Charlie and Max Carver have both been in the industry for years, but most recently wrapped on Matt Reeves’ The Batman in which they play twin bodyguards at the infamous Iceberg Lounge. The pair can be seen in several series together including MTV’s Teen Wolf, as well as separate projects for these versatile actors — Charlie was recently seen in Netflix’s Ratched, while Max is currently in production on G-Money. Max is is currently writing and preparing for his directorial debut with So Help Me, a semi-biographical film which he will also star in alongside his brother.
The Batman stars Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne and Paul Dano as the primary antagonist, The Riddler. The Batman is more of a psychological thriller than a typical superhero movie, free of the grasp of CGI that seems to have a hold on most movies in the genre and instead rooted in dark reality. The film explores Bruce Wayne’s earliest and most inexperienced years as Batman, diving into the character’s beginnings as the world’s greatest detective and drawing heavily from film noir.
One of our editors, Hannah, had a chance to sit down with the Carver twins about their roles in The Batman.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
Nerds & Beyond: Hello Max and Charlie! I’m immensely appreciative to get some time to talk to both of you today, so thanks for being here. When you began the process of getting involved in this film, did you know it was a superhero film going into it, or was that a nice surprise?
Max Carver: Nope. We had no idea.
Charlie Carver: Going into the process, it starts out as an “untitled studio project.” The sides you get are usually not from the script itself, so you can kind of infer that it’s going to be something … but no, we had we had no idea. It was a pretty tight turnaround from the audition to getting the job. It was way, way shorter of a window than we’ve ever experienced before, but it wasn’t until that call came in that it was like, “Oh, yeah, this is The Batman and you’re going to London for six months.”
Max Carver: We read sides from The French Connection, and I remember I had no idea what it was for. I did not expect to be in this film. I really didn’t.
Nerds & Beyond: What was your reaction when you had that realization of “Oh, we’re going to be in The Batman?
Max Carver: Do you want the the press response or the real response?
Nerds & Beyond: Oh, I want the real response.
Max Carver: When you find out you’re going to be in such an iconic franchise, my initial reaction was, “Oh, shit.” And then you just immediately dive in, like “Let’s get to work.” This film is different than anything I’ve worked on, because of just how big it is, how many fans there are, what it means to people. It was really a call to both of us to really do it — to work our asses off regardless of whatever capacity we’re going to be used. Which made it fun! It made it so fun.
Charlie Carver: Being on set, it was like being little kids again — it’s Gotham. Like Max is saying with the scale of the production, you go on to the sets and it is four square blocks of Gotham city, you go into the wardrobe department and the costumes are meticulously made where you’re standing across from Batman. So there is this sort of split experience, the part of you that’s trying to do the job, another part of you that’s just being a fan.
Nerds & Beyond: It sounds like you’re both probably prior fans of Batman — you’re pretty close to my age so I’m assuming you grew up on Batman: The Animated Series just like me. We have some twins that have been featured in the comics and in the animated series as well, but we didn’t get to dive into just who these two are in The Batman. Did either of you create a backstory for your characters?
Max Carver: Yes! For me, what was very apparent from the script is that we were essentially shadowing The Penguin the whole time. What became a blast was was creating that world — asking general questions of, or wondering about, “Well, how did we get pulled into the Iceberg Lounge working for this organization?” You wonder what our characters’ day to day is like. Then the magic of actually being on the project is getting to spend time with Colin [Farrell] and when he’s The Penguin and when he’s just being Colin — developing this kind of connection and these relationships. So that, to me, is what is the most exciting.
Charlie Carver: But to really answer your question …
Max Carver: I’m answering the question the way I wanted to answer it, Charles!
Charlie Carver: I think it was important to be aware of and open to these backstories that have come before us. But I think what’s so great about what Matt Reeves did is this wasn’t an origin story, per se, because it was year two of Bruce being Batman, but you are seeing the seeds of things that I think will become more familiar across this expanded bat-verse, whether it’s in the HBO properties or the sequels. I can’t speak to any of what’s going on in the future, but it’s super exciting. I’m excited for myself and for all of the other fans.
Nerds & Beyond: I do hope that we get to see you guys again in either The Penguin HBO series or the sequel that’s coming up as well. I appreciate your time again, and I hope you both have a great day.
Max Carver: Thank you, thank you. You too.
Charlie Carver: Thank you!
The Batman is available to stream now on HBOMax. The film will be available on 4k Ultra HD and Blu-Ray on May 24.
