Paul Dano: DC Had a ‘Tracking Device’ for Matt Reeves’ ‘The Batman’ Script

Matt Reeves’ “The Batman” script was kept under such tight lock and key that even The Riddler himself couldn’t crack the code.

Paul Dano, who played the villainous Riddler in 2022’s “The Batman” opposite Robert Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne, revealed that the security around the DC script was unprecedented.

“‘Don’t lose this. Put it in your special binder,'” Dano shared with GQ Hype he was told by production. “This was the first time I had a binder with a locking code on it. Then they added a tracking device.”

Reeves’ “The Batman” also starred Zoë Kravitz, Jeffrey Wright, Colin Farrell, John Turturro, Andy Serkis, and Barry Keoghan. The film has already secured a sequel and multiple HBO Max TV series spin-offs, including “The Penguin” show starring Farrell.

The show will take a “Scarface”-like approach to The Penguin, whose real name is Oswald Cobblepot, charting his origins in Gotham and rise to the ranks of the top of the crime syndicate ruling the city. Lauren LeFranc will serve as writer and showrunner on the series. Reeves will also executive produce alongside Dylan Clark, who produced “The Batman,” but not direct.

“Matt’s up to his bollocks, you know, hovering over the keyboard and just planning the story because he’s just so meticulous,” Farrell said earlier this year. “He’s so obsessive about what he does, but he’s all over [HBO Max’s] ‘The Penguin’ [series] as well. I mean, he’s not gonna direct it but he’s all over the structure of the scripts and who’s going to direct them. And so, it’s exciting.”

Another series centered on Arkham Asylum is also in the early stages of development. “The Batman” helmer Reeves previously described the film as only the beginning to a multi-layered franchise, telling Entertainment Weekly that he wants to “create a Batverse” surrounding Pattinson’s Dark Knight. “You don’t do a story and go, ‘This is Chapter 1’ because you might not get to do Chapter 2. So, the story had to stand on its own,” Reeves said of the film. “But the thing about it is that the Bat world is so rich with character that as you’re starting to come to an end, you can already start thinking about the next thing. Because the idea, of course, is that Gotham’s story never ends.”