“He’s the most popular superhero in the world, and I can’t wait for people to see more of him, along with Superman, and together.” (James Gunn, 2o24)
The DCU is finally starting to come together with projects like Superman and Lanterns getting off the ground, but the arguably most important character to the DC Universe is still a debate on to who will portray the caped crusader and what type of creature of the knight he’ll be.
Uh Actually, I think I figured it out.
CASE A: MATT REEVES
Matt Reeves, Director of the Planet of the Apes trilogy and 2022’s The Batman, is currently hard at work finishing the script for The Batman 2, which has just been delayed to a lengthy 2027. Last week at The Golden Globes, Reeves is interviewed and gives a surprisingly vague answer to MTV’s Josh Horowitz on if Robert Pattinson’s incarnation of Batman is canon: “I don’t know we’ll have to see where that goes [after The Batman 2].” Additionally, in terms of consideration as to Battinson, Gunn himself said he’s contemplated it.
This is a dark, gritty, yet extremely grounded Batman. The thing is, the film is very standalone. It’s Batman early on in his career so his villains won’t look the same by movie #3 as they did in the 2022 film. The biggest complaint against this Batman are that the world is too different from Superman and that it’s not fantastical enough. These complaints aren’t entirely accurate though since there Gunn’s whole objective is to tell different stories with different tones that just take place in the same universe- 2026’s Lanterns as a TV-MA sci-fi mystery won’t be the same as the PG-13 saturated Superman this summer, and that’s okay. And the fantastical aspect is a easy fix: just put metahumans in the sequel. Boom, it’s a part of the world and it always has been we just didn’t see it in the first chapter.
CASE B: ANDY MUSCHIETTI
Muschietti, Director of “It” and “The Flash”, is currently working on the three-season “It” Spinoff “Welcome to Derry” which doesn’t leave him much time for the film “Brave & The Bold” which was announced in the original Gunn/Safran DCU Slate way back when. The film follows Damian Wayne, Grandson of Ra’s Al Ghul and Son of The Batman, entering the world of Gotham with a pre-established Batman and Bat family. We don’t know much about what this could be- other than it would most likely loosley adapt Grant Morrison’s “Batman & Son” comic. On a podcast recently, Muschietti is quoted with “Robert Pattinson will not be the DCU Batman; Matt Reeves is doing something entirely separate.” yet in the same interview (don’t quote me on that) he says “I’ve had conversations with James Gunn about the story concept, but we haven’t talked since before Superman began filming.”
Superman began filming last February, which is nearly a year ago… A LOT can change in a year.
VERDICT
My verdict: wait until Superman comes out. No more DC projects are being greenlit or filmed until Superman atleast test screens because they aren’t adding onto a franchise that’s not a guaranteed blockbuster foundation.
But… It’s probably Battinson.
