'The Batman' Plot May Be Inspired By 'The Long Halloween,' Teases Star Jeffrey Wright

The plot of Matt Reeves' The Batman is still fairly cloaked in mystery, but the director and stars continue to hint at what the latest Caped Crusader outing will entail. Here's what we know: Robert Pattinson will don the cape and cowl in an adventure that takes place early on in Batman's career, taking him face-to-face with familiar rogues like Catwoman (Zoe Kravitz), the Riddler (Paul Dano), and Penguin (Colin Farrell). But what comic adventure could possibly provide the template for a story featuring so many villains? According to a cryptic image from The Batman star Jeffrey Wright, who plays the noble Commissioner Gordon, it might be the classic comic book series The Long Halloween.

We've heard reports that acclaimed comic book runs such as Batman: Year One and Batman: The Long Halloween will provide inspiration for Reeves' take on The Batman, but a post from Wright may have just leant credence to the latter.

"Another for the culture," Wright wrote in the caption of his Instagram post, which showed a picture of the classic Batman comic book limited series Batman: The Long Halloween.

The post follows Reeves' similarly cryptic social media image posted a few weeks ago, in which he tweeted a panel from Batman: Year One. Both images seem to suggest that The Batman will draw inspiration from the two acclaimed comic book runs, both of which have majorly inspired other comics and films, including Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight trilogy (Year One for Batman Begins, The Long Halloween for The Dark Knight).

Written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Tim Sale, The Long Halloween is a 13-issue limited series published from 1996 to 1997 which took place not long after the events of Year One. The series follows the Caped Crusader still early in his career as he tracks a mysterious serial killer named Holiday. Gotham mobster Carmine Falcone (who is played in The Batman by John Turturro) as well as familiar rogues Catwoman, Scarecrow, the Joker, Mad Hatter, Poison Ivy, and the Riddler also play parts in the story.

The Long Halloween's gritty noir twist on Batman was widely lauded, and would be in line with Reeves' supposedly dark, mystery-driven approach to the character. But we'll have to see how the plot plays out when The Batman hits theaters on June 25, 2021.