The Batman Co-Writer Talks How Painful It Was To Not Receive Screenwriting Credit

Mattson Tomlin, who is co-writing the script for The Batman Part II (alongside director Matt Reeves), also co-wrote the script for The Batman, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at the credits. Tomlin went uncredited for his screenwriting efforts, with The Batman‘s credits directing the praise solely at Reeves. The screenwriter has recently opened up about the lack of accreditation for his work and, while he knew it would happen, Tomlin said it still hurts.

Mattson Tomlin recently spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about his new series, Terminator Zero, and was asked about his time working on The Batman, and its upcoming sequel, The Batman Part II. Tomlin revealed his feelings about being left out of the original movie’s credits. The writer was brought in late during the process to help neaten up the movie’s third act and was told that he likely wouldn’t get a credit for his work, because of the project’s timeframe. However, for Tomlin, it still stung to see the hard work he put into the movie go without any formal recognition. He explained:

“Yeah, I’ll be honest about it. It was a painful thing to have happen. I put a lot of time and a lot of heart in. We ended up doing so much, not just on the third act, but then heightening things in the mystery, and the first two acts — that then there was kind of a moment of, ‘Oh, wait, maybe there’s a chance [I’ll get credit].’ But that’s all that it was.

So I found out the day that the Fandome trailer came out [in August 2020]. On the one hand, it was like, ‘Wow, there it is!’ And on the other hand, it’s like, ‘…and I don’t have anything to do with this anymore.'”

But Tomlin quickly got over his resentment of being left out of The Batman‘s credits. The co-writer acknowledged that he already knew he probably wouldn’t get credited, and tried to approach the situation like a professional.

“So nobody did anything to me. I wasn’t screwed over.

there was a level of, dare I say, having to grow up and having to go, ‘You know what? They paid me. I’m a professional, so be a professional and try not to take that too hard.'”

Mattson Tomlin Feels “Catharsis” Working on The Batman Part II

While Tomlin didn’t get a credit for his work on The Batman, the screenwriter has been attached to The Batman Part II since its conception. Tomlin revealed that, about six weeks after the release of The Batman, he received a call from Matt Reeves saying, “So, sequel time. You want to do this all the way this time?”

Tomlin said he felt vindicated by being brought back for the sequel, with a guaranteed writing credit this time. However, even after co-writing one of the best Batman movies ever made, Tomlin said he still felt overwhelmingly anxious about working on the sequel. He explained:

“The impostor syndrome came, and the thoughts of, “Oh, am I going to be the footnote in a Wikipedia article of, ‘Oh yeah, he had something to do with that one, and that was his career?’” All that dark, scary stuff happened. And it’s still there, by the way, but it was kind of this moment of, “OK — it’s not even a redemption arc. It’s more like, now I get to prove myself. Now I get the big boy job.” And so, all of that is to say, I am forever in debt to Matt Reeves. He’s changed my life three times over now.”