Earlier this week, news broke that filmmaker Matt Reeves is reportedly developing a TV series revolving around Barry Keoghan's Joker, bridging the gap between The Batman Part II and The Batman Part III.
Supposedly developed in the same vein as The Penguin, The Joker would lead directly into the threequel where the Clown Prince of Crime takes centre stage as the Caped Crusader's main foe.
Fans got pretty excited, but DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn has now debunked the rumour and discredited everyone from World of Reel to Slash Film and Jeff Sneider after they all claimed to have heard this was in the works from inside sources.
"Turn on threads and everyone is asking me about this," Gunn said of the reports. "No there is absolutely no truth to this. A Joker series is not being discussed nor has even come up at this time. Sorry."
This doesn't mean we won't get to see Robert Pattinson's Batman fight The Joker, though many fans are eager to see the hero do battle with villains he hasn't crossed paths with on screen before (multiple times in the Harlequin of Hate's case).
Doing the rounds to promote The Penguin, Reeves was asked if fans could expect to see The Court of Owls in The Batman - Part II. He responded, "We can't comment on the movie because we are doing the movie and then you'd know what movie we're doing and we're not going to say that yet."
If they do appear (and there's been nothing in The Penguin so far to suggest that's the plan), we'd imagine Reeves would drop many of the group's fantastical elements should they appear in The Batman - Part II, he sure isn't denying he has plans for them. In 2022, Robert Pattinson said, "I'd love to do something like Court of Owls."
Later, the filmmaker confirmed the script is finished and that production begins next year. "Oz does become one of the entry points into the movie. I can't tell you where it goes from there, except to say that we're super excited about it," he teased.
Check out Gunn's response to this rumour below and keep checking back here for updates on The Batman franchise as we have them.
Oh, and on the plus side, the filmmaker did share a couple of brief Superman updates.