Matt Reeves may be busy promoting War for the Planet of the Apes, which arrives in theaters July 7, but the director is already looking ahead to The Batman.

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The filmmaker, whose credits also include Cloverfield, Let Me In and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, boarded the Warner Bros. project in February following the departure of Ben Affleck as director. Reeves has spoken previously about his love for the character, but in a new interview, he offers the first real clues about his planned approach to The Batman.

"For me, point of view is really important," he told CNET. "I want to make sure you are experiencing something from the perspective of the main character in the story. I'm a huge Hitchcock fan -- I like the idea of being immersed in that perspective. Movies for me are about empathy. The idea is to make you, the audience, feel what the character -- that you are not -- feels. And so I really hope that will continue with Batman."

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The Dark Knight has always relied on a huge amount of suspense and fear, so it's easy to imagine how the movie might borrow some pages from Alfred Hitchcock's playbook. Still, the project is still relatively early in the development process -- "We're just starting," cautioned Reeves -- the director's approach could change as the film moves closer to production

Also starring J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon, Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth and Joe Manganiello as Deathstroke (and maybe Josh Gad as Penguin?), The Batman is expected to arrive in 2019.