Written By: Nick Poulimenakos

These days, franchises are the norm when it comes to Hollywood and DC is no stranger to this. The DCEU is gearing up to release a slew of films in the coming years and Matt Reeves’ The Batman is undoubtedly one of the most anticipated entries in the series.

In an interview with Fandango, Matt Reeves sat down to discuss his upcoming film War for the Planet of the Apes but of course, the interview turned to his upcoming DCEU feature. While not opposed to the next Batman film kicking off a new trilogy, Reeves said that in his eyes, it is important to worry about each individual film first before working out a trilogy.

“I have ideas about an arc, but really, the important thing is just to start… you have to start with one.” “You know, you have to start with a story that begins something. I would be lying if I could tell you that the arcs of Apes was already planned out, because it simply wasn’t; it’s one of those things where that character was so potent, and the possibility was embedded from the beginning, but exactly how you’ve got from A to Z is not something that existed.”

Reeves’ statement here is one that many moviegoers are saying lately. It would seem that every studio is looking for a steamrolling franchise and audiences are not impressed. Recently, Universal attempted to kick off their “Dark Universe” with the lackluster first entry, The Mummy.

Reeves once again connected his work on the Apes films to his take on the Batman character and the potential trilogy:

“In fact, when I came in on Dawn, the story that I wanted to tell was different from the story that they had even presented me. And so, there are these broad ideas, I think, that sort of came to mind as Rise was created, of how that story could be told, but they weren’t explicitly laid-out. And when Mark and I began Dawn, we knew what our goals were, but we didn’t know how we were gonna get there, and I would say that that more relates to the way that I see a Batman story, is a kind of ambition for a series of stories, but really the most important thing is gonna be to tell a vital first story.”

For now, all Reeves wants to do is make sure that the first film is great and honestly, that’s perfect. Franchises are great, but Reeves wanting to focus solely on the first film that could potentially lead to other films is a great stance to have.

Next up for the DCEU is Zack Snyder’s highly anticipated Justice League which bursts into theatres on November 17, 2017.