Judging by the millions of views the trailer for “The Batman” has already received since its release last week, odds are you’ve probably watched it at least once. And one of the aspects about the trailer that has really gone viral is the makeup work that turned Colin Farrell unrecognizable as the Penguin. And according to actor Jeffrey Wright, who stars as Jim Gordon in the film, the makeup is so good for Farrell’s character, that it fooled people on set.
Speaking on The Jess Cagle Show on SiriusXM, Wright was asked about “The Batman” and the new trailer, specifically. And after the host joked about the Penguin looking so good in the film, Wright told a story about when he first saw Farrell in full makeup on set.
“Talk about artists, man. I’ve worked with that makeup artist before and it’s just incredible,” said the actor. “Colin walked onto set one day, and I walked right past him [laughs]. I was like, ‘Ok, hey dude, what’s happening, where’s Colin are we going to shoot?’ It was, it’s pretty remarkable.”
Another aspect of the trailer that seems to be clicking with fans is the emphasis on the detective side of Batman’s persona, as we saw the character interacting with police at a crime scene. Of course, the early days of the character showcased his detective skills and what made him such a unique superhero, however the films haven’t fully explored that until now. And to Wright, this is an part of the film that he’s very excited about.
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“We were really stoked about what we were doing,” explained Wright. “First of all, the script. When I read the script I said to myself, ‘Yeah this is on it’…You go back to the original [‘Batman’ comics]l, it’s DC, it’s ‘Detective Comics’ and the script is really beholden to that, beholden to this idea that Batman is the world’s greatest detective. I think as Gary Oldman once described, Gordon is something of a Watson to him. The script honors that, and it also set a tone that was very clear, and a tone that has been captured in that trailer.”
We are still more than a year away from seeing how well director Matt Reeves does with his iteration of “The Batman,” but so far, it’s shaping up to be pretty great. “The Batman” is expected to arrive in theaters on October 1, 2021.
