When DC Studios was formed, fans immediately started wondering what that meant for The Batman franchise. James Gunn was quick to assure them that Matt Reeves' plans for the Caped Crusader would play out as planned, albeit at a time when The Brave and the Bold was also announced.
That meant there would eventually be two different versions of the Dark Knight on screen, with Robert Pattiinson's Batman competing with whoever plays the DCU's version and vice versa. The latter take on Bruce Wayne is expected to be vastly different, though, with the focus on him training his son, 10-year-old Damian Wayne, as Robin.
DC Studios has since become involved with The Batman franchise, giving notes on The Penguin and reportedly considering turning Reeves' now-scrapped Arkham TV series into a DCU-set project.
Gunn has been nothing but supportive of Reeves on social media but, for whatever reason, rumours continue to persist that he plans to scrap The Batman franchise.
It's a baffling claim because even if the filmmaker would rather not have Andy Muschietti's movie facing off with Reeves' trilogy, there's no way Warner Bros. Discovery is giving up on The Batman based on the franchise's critical and commercial success.
Now, Gunn has once again weighed in on the rumours and set the record straight on where things stand with The Batman Part II.
"Like why would you even believe a rando on social networking? Of course not. If it was canceled it would be canceled. Who has time for charades?" the exasperated Superman director exclaimed. "I’ve been one of Matt’s biggest cheerleaders for years - since Cloverfield and the Apes’ movies. We are eagerly awaiting his script."
This comes after Gunn recently said "there's no set timeline for anything" when it comes to Batman's planned DCU debut.
"The one thing that I’ve tried to make clear to people from the beginning, in the way that I hope we're different, is that everything in DC is going to be based on the writers. Until we have a screenplay that I’m totally happy with, that movie is not going to get made, no matter what it is. So, we have been really fortunate with some screenplays."
"You know, Supergirl came in and just, wow Ana [Nogueria] did such an amazing job, the Lanterns pilot came in, and now the whole 'Lanterns' series came in, and it's like 'Wow that's wonderful, wonderful work.' And there's a couple of other things that people don't know about, a couple of movies and TV shows that are greenlit or near greenlit."
"But it's going to be based always on that, on the story, because at the end of the day if we're happy with the story that we're telling, that's what matters most. And once The Brave and the Bold gets to that point, then we'll make the movie."
The Batman Part II is currently set to be released in theaters on October 2, 2026.