Since halfway through 2024, I’ve been nursing a theory that The Batman: Part II has been cancelled due to some, let’s say, weirdness happening with its development amid the pending launch of James Gunn’s DCU. Just so things don’t get twisted: I’m in no way rooting for that outcome. I liked The Batman. It did not need to be 400 years long, but Robert Pattinson works, the vibes were great, and The Penguin demonstrably proved that this world has surprisingly deep potential.
I also have no ill will towards Gunn’s DCU. I genuinely believe he’s trying to tell the best stories possible while navigating the always batshit studio politics at Warner Bros. Gunn saw the mistakes at Marvel where movies were being shot without a script, and that ain’t happening on his watch. However, he did offer a hint at what the holdup might be with The Batman: Part II, and that tidbit now seems more relevant than ever. Back in December, Gunn revealed that he “contemplated” bringing Robert Pattinson’s Batman into the DCU. This would quickly solve the problem of already having an established Batman that audiences know. However, Gunn said that he’s also committed to making separate Elseworld stories that aren’t connected to his DCU, and that’s what Matt Reeves wanted for his Bat-universe.
Well, things have escalated.
Reeves hit the red carpet for the Golden Globes where he gave what another suspiciously non-specific update on The Batman: Part II, which has since been officially delayed to October 2027. “I can tell you that we’ll be shooting this year,” he said via Deadline. “We’re doing something where the story continues from, but I hope that people will be surprised by.”
That did not instill confidence that the sequel is filming this year, or is even still alive, but what happened next definitely caught my attention. I have roofers coming to fix where my eyebrow shot into space.
Reeves also spoke to Happy Sad Confused at the Globes where he made a very interesting reveal. Namely, that the DCU absorbing his Batman universe is not off the table.
Via Variety:
“It really comes down to whether it makes sense,” Reeves said. “There was a story I wanted to tell. The epic crime saga. It’s been important to me to play that out and James and Peter have been really great about that. They are letting us do that. What the future brings, I can’t really tell you. I have no idea. My head is down right now on getting ‘The Batman Part II’ shooting, which is the most important thing.”
“And if they decide we really want Rob to be our DCU Batman?” Horowitz asked as a follow-up question.
“I don’t know,” Reeves responded. “We will have to see where that goes.”
Here’s my read on the situation, and as always, I can’t stress enough that I’m an idiot. There have clearly been talks about merging the Robert Battinson-verse with Gunn’s DCU, which Reeves does not want. (An even bigger question is how Pattinson feels about all of this.) Gunn has stated several times that Reeves wants to keep his Bat-world separate. However, I’m guessing there’s been studio pressure to make that happen anyway — almost definitely above Gunn’s head — and that would explain all of the weirdness. I would not be surprised if, at some point, the internal messaging has been, “Do this our way or no way at all.”
That said, Reeves has been getting tossed an increasing number of producer credits tied to Gunn’s DCU. He’s on the Dynamic Duo movie and the recently announced Clayface movie that Mike Flanagan is writing. Producer credits are big money, so it sure feels like there is a concerted effort to butter up Reeves with buckets of cash.
Not for nothing, The Brave and the Bold was set to be the official debut of the DCU’s new Batman, but wouldn’t you know it, director Andy Muschietti also made a recent revelation: That film has been “postponed.” Oh word?
If anyone sees my eyebrow floating around, please tell it to stop hovering over New Jersey. Solid gag, but too soon.