It’s been nearly three years since Zack Snyder’s Justice League gave us the most recent live-action version of Batman on the big screen. (Young Bruce Wayne in Joker doesn’t count). But today, the countdown to seeing a new version of The Dark Knight officially begins: Matt Reeves‘ The Batman has begun filming in London.

Woke up jet lagged at 10pm thinking I was late. 4:45am now. Off to Gotham.?

— Jeffrey Wright (@jfreewright) January 5, 2020

Jeffrey Wright, who is playing Gotham City Police Commissioner Jim Gordon in the new movie, tweeted the preceding message this past Saturday, indicating that the Robert Pattinson-led superhero film is up and rolling. Reeves quickly retweeted Wright’s message, and ComingSoon also points out a tweet from a local who has snapped some photos of a Gotham Action News vehicle, a Gotham Police car, and a Gotham Water & Power truck posted up on the streets of London. The photos themselves aren’t too exciting, but with this many talented folks assembling for this movie, their mere existence is enough to perk us up on an early January day.

Reeves has gathered a hell of a cast for this interpretation of the Caped Crusader’s cinematic adventures, starting with the downright fascinating choice to put Pattinson under the cowl. Zoe Kravitz is playing Selina Kyle (aka Catwoman), Paul Dano is playing Edward Nashton (aka The Riddler), Colin Farrell is playing Oswald Cobblepot (aka The Penguin), John Turturro is playing mob boss Carmine Falcone, Jayme Lawson and Peter Sarsgaard are playing undisclosed roles, and Reeves’ Planet of the Apes star Andy Serkis is playing Batman’s trusty butler and confidant Alfred Pennyworth. Reeves’ frequent collaborator Michael Giacchino will compose the score, and Rogue One and Zero Dark Thirty veteran Greig Fraser will serve as the film’s cinematographer.

Very little has been officially revealed about the movie’s plot, but early word suggests that it will take place early in The Dark Knight’s career – but not early enough to be considered an origin story. Reeves isn’t interested in remaking Batman Begins: he wants to return this tried-and-true character to his comic book roots as the World’s Greatest Detective in a noir story that involves multiple villains and sounds as if it may be heavily inspired by The Long Halloween, a 13-issue limited comic series in which Batman tries to learn the identity of Holiday, a mysterious killer who murders victims on one holiday each month during the calendar year.

The Batman is currently scheduled to swoop into theaters on June 25, 2021.

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