James Gunn's announcement that a new actor would be cast as the DCU's Batman for The Brave and the Bold movie was met with a mixed response. On the one hand, the prospect of a brand-new take on the Dark Knight being introduced to the burgeoning cinematic universe along with his fellow DC heroes is undeniably exciting. On the other, we already have a perfectly good Caped Crusader in The Batman star Robert Pattinson.
At the time, Gunn made it clear that Matt Reeves' Batverse would run alongside the DCU as an "Elseworlds" franchise, but we have since heard conflicting reports about the status of our current big-screen Bat and DC Studios' plans to debut a new version of the iconic character.
On the latest episode of The Hot Mic, co-host Jeff Sneider shared some of the things he's heard about the Batman situation, and he believes that Gunn does indeed want Pattinson in the DCU - but Reeves is "resistant" to the idea.
Apparently, The Batman Part II's production delays are a completely separate issue, and come down to a "personal thing" that Sneider didn't want to get into.
How much stock should we put in this? Well, we have no trouble believing that Gunn would see the sense in folding the Batverse into the DCU, if for no other reason than to avoid having two separate Batman franchises running alongside each other. By the time The Batman sequel actually hits theaters, there's sure to have been at least some progress on The Brave and The Bold, and we know that Reeves has his heart set on helming a trilogy.
Gunn has also admitted that he did consider bringing Pattinson on as the DCU's Dark Knight.
"I've contemplated it, yeah. I contemplate everything and talk about everything," the filmmaker said in a recent interview. "I'm committed to both telling stories in the DCU and telling Elseworlds stories. We want to be able to tell a story where Superman is very different or tell a Red Sun story or whatever. We want to be able to play with these characters in different ways."
"One of the things I love about DC over Marvel comic books is those things are much more plentiful," he added. "There are many more Elseworlds stories. I think that's part of the fun of DC."
For now, we can only go on what we've been told by those involved: The Batman Part II is happening, as is The Brave and The Bold, and the latter will feature a new Caped Crusader.
What do you make of this rumor? Would you like to see Robert Pattinson stay on as the DCU's Batman, or would you prefer to see someone else in the role?