Matt Reeves Says The Final Showdown In The Batman Took 80 Takes – /Film

In the scene, Robert Pattinson’s Batman visits Edward Nashton, aka Riddler, in Gotham State Hospital. Nashton tells him that his work as the caped crusader has inspired him and helped create his plan. When Batman rebuffs him, Nashton is wildly disappointed and upset. It’s pretty horrifying to watch him have a complete meltdown and this was the scene where Reeves said they shot a lot of takes. The director explained: 

“Paul loves doing a lot of takes, as do I. We took two days on the final scene between him and Robert Pattinson as Batman, and we must have easily done 70 or 80 takes. Paul loves exploring. He’s obsessive that way […] There were all these moments as the Riddler where he’d be tickled by something and then fly into a rage, and you never knew from take to take where that switch would come. I’d be sitting there with the headphones on, trying to stifle my laughter because he’d always do something surprising. Paul would ask me: ‘Was that crazy? Was that too much?’ I’d say: ‘No it’s fantastic. Let’s do another.'”

While that seems like an excessive amount of takes for a normal film, this scene was really raw and nuanced. We’ve all had that moment of feeling out of control of our emotions. Seeing Nashton lose it like that gives us a grim view of a worst-case scenario where you got something so wrong that it destroys who you think you are. I’d honestly love to see some of those outtakes, though I imagine it would give me nightmares. 

“The Batman” is currently streaming on Max.