With David Zaslav now calling the shots at Warner Bros. Discovery, big changes are coming to the DC Extended Universe. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but the shocking cancellation of Batgirl has resulted in a great deal of uncertainty surrounding what comes next.
A cohesive plan for these DC Comics adaptations would be welcomed, but is any future project safe? Variety has shared some insights into where things stand with at least one of them, but it might not be the news you were hoping for.
The Batman cost over $200 million, but a $770 million haul at the worldwide box office meant it was a hit for the studio. Despite that, the trade reveals that while a sequel remains in development, it has not been officially greenlit by Warner Bros. As a result, "any future film is years away."
It's baffling to think that The Batman 2 hasn't already been announced, but is it possible Zaslav feels the first film didn't turn enough of a profit? We can't discount the possibility, because $770 million for a movie starring the DC Universe's most popular character isn't a mind-blowing number, and is hundreds of millions of dollars less than Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (and the former Sorcerer Supreme is a B-Lister in comparison to the Caped Crusader).
Matt Reeves is in the midst of developing a Penguin spinoff for HBO Max, of course. However, if the filmmaker taking his time with this follow-up is the reason The Batman sequel is so far off from becoming a reality, we wouldn't put it past Zaslav to move on. If nothing else, the executive has shown himself to be ruthless.
Hopefully, we'll get news on The Batman 2 sooner rather than later as it would be a terrible shame for this franchise to so abruptly end. That opening chapter was phenomenal, so we're not entirely sure why Warner Bros. wouldn't give the sequel the go-ahead even without a script, but the DCEU remains in flux, so who knows.
Check out our interview with The Batman stars Jeffrey Wright and Paul Dano below: