Paul Dano Says This ‘Big Misstep’ Led To Superhero Movie Fatigue
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“The Batman” star Paul Dano says the emergence of the word “content” was the “big misstep” for the film industry that may have led to superhero fatigue.
The actor, who plays Riddler in the Matt Reeves-directed movie, weighed in on the concept after recent films such as “Madame Web,” “The Marvels” and “The Flash” had less-than-super outings at the box office.
“There are enough comic book movies where you just know what you’re gonna get,” Dano told The Independent.
“Reading the script for The Batman, you knew it was a real film. Every sentence… that’s just [writer/director] Matt Reeves.”
Dano, whose “Love & Mercy” performance helped inspire Reeves to write Riddler with the actor in mind, added that the fatigue has led to what he called an “interesting moment” where people ask, “OK — what now?”
“Hopefully from that, somebody either breathes new life into [comic book movies], or something else blossoms which is not superheroes. I’m sure there will still be some good ones yet to come, but I think it’s kind of a welcome moment,” he said.
The actor continued, “It’s a larger thing, too. As soon as the word ‘content’ came into what we do — meaning-making movies or TV — it meant quantity over quality, which I think was a big misstep. And I certainly don’t need that as a viewer or as an artist.”
Reeves — in an interview with The Guardian last year — revealed that Dano “loves doing a lot of takes,” including in the final scene of “The Batman,” which he said took two days where he had “easily done 70 to 80 takes” between him and co-star Robert Pattinson.
“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,” Reeves explained.
“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.’”
