DC Studios CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran are at the moment mapping out their franchise reboot, which has followers questioning how a personality like Batman – who has already seen many iterations on-screen – might be dealt with this time round.
Gunn has already confirmed that the Man of Metal might be rebooted with a brand new film happening at “an earlier a part of Superman’s life.” Clearly, this factors towards a full reset of the franchise, whereas separate experiences have claimed the remainder of the Justice League, together with Ben Affleck’s Batman, could also be recast too.
This has many questioning how Gunn’s DCU will deal with the Darkish Knight – in spite of everything, Batman has simply seen a recent reboot starring Robert Pattinson in a standalone life like Gotham universe. Properly, the newest replace has made that downside solely extra obvious, however how will DC Studios resolve this conundrum?
DCU Replace Reveals Its Enormous Batman Dilemma
Following the announcement of a Superman reboot led by a youthful actor, DC Studios CEO James Gunn has supplied an replace on Batman’s future within the new universe as he promised the Darkish Knight might be “a giant a part of the DCU.”
Gunn additionally not too long ago responded to a report from Selection which claimed he and co-CEO Peter Safran have been contemplating implementing Robert Pattinson’s Batman into the brand new DCU, which he shut down as “fully unfaithful.”
As these updates depart an excessive amount of confusion with regard to how the DCU will deal with Batman with out treading on the toes of The Batman universe, listed below are 4 potential options to arguably Gunn’s hardest downside.
A Contemporary Begin
With Gunn searching for a youthful Superman, one can solely think about that can go hand-in-hand with a younger Batman to create a cohesive Justice League. However with The Batman already exploring that angle, with Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne stated to be round 30 years outdated, with the actor himself being simply 36 at the moment.
Naturally, Gunn won’t need to overlap too intently with what Matt Reeves might be doing along with his personal Gotham, as that might solely confuse audiences. So, one route could be to solid one other youthful actor of their 30s to early 40s, however set the franchise within the prime of Batman’s profession as a substitute of his early years.
Maybe this Batman might even have already been preventing side-by-side with one of many variations of Robin. In any case, the story of the Batman household would take far too a few years of storytelling to ever realistically inform in live-action, so what higher manner to make sure all these characters get explored than to affix the story mid-way by means of?
The Batfleck Method
Alternatively, with a purpose to differentiate from Pattinson’s early profession Darkish Knight, Gunn might take the Batfleck strategy with a barely older take. With the brand new DCU seemingly being a reboot of the outdated DCEU, Ben Affleck seemingly would not be the actor beneath the cowl, however maybe a path just like his might be taken.
Then once more, whereas this may occasionally differentiate the DCU Batman from that of The Batman franchise, this might create a wholly separate downside. If the brand new Darkish Knight have been to come back throughout as too just like Affleck’s, some could understand this as a recasting of the hero in the identical world, versus a complete new character.
Battinson Expands His World
After all, based mostly on what James Gunn has stated to date, bringing Robert Pattinson’s Batman into the rebooted DCU does not appear to be on the desk. After the DC Studios CEO dismissed experiences that the thought was being mulled over as “fully unfaithful,” all indicators point out that Matt Reeves’ Gotham will proceed to be separate.
Nevertheless, simply because that is not at the moment a part of the imaginative and prescient for the brand new DCU, that does not imply plans cannot change down the road. In any case, the considered having a number of, seemingly youthful, iterations of Batman on-screen without delay in separate franchises might show complicated for normal audiences.
This might additionally assist to ship on a promise from Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav to cut back the present live-action Batman rely. With the objective behind hiring Gunn and Safran being to create a cohesive franchise beneath their management, this is able to simply be one method to keep away from creating yet one more new world.
I Cannot Consider It is Not Bruce Wayne
Maybe the least seemingly possibility, however one which would definitely differentiate the subsequent Batman from another could be to place a personality apart from Bruce Wayne beneath the swimsuit. In any case, different characters have donned the mantle at numerous factors in DC historical past together with Terry McGinnis, Dick Grayson, and customarily a lot of the Robins.
Earlier than the regime change, a Michael Keaton Batman Past film, that seemingly would have featured McGinnis as the first Batman, was within the works. Nevertheless, after Gunn and Safran took over, that venture was swiftly canceled, indicating that is not the path they wish to take the Justice League hero.
How Ought to James Gunn Resolve His Batman Drawback
It doesn’t matter what route James Gunn ought to select to take the DCU’s Batman, separating him from Robert Pattinson’s franchise within the eyes of the viewers will all the time be a troublesome activity. However there are just a few steps he might take to attenuate the confusion and permit these characters to function side-by-side.
At the start, this Darkish Knight ought to lean into the extra comic-booky and fantastical parts of the mythos to separate from the realism of The Batman. In the meantime, one other vital step could be to solid an actor who appears to be like drastically dissimilar to Pattinson, maybe even going so far as to race-swap the character.
Differentiating the format of storytelling might additionally assist with this course of, as having two separate units of Batman films would undoubtedly be complicated. Maybe this new Darkish Knight might have his story instructed both in an HBO Max sequence or just by means of appearances in different initiatives.
All of those areas for potential confusion finally clarify why having Pattinson merely function the DCU’s Batman could be the best resolution. His early profession Darkish Knight would match up nicely with the youthful Superman that Gunn has already described, putting the World’s Best at comparable factors in life.
James Gunn and Peter Safran might be revealing the primary “few” initiatives within the new DCU reboot in January 2023. For now, there was no indication of whether or not the plans for Batman might be a part of this preliminary slate reveal.