David Giuntoli Interview: Batman: Soul of the Dragon
Batman: Soul of the Dragon sends its DC heroes back to the 70s in a Kung Fu-filled spectacle, releasing through digital on January 12 and through Blu-ray on January 26. While Bruce Wayne is only recently starting out as Batman, he has previously honed his fighting skills in a martial arts training camp alongside several other important heroes.
When the story starts, he find himself reconnecting with those old classmates - Richard Dragon, Lady Shiva, and Bronze Tiger - to save their sensei and the world from a killer cult.
David Giuntoli, who stars as Batman, spoke to Screen Rant about his excitement to metaphorically wear the cape and shared his perspective on the lessons Bruce must learn throughout the film.
I loved your take on Batman, and I believe it's your first time doing this role. What was it like for you?
David Giuntoli: Yeah, my first time putting on the cape. It was the coolest thing, man. There are superhero moments baked into these scripts, and they want you to go for it on certain lines. It's just a license to be full dark and superhero. It's really fun.
I loved that it was such a different take on Bruce, especially because it was the 70s. We even got Silver St. Cloud in a scene, as an excellent throwback. How did you get into the mindset of that specific kind of Batman story?
David Giuntoli: I wore the tightest pants I could possibly find just to help me get there. Honestly, when I read the scripts, I was like, "Oh, they're going a little tongue in cheek here." And I'm all for it.
When I got into the sound booth, I didn't really know [what to expect]. As a onscreen guy, you have the other actors and the director right there, and you see the sets that tell you the tone everybody is going for. It's like you find the collective tone when you're shooting a pilot for TV show. I didn't have that, because it was just me in a sound booth with Wes [Gleason] and Sam [Liu] as two folks who are guiding me in my comms.
I wasn't sure how tongue in cheek they would want me to be, but they told me when to go for it and told me when it wasn't working. I took their advice, and I'm glad I did because the movie turned out so well.
Were there any conversations you had about where Bruce coming from or how you wanted to approach the lessons he needed to learn in this film?
David Giuntoli: Wes Gleason and Sam Liu are such wonderful people to have in your headphones with you when you're recording. They are steeped in the world, and I trust their take.
I think they were familiar with my work in Grimm, where I played kind of a dark hero, which is perfect for Batman. Nick's like a mini-Batman without a cape. So, I think they trusted me as far as my voice. They helped guide me through this kind new territory for a lot of viewers in Batman of seeing Bruce Wayne as a very young man.
We did have to work with each other to find just where he was vocally; how sure of himself he was as a young Bruce Wayne. How dark can a young Bruce Wayne go before he has his skills, before he's been honed? Who is he before he is crafted into Batman? We had to find that together, and it's a big trust fall. I saw the movie this week, and I was so proud of it.
Do you have any favorite moments that stood out to you?
David Giuntoli: Here's the thing. I was shot by some moments where it was just wildly gruesome. I was like, "Alright, we're going for it!" I believe one of the early bad guys, for lack of a better term, is chopped in the throat. Like, a hand enters his throat, and he just bleeds out. We're going for it.
Why is this the right team-up for younger Batman?
David Guintoli: I think something neat for me to see is that he is not the Alpha in the room. You're used to Batman being the big dog in the room, but no one is really treating him as such. He's just kind of a new guy, and everyone on the team acts almost like he's their little brother who he has to earn their respect. To varying degrees, he does that.
I think it's kind of a very relatable journey for people. If Batman was the joke, then it's okay for me to be the joke. And, my lord, I am from time to time.
We got some really great backstory and flashbacks relating to O-Sensei, who's the beating heart of the group. What makes Bruce's dynamic with him special, and what did he take away from that training?
David Giuntoli: I think that Bruce Wayne is someone who is searching for stability; searching for a family and searching for parents. If I can put myself in his shoes for a couple seconds, you see that he's finding that with O-Sensei. And it fills him.
He needs him, so he'll take every piece of guidance from him. He looks to him for how to behave, what to value, all those things.
If you were to reprise this version of Bruce, what else would you like to see from him?
David Giuntoli: I think the reason we love superheroes in general, and the reason we can relate with him, is because there's hints at a troubled past where they were just like you and me. And I think it's fitting that, whatever puberty is for just a normal guy turning into a superhero, I think watching them learn in that time would be very interesting. From normal human to superhuman.
Now that you've dipped your toes into DC proper, is there any other hero or villain that you would love to take on?
David Giuntoli: Let me just be a company man here and say that Batman is the coolest hero I could possibly play. Here's why, though: because he's the closest thing to a villain that a superhero can be, because he's so dark. Which has nothing to do with my jealousy that my wife Elizabeth Tulloch is playing Lois Lane to a different Superman. That has nothing to do with Batman!
Batman: Soul of the Dragon arrives January 12 on digital HD and on January 26 on Blu-ray and 4K UHD.