Well, it was fun while it lasted.
James Gunn has always been transparent with fans, and that clearly won't change now he's in charge of DC Studios alongside Peter Safran. Mere hours after Variety reported that Robert Pattinson's Batman will likely be brought into the new DCU, the filmmaker has debunked those claims on Twitter.
"There are few reporters I love more than [Adam B. Vary] - truly a good guy - but in this case he needs to get a new source as this is entirely untrue," Gunn states in the Tweet below.
While fans haven't had much time to chime in, the possibility of The Batman franchise being folded into the DCU received a mixed response. Some were overjoyed by the prospect of Pattinson's Dark Knight being this shared world's Batman, while others would rather Matt Reeves' Gotham City is left well alone.
Of course, this begs the question of who will be the DCU's Batman?
Ben Affleck was willing to return for The Flash and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, but we've seen nothing to suggest he'd want to continue playing Batman for years to come. The original plan had been for Michael Keaton to take over, playing Bruce Wayne in The Flash, the aforementioned Aquaman sequel, Batgirl, and an eventual Batman Beyond project.
Perhaps we're getting a new Batman...or no Batman at all! We'll clearly have to wait and see, but with Gunn and Safran set to present their 8-10 year DCU plan to Warner Bros. this week, fingers crossed that we get some news early next year.
What are your thoughts on this news?
UPDATE: The Batman director Matt Reeves has also weighed in. Alas, it seems this franchise will remain fully standalone in nature!