DC Studios' approach to rebooting the DCEU has certainly been unique. Rather than completely start from scratch, James Gunn and Peter Safran have kept some actors from the past, recast others, and placed any non-canon projects under the somewhat vague "Elseworlds" banner.
With the DCU-set The Brave and the Bold on the way, an argument could be made that The Batman franchise should have really been scrapped to make way for a new version of the Caped Crusader. That would have been a blow for fans of Matt Reeves' take on Bruce Wayne, but two competing versions of Batman on screen at the same time seems like a risk.
There's been a lot of speculation about the possibility of The Batman being folded into the DCU, with even Gunn saying it was considered when DC Studios was formed.
The filmmaker and studio executive has since reigned in expectations, acknowledging that the DCU is struggling to find a fresh and compelling take on Batman. Now, Reeves himself has chimed in, confirming that The Batman franchise will be an "Elseworlds' franchise while addressing the possibility of one day working in the DCU.
"We haven't talked about anything like that," he started. "We have had conversations about how things could work and all that kind of stuff, just in general. So, of course, it would be a lot of fun. What I really want to do is play out these stories that we began and arrive at the conclusion I've hoped we would arrive at from the beginning. It's very exciting."
"First of all, I'm flattered. That's very kind of James to say. It would be really exciting to work with them, of course. We're working with them on [The Batman Part II]," Reeves continued. "I mean, it's a DC, so, like, it's Elseworld, but it is DC, so it's theirs as well. What the future brings and what I am doing will become clear when it comes."
This isn't overly surprising, but the door is now closed on any sort of crossover. Reeves and Mattson Tomlin's script is finished, and it's clear now that the filmmaker didn't set out to find a way to bring Robert Pattinson's Dark Knight into the same world as Superman and Peacemaker.
While some fans will be disappointed by this news, The Batman being in the DCU was always wishful thinking, and Pattinson agreeing to star in a slate of movies and TV shows for Gunn was never going to happen.
Will he and Safran have found a Batman by the time Reeves' sequel is released? That's TBD, though with Reeves looking to helm a trilogy, there will inevitably come a time when The Batman and The Brave and the Bold franchises are in proximity to each other.
The Batman Part II is set to be released in theaters on October 1, 2027.