Despite being a key collaborator of Matt Reeves The BatmanMattson Tomlin did not receive a writing credit when the film was released. While the practice is common when writers are hired late or for rewrites, Tomlin says the experience was horrible.
“It was a painful thing to happen.,” Tomlin told The Hollywood Reporter. “I put a lot of time and heart into it. I had a lot of fun working with Matt on that first movie. And when they brought me in, they said, “Look, we're so late in this process that you're probably not going to get any credit.” So nobody did anything to me. I wasn't screwed.“, he explained.
However, Tomlin ultimately contributed enough to warrant a writer's credit, but was still omitted.“We ended up doing so much, not just in the third act, but then ramping things up in the mystery, and in the first two acts – which then there was a moment when I thought, “Oh, wait, maybe there's a chance.” [I’ll get credit]But that's all there was to it.,” he continued. “And then my name got out in public, which is always a bad idea. So, I'm associated with this thing.”
Tomlin is working on The Batman Part II
Despite his feelings being hurt, Tomlin received a call from Reeves regarding a credited return for Batman Part II after the release of the first film. “About six weeks later he called me and said, 'So, it's time for the sequel. Do you want to do it all the way this time?' For me, it was a tremendous emotional catharsis, because Batman means so much to me. I think when you're a writer, a director, a creator, you try to make things that matter to you, but also matter to the audience.”
“All the scary thoughts came in. The impostor syndrome came in and the thoughts of, 'Oh, I'm going to be a footnote in a Wikipedia article of, 'Oh yeah, he had something to do with that, and that was his career?' All that dark, scary stuff happened,” Tomlin continued. “I'm still there, but it was kind of this moment of, 'OK, this isn't even a redemption arc. It's more like, now I have to prove myself. Now I have the grown-up job.' I am forever, forever, in debt to Matt Reeves. He changed my life three times over.”
The Batman sequel was announced at CinemaCon in April 2022, with Robert Pattinson reprising his role as The Dark Knight. Reeves will direct from a script he is co-writing with Tomlin. Filming is expected to begin in April 2025 at Warner Bros. Studios in Leavesden, England. A game inspired by The Batman It is rumored to be in development.
Batman Part II will be released in theaters on October 2, 2026.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter