While his film is not going to go into production until 2018, Matt Reeves has been busy responding to questions about his eagerly awaited version of The Batman. He has stated during various interviews about his intention to take inspiration from the movie noir as well as films by Alfred Hitchcock.
Various theories are circulating about what Matt Reeve’s vision is going to be like. How will his script shape up? Which Batman story will he pick up? Although, Reeves has not yet clarified on the direction that The Batman will take, however, taking a guess based on his past works, we feel that he would be perfectly at home creating a Jason Todd story line for his first DCEU venture, and out of those the animation film Under the Red Hood will be a good choice.
Under The Hood Of Planet Of The Apes
Those who stay updated, are aware of the comparisons he made between Batman and Cesar:
“[Batman] is a tortured soul who is grappling with his past and trying to find a way to be in a world that has a lot that’s wrong with it and trying to find a way to reconcile all of that … That is a really powerful character, in the same way that Caesar is such a powerful character.”
There are a lot of similarities between the story of Jason Todd and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. The apes spent a long time under human captivity and enduring tortures, before becoming the dominant force. Therefore, if we consider Bruce Wayne to be Caesar, then Jason Todd has to be Koba as they both had a history of being beaten.
Not only that, they both had some shocking disclosures, and they choose the path of violence, backstabbing, and chaos to avenge themselves. Contrary to discussing resolution of problems, Koba went on to initiate his false flag mission. He stole guns, murdered many humans and also killed one of his mates before shooting Caesar which caused a lot of panic and gave him a chance to take over the colony.
Similarly, Jason joined the ranks of evil after he was killed by Joker and resurrected later. He adopted the name Red Hood which was previously used by the Joker and went on to become a ruthless criminal villain. Just like Koba, he aimed to enforce his own set of rules upon Gotham and believed that brute force was the operating word. He wanted Batman to follow his thought process, and his rule was a life for a life.
In the end, Batman prevailed just like Caesar and managed to protect Gotham without killing anyone. But, if you have seen Batman V Superman, then you would know that although Batman didn’t kill Joker, he faced such a tragic incident that made him a hero, and that’s’ something which would have made Red Hood proud.
Talking of similarities, Dawn of the Planet of Apes, is not the only film which has similarities with the narrative of Jason Todd and Batman. There is another earlier film that might inspire Matt Reeves, and that focused on Jason Todd’s life before becoming Red Hood.
Let Me In: A Reflection Of Jason’s Childhood
Matt Reeves can perfectly tell the Jason Todd story because he can show what a teenager goes through and what kind of impact can desertion make on his/her mind which then compels the youngster to take explosive and harmful steps. This is exactly what was depicted in Let Me In. This is a horror film featuring a 12-year-old boy called Owen who has been severely bullied and ends up being comfortable with a vampire called Abby who is forever 12. Casually looking at it, you might not see the similarity between Let Me In and Jason Todd’s story. However, there are a few things that are similar.
Jason and Owen were both lonely, and their feelings of being abandoned and disliked made them cultivate wrong ideas. While Owen’s mother, despite trying, couldn’t stay mentally focused as she was affected severely by the disappearance of Todd’s father. Owen failed to hold on to the religious beliefs which his mother tried to imbibe in him after she was gone missing. He made it a habit to steal money from her purse during prayer and stealing turned out to be a survival habit for Jason who was later caught while attempting to steal Batmobile’s tires.
However, once he experienced death, he became an entirely different being who was changed so much that he took his position on the wrong side of the law. Owen had chosen to escape from the town accompanied by Abby after she tore apart those who had hurt him and he also chose the “evil” side.
There is another comparison that we can draw between the Dark Knight and vampire Abby. They might look different in ideologies, they both attracted distressed teenagers. Batman has picked up devastated youngsters as his assistants multiple times, sometimes even when he is not willing for that, and this list includes Jason Todd, Dick Grayson, Tim Drake, etc. Irrespective to what might happen to one of them, there is always a new one that joins the Batman.
Abby’s entry in the film showed her being accompanied by a man whom she called her father who used to kill humans and take out their blood to feed Abby. Later things become clear, and we see that Abby had known that guy right from the time that they both were children and that meant this so-called father of Abby was someone similar to Owen who has now taken up the role and he is someone who needed her. The only thing that is supportive of Batman is that he needs his sidekicks to help him stay on the right path.
In his earlier ventures which include a shakily shot film like Cloverfield or a high-tech science fiction hit like Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Matt Reeves has amply proven his cinematic prowess, and while his The Batman might not be another version of Under the Red Hood, it is bound to be a visual treat.
