams about turning into films. "My Marvel dream is 'Thor.' Over at DC I'd love to do 'The Flash' and I'd love to get my hands on '100 Bullets.'"[/i:281290fa1a]