DC Studios held a press event last week and, while it was light on announcements (there was no slate reveal or casting news), Batman's future - both in the DCU and beyond - is now a little clearer.
DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran told Variety that, when it comes to The Batman Part II, filmmaker Matt Reeves has "yet to turn in a full script, but what we have read so far is incredibly encouraging." That's not dissimilar from what we've heard James Gunn say in the past, with Safran adding that they currently "don't know" whether The Penguin season 2 will become a reality.
The Brave and the Bold does, however, remain in "active development" according to the veteran producer. He'd add that the "story is coming together nicely" before Gunn chimed in to reiterate the importance of the Caped Crusader to the DCU.
As expected, that Dark Knight will not be played by Robert Pattinson...at least we don't think so. Gunn said it's "very unlikely" Pattinson will lead The Brave and the Bold and pushed for further confirmation, the Superman director told Collider, "It's certainly not the plan. Like it's certainly not the plan."
Safran added, "No, yeah, and we love him, but you know, we have to introduce a Batman into the DCU. You know, it's imperative and so, that's the plan with Brave and the Bold."
There's also an interesting note in The Hollywood Reporter's piece which casts doubt on how involved The Flash director Andy Muschietti currently is with the movie:
"We’re developing the Brave and Bold script right now and he’ll be the first one to see it," Safran said, referring to Muschietti while also strongly implying the filmmaker is not involved in the project’s development.
Gunn went so far as to say he was now the driving force of the title. "Everybody knows I love Batman and it’s important to me so I’m working very closely with the writer on Brave and the Bold," he said. The writer’s name was not revealed.
As for whether the DCU's Batman could show up before his long-delayed team-up with Robin, Gunn teased, "I wouldn’t rule anything out. He could show up in something else. But the actor doesn’t exist [yet]."
One very likely possibility has to be writer Mike Flanagan and director James Watkins' Clayface. Described by Safran as a "body horror film," Gunn said the idea is for it to "[work] as a pure horror movie for somebody who doesn’t care at all about DC."
Shooting begins this summer but Alan Tudyk will not be reprising the title role after lending his voice to Creature Commandos' Clayface.
During the event, Gunn revealed that he's so far mapped out a six-year plan to tell a wider story culminating in an event akin to Marvel Studios' Avengers: Endgame. Unfortunately, he didn't specify whether that's going to be a Justice League reboot or something else.
Explaining that every DCU project "works as its own thing," Gunn continued, "It isn’t like they’re chapters of an overall story. They’re characters that are part of an overall story. I’m intimately involved in [where it's heading]."
Safran was a little more forthcoming, though, detailing DC Studios' goal to release two live-action films and one animated film per year, and two live-action and two animated TV series per year.
"It is hard enough making a good movie with a good script," Gunn said. "It’s almost impossible making a movie with a script that you’re writing on the run."
He also remains "steadfast in making sure that each of these projects works as a standalone project, so that you can go see 'Superman' and you can watch 'Lanterns' without having to see both of them." Safran, however, somewhat contradicted that by stating that DC Studios was relaunched to create a shared universe because "people want to see these iconic characters interacting."
Let us know your thoughts on these plans for the DCU below.