The Batman: Matt Reeves believes Mr. Freeze can be adapted in his trilogy

Matt Reeves believes that a grounded take on the villain Mr. Freeze could actually work in his The Batman universe. Could he show up in a sequel?

With The Batman performing incredibly well at the box office, two sequels are likely being planned and two confirmed spin-offs are in the pipeline. Yes, it’s clear that the Batman brand is stronger than ever before and Matt Reeves’ vision for the Caped Crusader has a huge role to play in that.

Speaking of Reeves, the writer/director recently opened up about the idea of a The Batman sequel and why he’s interested in taking a grounded approach to the more fantastical elements of the Batman lore. In fact, he reckons a grounded take on Mr. Freeze would fit in the world he has established.

In speaking at a recent press event (H/T: Collider), Reeves mentioned that he is more interested in finding a grounded take, even with a fantastical character like Mr. Freeze. The Batman filmmaker stated:

"“In my view, I just feel drawn to finding the grounded version of everything. So to me, it would be a challenge in an interesting way to try and figure out how that could happen, even the idea of something like Mr. Freeze, that such a great story, right? I think there’s actually a grounded version of that story, which could be really powerful and could be great… I think to me what would be interesting would be to try and unwind the fantastical and see, well, how could that make sense here [in The Batman saga]? And so that’s kind of my view, how I see it.”"

Who is Mr. Freeze and why is he important in varied media?

Created by writer Dave Wood (with concepts by Batman co-creator Bob Kane) and artist Sheldon Moldoff, Mr. Freeze first appeared in Batman No.121 in February 1959 as Mr. Zero. He was an unidentified scientist who adopted this criminal identity after a freak accident changed his physiology so that he could only survive in low-temperature environments. The character was renamed Mr. Freeze after the popular ’60s Batman television series starring Adam West and Burt Ward.

This character was revamped once again in the ’90s by writer/producer Paul Dini for Batman: The Animated Series, where they incorporated the tragic story of the scientist (now known as Dr. Victor Fries) and his wife Nora, who is cryogenically frozen due to a terminal illness. This new origin story won the series an Emmy Award and has since been recognized as the definitive Mr. Freeze backstory, becoming a hallmark in various forms of media.

Mr. Freeze is important and a worthy adversary to The Dark Knight because he represents a complex, layered and tragic villain.

Why Mr. Freeze can fit in The Batman’s world

As mentioned in my review of The Batman, unlike the hyper-realistic take of Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy, this world can lend itself to the more fantastical elements of the DC Universe.

We’ve already seen this through a deleted scene from The Batman that depicts Barry Keoghan’s Joker (credited as “Unseen Arkham Prisoner”) having a conversation with Robert Pattinson’s Caped Crusader about Paul Dano’s The Riddler. Reeves’s depiction of the Clown Prince of Crime sees the character as having a congenital disease that causes him to smile constantly (rather than falling into a vat containing a pool of chemicals that caused his disfigurement).

Even through its realistic lens, The Batman can adapt some of Batman’s more outlandish characters, and as we already have a pretty grounded origin story for Mr. Freeze, the franchise would definitely be capable of bringing him to life.

What are your thoughts on Matt Reeves possibly including Mr. Freeze in the world of The Batman? Who would you have as the next villain for the sequel? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.