Matt Reeves is planning a Batman trilogy

Planet of the Apes director Matt Reeves has big plans for The Batman. He’s set to direct the DC superhero’s latest adaptation with Ben Affleck in the titular role, but it may not end there for the caped crusader.

Reeves told Fandango that he has plans to create an “arc” similar to that of Planet of the Apes, which has spawned three movies, although admits that he has to see how the opening film goes first:

“I have ideas about an arc [for The Batman], 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. A kind of ambition for a series of stories, but really the most important thing is going to be to tell a vital first story. And 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 on set of War for the planet of the Apes.

Reeves recently said that his superhero film will be an “almost noir-driven, detective version of Batman”:

“I think there’s a chance to do an almost noir-driven, detective version of Batman that is point of view driven in a very, very powerful way that is hopefully going to connect you to what’s going inside of his head, and inside of his heart.”

The Batman is expected to arrive in 2019. War for the planet of the Apes lands July 14th.