The Brave and the Bold was first announced at the start of 2023 alongside a slate of projects that, so far, have yet to fully materialise. While it's not hugely surprising that the likes of Waller and Swamp Thing have fallen by the wayside, The Brave and the Bold not becoming a reality is a shock.
Batman doesn't appear to be a priority for James Gunn. He has, however, spoken openly about struggling to figure out the DCU's Caped Crusader (the filmmaker has also been busy spotlighting characters like Jimmy Olsen, Clayface, and Guy Gardner).
In an interview first published last month—it's only just now surfaced on social media—The Brave and the Bold director Andy Muschietti and producing partner Barbara Muschietti were asked to list the upcoming projects they're currently working on.
"The second season of Welcome to Derry," Barbara shared. "We dropped a show on Amazon called Ride or Die that we really love. There's another big science fiction original that Andy's writing. We have Rudy Mancuso next movie, hopefully, that we love very much with great songs. It's a musical."
No mention of The Brave and the Bold, one of the biggest DCU movies on the horizon? That's a little odd. Of course, there have been rumblings for years now that Muschietti has been dropped from the movie. That's despite him helming The Flash, a blockbuster Gunn repeatedly hailed as one of the greatest movies ever made.
Reflecting on the Scarlet Speedster's 2023 solo outing, Barbara and Andy did briefly comment on some of the challenges they faced during production.
"It would have been easier to do it not in COVID," Barbara said before her brother chimed in to say, "If we had shot this movie in a different year in a different time, we wouldn't have faced a very particular crisis that was related to VFX vendors all around the world."
Could that explain the poorly received CGI and the widely criticised sequence that saw Christopher Reeve resurrected as a Superman that some fans compared to a PlayStation 2 cutscene? It seems likely.
Gunn recently confirmed that The Brave and the Bold has received a creative overhaul and previously said, "Batman’s my biggest issue in all of DC right now, personally. Batman has to have a reason for existing, right? So Batman can’t just be 'Oh, we’re making a Batman movie because Batman’s the biggest character in all of Warner Bros.,' which he is."
He continued, "But because there’s a need for him in the DCU and a need that he’s not exactly the same as Matt’s Batman. But yet he’s not a campy Batman. I’m not interested in that. I’m not interested in a funny, campy Batman, really."
You can hear more from the Muschiettis in the player below.
B: Um, the