“It’s like the old days of radio drama,” says Goyer, who is currently in postproduction on Season 2 of “Foundation” for Apple TV+, back in L.A. Like many, Goyer became hooked on podcasts during the pandemic. Or maybe Wayne is just born with it: “We look at nature versus nurture.” “That darkness may have been trauma passed down from one generation to the next,” Goyer explains. “Batman Unburied” explores the origins of Wayne’s darkness in the absence of the canonical death of his mother and father. “We were recontextualizing the Batman story from a different angle… I said, ‘There’s no point in doing this story - there’ve been so many Batman stories told - if we’re not doing something different.’ I was intrigued with the idea of, What would happen if Bruce Wayne’s parents hadn’t been killed?” “I knew it was a big swing, and kind of a wild swing, but Spotify, DC and Warner Bros. To Goyer, the biggest creative roll of the dice with his “Batman Unburied” pitch was setting the story in a world in which Bruce Wayne doesn’t suffer the trauma of his parents’ murder. The companies offered Goyer the chance to create the inaugural podcast for their partnership. Goyer is no stranger to the DC superhero: He wrote the story for 2005’s “Batman Begins” and was a writer on the two other films in “The Dark Knight” trilogy. The deal for the podcast came together after Goyer’s agent reached out to the Spotify podcast originals team around the time Spotify inked a multiyear development deal with DC/Warner Bros. “That was literally the first exploratory conversation - I said, ‘Are you open to that?’”ĭuke was on Goyer’s shortlist for the lead, and the production also ended up casting other actors of color in key roles, including Hasan Minhaj as The Riddler and Gina Rodriguez as Barbara Gordon, the Gotham PD detective who’s the daughter of former police commissioner Jim Gordon. Goyer says that, from the get-go, he envisioned the series’ Wayne/Batman character as a person of color. Ultimately, the Wayne/Batman in “Batman Unburied” represents “a social-justice advocate’s wet dream,” says Duke: “How would I, as a powerful person of color with billions of dollars, change the world… and a justice system that feels like I couldn’t come out on the right end?” But my body doesn’t have to be the focus.” He worked closely with director Alexander Kemp in recording his part for the podcast - which he did without the benefit of interacting with his castmates. That was my intention.”Īs a podcast, “Batman Unburied” was “liberating” for Duke “because it wasn’t focused on my body and what I looked like in a frame… Being a Black man shaped who this man was. “He ends up coming off as more relatable. “What happens when it’s mild privilege instead of extreme privilege?” says Duke. How do I connect to a character who is so grounded in his whiteness?”Īs he immersed himself in the story of “Batman Unburied,” Duke found “a lot of really direct, cool allegories of Bruce Wayne as a person of color.” “Bruce Wayne historically has been a product of white privilege - that’s almost been his superpower, his wealth. Duke, whose credits include “Black Panther,” “Avengers: Infinity War,” “Avengers: Endgame” and “Us,” recorded his scenes for “Batman Unburied” in Atlanta while filming “Black Panther 2.”Īt first, Duke thought the history of Bruce Wayne and Batman as a white male would present an obstacle.
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